Translating Scripture

Translating Scripture

There are many translations of the Bible. Some feel strongly about one or the other. In this little article, I want to discuss Bible translation using Romans 12:2. Before we begin, please understand that I am not a Bible translator. I am not an expert in the ancient languages. These are simply my thoughts and observations after many years of personal Bible study and teaching.

Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (NKJV)

Translation is an interesting process. Often it seems that a literal word for word rendering of a document will result in the most accurate communication of the thought expressed by the original writer. This is not always the case, however.

Here is Romans 12:2 word for word in English exactly as it is written in Greek. This is what you might find in a traditional interlinear Bible:

“And not to conform to the age this but to transform the renewal the mind so that the to approve you what the will the God the good and pleasing acceptable and perfect.”

Knowing the rules of grammar in both the ancient language (Greek in this case) and the modern language (English for our purposes), the translators correct the text to make basic sense to modern readers.

The result of this is what you commonly see in reverse interlinear Bibles. A reverse interlinear Bible keeps the words in the order in which they occur using the English translation as the guide. Consequently, the Greek and Hebrew words are reordered to match the English, making it much easier to explore the original languages.

This causes Romans 12:2 to read in this way, “be you not conformed age to this, but be you transformed by the renewing of the mind of you, for the to prove you what the will of God the good and well-pleasing and perfect.”

As you can see, correcting sentence structure by making obvious changes to grammar and syntax helps, but often that is not enough. The difficulty in translating the true meaning of a sentence is a primary reason for translations like NIV (New International Version) or NLT (New Living Translation).

These translations of the Bible do not use formal equivalence (sometimes inaccurately called “literal”, or “word-for-word”) renderings of the original text. Instead, they employ dynamic equivalence (sometimes, inaccurately, called “sense-for-sense” or “thought for thought”) translations.

This is often helpful in clarifying difficult concepts, but like rigid formally-equivalent renderings, it is not always completely trustworthy. Since the translators are doing their best to get the point across, those translator’s points of view necessarily influence the way the passage is ultimately rendered.

By speaking of the translators’ points of view influencing the ultimate rendering of passages, I am not referring primarily to their theological or doctrinal point of view. Rather I am primarily speaking of their understanding of the ancient languages and their common usage at the time and in the region the text was written. Different translators can view a difficult grammatical construct in different ways and they can disagree, based on the available evidence, about the best way to render a passage in modern language.

In modern translations, this problem is greatly mitigated by the use of translation committees. These committees are typically formed by drawing scholars from a broad range of traditions and even ethnic and national backgrounds. This helps greatly in resolving such difficult questions and protecting the integrity of the manuscript texts.

Those tasked with translating scripture have a herculean task and they are extremely careful and sincere in their work. We must be very slow to cast any aspersions upon them even if we ultimately disagree with some of the product of their work.

Here is Romans 12:2 from the King James Version, 1900 edition:

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Here is the Romans 12:2 as it is rendered in the NLT: Romans 12:2 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

I have always felt the more literal translations of this verse, like King James (KJV/AV) and New American Standard (NASB), were unclear and difficult to understand. On the other hand, I think the more dynamic translations like the NLT sometimes miss the point being expressed in the passage.

The Amplified Bible works to address this by adding parenthetical words that bring out the different shades of meaning found in the original Greek. Sometimes that is quite helpful. Other times it can go too far.

Here is the verse again. This time from the New King James Version:

Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (NKJV)

The word translated “prove” here is δοκιμάζω, (dokimazō). It carries the sense of “test with a positive outcome,” “test so as to approve.” (NET notes).

Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament defines it as “to test, examine, prove, scrutinize (to see whether a thing be genuine or not), 2) to recognize as genuine after examination, to approve, deem worthy.

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament – Volume II (Kittle) has it, "tested in battle," "reliable," "trustworthy," "a man who is tested, significant, recognised, esteemed, worthy" or "an object which is tested, genuine or valuable".

We find the same word in 1 Peter 1:7. In that passage, the NIV correctly renders it “proved genuine”. 1 Peter 1:7 (NIV) “These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire (this is another form of the same word, by the way—refined by fire, or proven as to its quality by heating it) may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Here again is our passage. This time as I might render it:

Romans 12:2 (Larry Eiss paraphrase) “And do not, simply by default, allow yourself to be conformed to the way this world system thinks and how it views things, but instead, be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may examine the will of God and recognize it as genuine and fully trustworthy. In this way, you will come to trust fully that Father’s will for you is that which is good, and acceptable, and perfect.”

I hope this helps you understand both the complexity and the benefit of Bible translations.

We can trust Abba’s heart. His will for you and me is good, acceptable, and perfect.