Compare how the translation of Philippians 4:8-9 has changed over time. The translations below are from 1611, 1971 and 1993.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
Christians want to hear what the Bible has to say about God and about our lives. But how does the translation affect what we hear? It’s a funny thing, reading the Bible. We read it because we want to hear God speak and yet we can find it hard to listen. Familiarity can breed that sense of knowing a passage so well that it falls into the “I know this stuff” category rather than into the “What is God saying to me through this passage?” category. We make ourselves comfortable and spiritually snooze our way through the words of text.
Using a different translation of the Bible can wake us up and make us think through how God is speaking to us through the Bible. My first experience of this was when I was ten years old. I was reading the Bible cover to cover as I had just got confirmed and thought I ought to find out what I had signed up for.
I had been brought up largely on the Authorised Version, the New International Version and the Good News Bible. I was reading The Living Bible as a godparent had given me a copy as a confirmation present. It did have one or two slightly loose translations here and there, but the language was informal and fresh and made me read the Bible as if I were having a conversation with friends. This helped me to relate what I was reading to life as I experienced it.
It made me ask, “What might God be saying to me here?” and made it easier to answer that question. The passage opposite is a case in point. The Authorised Version to my ears (then at ten and now at fifty-six) sounds so rhythmic and poetic that I can get lost in its beauty and forget to examine what exactly does go through my mind in the average day, and how much of it really honours God.
The Living Bible offers a translation which helped me to avoid ignoring the challenge. I got the meaning really clearly and so had to turn to the kind of prayer and self-examination that made me put my life before God and ask two basic questions of faith: “What are you asking of me, Lord?” and “Will you please give me the strength to do this, as I cannot do it on my own?” This helped the Bible to leap off the page and become much more the living word in my life.
People can have concerns about whether a translation is accurate. This is a valid concern, and part of the reason I read the New Revised Standard Version. That said, the NRSV is not a perfect translation and is sometimes less accurate than the Authorised Version. (The real answer for anyone who is concerned about what might be lost in translation is to invest in a good Bible commentary.)
What is of absolute importance is that the translation we use is one which makes us sit up and ask, “What is God saying to me today?”
Words: The Revd Dr Andy Angel, Director of Formation for Ministry
The Bible Gateway website provides a description of each translation – see what it says about The Message version.