The NAB’s decision to change “virgin” to “young woman” in Isaiah 7:14 has once again brought up the virgin birth, Mary, and the nature of prophesy, as well as the role of translation in accurately conveying the text of the Bible. Most reports I’ve seen recently, though, confuse what are really three separate issues here.…
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In the original Hebrew, the Ten Commandments don’t address coveting, so common renditions like “do not covet” or “thou shalt not covet” are mistranslations. New! This post is also available as a video, part of the Exploring the Bible Videos series. The Hebrew verb in the 10th commandment (or, for some, the 9th and 10th…
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Bill Mounce has a post (also here) about the “strong” tower in Proverbs 18:10. He notes that the NIV 2010 (following the TNIV) changes the familiar translation “strong tower” into “fortified tower,” thereby mucking with the text of a familiar hymn. Dr. Mounce concludes that the change from “strong” to “fortified” is nonetheless warranted because…
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With much of the U.S. buried under snow and ice (myself included), I thought I’d turn to the end of Psalm 147. The NRSV translates Psalm 147:15-18 as follows: [15] He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. [16] He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. [17] He…
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It has long been known that the KJV translation “virgin” for the pregnant woman in Isaiah 7:14 is inaccurate, and many modern translations opt instead for “young woman” or at least a footnote along those lines. The NRSV, for example, translates: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is…
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The BBC News Magazine has an interesting, accurate, and balanced piece on the KJV out today, called “King James Bible: How it changed the way we speak.” Based largely on works by David Crystal (Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language) and Alister McGrath (In the Beginning: The Story of the King James…
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As the debate about public displays of the Ten Commandments heats up again (also via the AP), this time in Mountain City in Johnson County, Tennessee, I think it’s worth remembering that most people are fighting over an inaccurate translation of the Ten Commandments. In particular, the original Hebrew of the sixth commandment (fifth for…
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Translators frequently have information at their disposal that doesn’t come directly from the text they are translating. Though it’s often tempting, it is nonetheless almost always a mistake to add the additional information into the translation. For example, if a mystery novel starts, “a man was walking by the beach,” the translator should not change…
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Adultery and Matthew 5:32 According to Matthew 5:32, divorcing a woman causes her to commit adultery. But Peter Kirk notices that the new NIV (“NIV 2011”) translation has a new take on the verse. Peter writes: One rather odd change I noticed, which some might attribute to political correctness: in Matthew 5:32 the “adulteress” (1984,…
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