The debate between “formal equivalence” and “functional equivalence” has come up again at BBB, this time in the comment thread to a post about David Ker’s The Bible Wasn’t Written To You. (It’s a free e-book. Take a look.) Dannii started the debate with a reference to his post “In which I ask if there’s…
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Judge Not “Judge not…” Most people are familiar with this famous verse from Matthew 7:1 (and the similar Luke 6:37), and know that the full line runs along the lines of “Judge not, that you be not judged” (ESV). The content of the line is pretty easy to understand, but the poetry is very hard…
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In a comment on Dr. Claude Mariottini’s excellent blog, a reader named Daniel asks: “Since we have cleared up centuries of inferior translating, and presumably inferior application, now we should do …?” It’s an excellent question. Normally when we find a better way of doing things, we move on: “Out with the old and in…
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I’m thrilled to announce the beta version of my latest project: Exploring the Bible videos. The site is a growing collection of short text-based videos about the Bible, frequently focusing on translation issues. The first three videos (also available on YouTube) are: John 3:16 – What does “God so loved the world” really mean? Quiz:…
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CNN’s belief blog has an interesting story about a request by PETA not to call animals “it” in Bible translations: PETA is hoping the [NIV’s] move toward greater gender inclusiveness will continue toward animals as well. “When the Bible moves toward inclusively in one area [human gender -JMH] … it wasn’t much of a stretch…
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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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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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Zondervan has a chart (reproduced immediately below at right) suggesting that effectively conveying both the form and meaning of the original Biblical documents is the best way to reflect the original reading experience. I disagree, and I think that Zondervan’s approach represents a common and fundamental misunderstanding about how form works. Form and Meaning For…
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