The Bible you read in English, or any modern language, is a translated bible, and that fact is one of the most significant in the history of faith. The books of the Bible were originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek, meaning translation is the essential bridge that connects us to the original words, thoughts, and events recorded in Scripture. Without the painstaking work of scholars and linguists over centuries, the biblical text would remain inaccessible to all but a tiny fraction of the world’s population. Understanding the process and philosophy behind translation is a crucial step in appreciating the book you hold in your hands.

The Original Languages of the Bible

To understand translation, we must first start with the source. The Bible was not written in a single language. It is a library of books composed over many centuries.

The Old Testament

The vast majority of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the language of the ancient Israelites. A few portions, found in the books of Daniel and Ezra, were written in Aramaic. Aramaic was a closely related Semitic language that became the common tongue of the Near East during the later periods of Old Testament history.

The New Testament

The New Testament was written in Koine Greek. This was not the classical Greek of philosophers like Plato, but the common, everyday language spoken throughout the Roman Empire. This choice of language was itself an act of accessibility. It ensured the message of Jesus and the apostles could be read and understood by people from different cultures and backgrounds across the Mediterranean world. [Link: The world of the New Testament]

A History of Translation

The need to translate the Bible is not a modern phenomenon. The process began more than two centuries before the birth of Christ.

Early and Foundational Translations

The first major translation effort was the Septuagint, often abbreviated as LXX. This was a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, produced for the large Jewish community in Alexandria, Egypt, who no longer spoke Hebrew as their primary language. It was a monumental work that became the Old Testament for the early Greek-speaking church.

Later, as Latin became the dominant language in the Western Roman Empire, a new translation was needed. In the late fourth century, a scholar named Jerome translated the Bible into Latin. This version, known as the Vulgate, was a masterful work of scholarship for its time. It became the standard biblical text for Western Christianity for more than a thousand years.

The Push for Bibles in Common Language

For much of the Middle Ages, the Bible was available primarily in Latin, a language understood only by clergy and the highly educated. Reformers like John Wycliffe in England argued that all people had a right to read the Scriptures in their own tongue. Wycliffe initiated the first complete English translation of the Bible. A century later, William Tyndale, working in exile and under threat of persecution, produced an English translation of the New Testament from the original Greek. His work was so foundational that much of its language and cadence can still be found in English Bibles today. [Link: The life of William Tyndale]

The invention of the printing press meant these new vernacular Bibles could be distributed widely, changing the spiritual landscape of Europe forever.

The Philosophy of Translation: Word for Word or Thought for Thought?

Every translator must answer a fundamental question: Should I prioritize the form of the original language, or the meaning? This question has led to different philosophies of translation, which are often placed on a spectrum.

Formal Equivalence: Word for Word

A formal equivalence translation seeks to be as literal as possible. It attempts to render each word and grammatical structure of the original Hebrew or Greek into its closest equivalent in the target language.

  • Goal: To preserve the exact wording and structure of the original text.
  • Examples: The King James Version (KJV), New American Standard Bible (NASB), and English Standard Version (ESV).
  • Strengths: This approach is excellent for deep study, as it allows the reader to see more of the original sentence structure, wordplay, and nuances.
  • Weaknesses: Because languages are structured differently, a strict word-for-word rendering can sound wooden or be difficult to understand. Idioms often do not translate directly. The Hebrew phrase “a man of lips,” for instance, means a talkative person, but a literal translation would be confusing.

Dynamic Equivalence: Thought for Thought

A dynamic equivalence translation focuses on transmitting the original meaning in natural, contemporary language. The translators will read a sentence or a phrase in the original language, determine its core meaning, and then ask: how would we say this today?

  • Goal: To convey the intended meaning and impact of the text in a clear and readable way.
  • Examples: The New International Version (NIV), New Living Translation (NLT), and the Good News Bible (GNB). [Link: Read the New International Version]
  • Strengths: These translations are often very easy to read and understand, making them ideal for daily reading, public worship, and for those new to the Bible.
  • Weaknesses: This approach requires the translators to make more interpretive decisions. In moving from the form of the original to its meaning, some subtleties of the text can be lost.

Paraphrase: Beyond Translation

A third category, the paraphrase, is not a strict translation at all. A paraphrase takes an existing translation and rewords it to make it even simpler and more contemporary. Examples include The Living Bible and The Message. These can be wonderful for providing a fresh perspective or for devotional use, but they are best used alongside a more formal or dynamic translation for serious study.