The Validity of Ancient and Modern Translations of the Bible

You do not have to look far to see differences in translation between one Bible and another. Why are there differences, and does the fact that there are differences mean that translations aren’t valid? These, and similar questions, are very important questions to have answers for. After all, if our translations aren’t accurate, how can we possibly know the truth? Most people don’t have the time to learn one foreign language much less three.

Some argue that if you can’t read the original languages (Hebrew, Greek, and a little bit of Aramaic), then you simply aren’t getting the truth that Scripture teaches. While I agree that knowledge of the original languages is immensely beneficial, it is by no means necessary. Why is that? It is simple. Our translations, overall, are accurate translations of the original languages. To begin with, I want to address a brief overview of the history of the transmission of the Bible.

The Bible as we know it likely started with oral transmission at least in the case of Genesis, Job, and the Gospels. The Epistles, being letters, were obviously written first and then disseminated. Though we can be reasonably sure that these would have quickly been memorized due to the culture at the time and the cost involved with copying. That said, we have enough pieces of manuscripts that they clearly also put a lot of money and effort into making sure the letters were copied along with the rest of Scripture. Contrary to what might be assumed about oral transmission being unreliable, J. P. Moreland writes, “Detailed studies have been done on such cultures, and we have learned that in contrast with contemporary Western culture, people were capable of memorizing a lot of information easily and passing it on carefully and without significant change.”¹ From there, we see that early Christianity went on to painstakingly make copies of the original autographs. There is very little change between earlier copies and newer copies. Though there were other translations prior to Latin, the Catholic Church made Latin the only allowed translation. This went on for roughly 800 years before there started to be pushback against this rule. Subsequently, translations in English and German began to be written both from Latin and also from the original Hebrew and Greek. Since then, translations have continued to be written in many languages though English has the most by far.

Even though the original documents are not recoverable, we can be reasonably sure that the texts we use are reliable. This is primarily due to how the documents were copied. The Jews in particular have prided themselves on making sure that the Old Testament stays as it was written originally. The New Testament was treated similarly. The documents that we have demonstrate little in the way of change. Additionally, the Bible has the most surviving documents of any book in the world by far. Not only are there thousands of copies of the New Testament alone, but we also have fragments that date to within 100 years of when they were originally written. Newer documents match up to these with a high degree of accuracy. In contrast, the Iliad, which is the second-place book regarding surviving documents, has less than 700 surviving copies. These copies have more variation in them as well.

Modern translations differ for a variety of reasons. Most translators do their best to translate accurately what the original languages say. However, there are some who approach translation more as a means of making Scripture match their own theology than being true to the text. That said, even those who are doing their best to translate accurately still have some differences. Some translators approach the translation from a literal word-for-word angle. They seek to find the best single English word that matches the Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic words. On the other side, we have those who approach the translation from a thought-for-thought angle. Additionally, the original languages have a wide range of meanings that one word can mean based on the context. For example, דוד (dod/David) can mean “beloved,” “uncle,” and “David” among others depending on the context. It is up to translators to determine which translation fits best based on the context. There is some level of interpretation to this which means that it is possible for the translators to be wrong. Thus, we should use translations with the knowledge that they aren’t perfect. Any given translation is going to have some inaccuracies. Comparing translations can be a good way of dealing with some of these inaccuracies, especially when the reader is lacking in knowledge of the original languages themselves.

¹ J. P. Moreland, Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul (Colorado Springs, NavPress, 2012), 204.