Can I Trust the Bible? (Part 2)

Imagine receiving a letter written by someone you love, but the letter is written in a language you do not understand. The words may carry a meaningful message, but without understanding the language, you cannot fully appreciate what has been written.

What would you need?

You would need someone who understands that language to communicate the same message in a language you understand.

That is the purpose of translation.

Translation is the process of expressing a message from one language in another language. The goal is not to create a new message, but to make the original message understandable to people who speak a different language.

This helps us understand why there are so many translations of the Bible today.

In the previous article, we saw how God preserved the Bible through the ages. The original manuscripts written by the biblical authors were carefully copied and passed down through generations as manuscripts. Through these manuscripts, the message of Scripture has been preserved and made available for translation into languages people can understand today.

The Bible Was Written in Ancient Languages

The Bible was not originally written in English.

The Old Testament was written mainly in Hebrew, with some portions in Aramaic, while the New Testament was written in Greek. These were the languages spoken by the people who first received the Scriptures.

However, as the message of Scripture spread beyond its original setting, people from different nations and cultures needed to hear God's Word in their own languages.

A person living thousands of years later should not have to learn ancient Hebrew or Greek before they can understand God's Word. Therefore, the Bible was translated into other languages so that people everywhere could read and understand it.

The existence of different translations does not mean there are different Bibles. It means that the same message has been communicated to people in different languages.

Why Are There Different English Translations?

Someone may ask:

"If the Bible has already been translated into English, why are there so many different English translations?"

This is a good question because even within the same language, people express ideas in different ways.

For example, one person may say, "I am very tired," while another may say, "I am exhausted." The words are different, but the meaning is the same.

The same principle applies to the English Bible translations. Translators work from the same ancient manuscripts, but they may make different choices about how best to communicate the meaning of those manuscripts in modern English.

The differences between English translations are often not because translators disagree about God's Word. Rather, they reflect different ways of expressing the same meaning clearly.

Different Approaches to Translation

Translating the Bible involves careful decisions because languages do not always work in the same way.

Some translations aim to stay as close as possible to the wording and structure of the original languages. This approach is often described as word-for-word translation. It helps readers examine the details of the original text and can be especially useful for deeper study.

Other translations focus more on communicating the meaning of the original text in clear and natural language. This approach is often described as thought-for-thought translation. It helps readers understand the message more easily, especially when ancient expressions may not be familiar to modern readers.

Both approaches are valuable. One places greater emphasis on preserving the form of the original language, while the other places greater emphasis on just communicating the meaning.

What This Means for Us

The existence of hundreds of Bible translations is not evidence that God's Word is unreliable. Rather, it is evidence that God's Word has travelled across languages, cultures and generations.

The Scriptures that were first written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek have been faithfully communicated to people around the world in languages they can understand.

God's desire has always been for people to know Him. Through faithful preservation and careful translation, His Word continues to reach generations of people.

The question, therefore, is not simply which translation we read.

The greater question is whether we will take time to understand God's Word, believe its message and allow it to shape our lives.