Bible Basics
THE POINT: As intelligent and excellent disciples, we need to understand the some basic truths about the Bible.
Old Testament has 39 books |Written in Hebrew |(some portions in Aramaic)
New Testament has 27 books |Written in Greek
ACCURACY OF THE BIBLE
· The Old Testament was not just passed on verbally. Written language pre-dates the flood of Noah.
· Moses was taught to read and write in the court of Pharaoh.
· The New Testament was written by eye-witnesses during a time when other eye-witnesses were still alive to refute any discrepancies.
· There are over 5,000 copies of the
New Testament (or portions of it)
which date to within 150 years of the lives of the 12 Apostles.
· History records that most of the apostles were martyred (murdered) because of their faith. If they had been making this up, you’d think they at least one of them would have confessed.
LITERAL (Word For Word) TRANSLATION
· King James (KJV, NKJV)
· Revised Standard (RSV, NRSV)
· New American Standard (NAS)
ADVANTAGE: Very accurate wording (word for word)
PROBLEM: The words may be correct, but that may not transfer the meaning properly.
KING JAMES ENGLISH IS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
1 Samuel 8:16
And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. [KJV]
James 2:3-4 (KJV)
And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
LITERAL (WORD FOR WORD) TRANSLATION
1 Samuel 8:16 (NKJV)
And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work.
James 2:3-5 (NKJV)
and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, "You sit here in a good place," and say to the poor man, "You stand there," or, "Sit here at my footstool," have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE (PHRASE BY PHRASE)
New International (NIV)
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
New English (NET1)
ADVANTAGE: Accurate meanings and phrases
PROBLEM: Phrases are more subjective, may be influenced by politics more than inspiration
1 Samuel 8:16
Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. [NIV]
|
|
James 2:3-4 (NIV)
If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
OPEN TRANSLATION (paraphrase)
Phillips Translation, The Message, Open Bible, Living Bible, New Living Translation, Amplified Version
ADVANTAGE: Very Understandable
PROBLEM: Not necessarily as literally accurate
1 Samuel 8:16 (NLT)
He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle and donkeys for his own use.
James 2:3-4 (NLT)
If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?
1 Samuel 8:16
Your prize workers and best animals he'll take for his own use. (MSG)
James 2:3-4 (MSG)
and you say to the man in the suit, "Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!" and either ignore the street person or say, "Better sit here in the back row," haven't you segregated God's children and proved that you are judges who can't be trusted?
WHO OWNS THE BIBLE?
- New American Standard is owned by the Lockman Foundation.
- New King James is owned by Thomas Nelson Inc.
- New Living Translation is owned by Tyndale House Publishing.
- New International Version is owned by Zondervan Publishing, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.
- The Message is owned by Eugene Peterson.
New English Translation is owned by Bible.org
Holman Christian Standard Bible is owned by LifeWay (Southern Baptist Convention)
- Inspired Version: Mormons
- New World Translation: Jehovah's Witnesses
HELPFUL TOOLS
· Parallel translation
(choose one with 2 different TYPES of translation)
· Bible Dictionaries/Encyclopedias
· Biblegateway.org
· Bible Software – I like www.wordsearchbible.com
WHAT THEN SHALL WE DO?
· Own at least one Bible that you can clearly understand.
· Consider owning at least one Bible of each of the 3 styles, and using them as a primary study aid.
· If you don’t have Bible software, go to Bible.org and download one of the free versions.
· Go to BibleGateway.org and read your favorite verse in every version they have.
· If you own a smart phone or PDA, it should have Bible software on it.
|
