Bible translation is part science and part art. Linguists and textual scholars have worked together to define the authentic early text and then translate it, rendering the originals with their nuances in the most easily understood current language. Translators want us to appreciate not only the original message but also the beauty of the language in which it was expressed.
To do this, ancient texts are carefully examined and the errors of those who made early copies are weeded out so that none but the original words are retained. Up-to-date scientific tests are sometimes applied, and the skill of those who are familiar with ancient writing is brought into play, in an effort to make sure that linguists have as pure a text as possible to work with as they translate.
It’s when the translators begin to work with the carefully researched text in order to put it in plain English that interesting results are produced. What was current English in King James’ day is not only archaic, but misleading in cases where words have changed their meaning over the last three centuries. Even translations of half a century ago are not as fresh and easily understood today as when they were first produced.
A new area which modern translators have made their concern is the desire to produce “socially correct” versions of the Bible. There are numerous instances, in the new translations, of attempts to remove gender distinctions from the text. For instance, where the original says God created man, new versions are apt to translate that He made “human beings,” and some will even go so far as to use the feminine pronoun “she” for God. There are hundreds of passages in which a masculine singular pronoun such as “he” or “his” is replaced with a plural like “they” or “their” so that the text can be “gender inclusive.” The problem is that in so doing the Bible’s teachings on individual responsibility are often eliminated.
In some instances, new translations carry blatant mistranslations of the original such as the rendering of David’s statement “in sin did my mother conceive me” as: “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me;” or “I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.” These mistranslations may support the Roman Catholic and Calvinistic views about “total hereditary depravity” but they violate the best principles of biblical translation and appear to have been made so as to support false doctrine.
On a lighter note, media produced misconceptions must also be avoided, as in the substitution of “alien” with “foreigner” which was made to avoid confusing young readers who are avid watchers of science fiction movies. Incidentally, foreigners who live in the United States are still referred to as “aliens.”
The need for new translations will continue as long as English is a living language which grows with time and develops new meanings for old words. Keeping up with such language changes is good, if judiciously carried out, but the attempts to bend the Bible’s meanings to the dictates of social and political correctness, or to support false doctrines, must be resisted. Older versions of the Bible are still plain enough for modern folk—if they will just read them!