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Categorizing Translations

Discussion in 'Bible Versions & Translations' started by TomVols, Aug 10, 2010.

  1. Rippon

    Rippon Well-Known Member
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    Rick (Superman) Mansfield thinks that the NET Bible is slightly more dynamic than the TNIV. We all know that we shouldn't pull on Superman's cape.
     
  2. Rippon

    Rippon Well-Known Member
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    I'm sure you are selective when it comes to using The Message with young people.
     
  3. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    I admit that I made a mistake on what I quoted. What Nida actually said in various places is that doctrine can determine translation method.
     
    #63 John of Japan, Aug 17, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 17, 2010
  4. Gold Dragon

    Gold Dragon Well-Known Member

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    I would mention that it is a paraphrase (most people know what the word means) and give a quick one line explanation of risks with using a paraphrase, primarily that it is one person's interpretation of the bible.

    I find the Message to be a very useful text in today's North American culture. It will probably be less useful several decades down the road or in many other contexts. As the reader matures in reading ability and sophistication of bible study, I would encourage other translations.
     
  5. Rippon

    Rippon Well-Known Member
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    I'll be quoting from :So Many Versions? by Sakae kubo & Walter Specht. Here is part of what they said on the last page of their 9-page review of the AB.

    The translation apart from the amplification has no great merit. It is characterized by "a determined effort to keep,as far as possible,the familiar wording of the earlier versions." The value is supposed to reside in the amplification. However, as we study the amplification, the great majority of the additions do not really add much. At times, as we have seen, they constitute a private interpretation. It would be much better to take a faithful translation such as the American Standard Version and use a good commentary as needed...There is all too much danger of the ordinary man assuming that the interpretations and amplifications are part of God's revelation. (p.123)


     
  6. glfredrick

    glfredrick New Member

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    Just noting that I understand that some of the Hebrew OT has Aramaic sections. That there were revisions of the "Authorized Version" at all was my point. Not that the revisions were rather inconsequential.

    My apologies... Posting from memory, and I tent to get Wycliffe and Tyndale turned around. Should have checked my facts. I meant Tyndale, who you summarized wonderfully.

    Agreed... Yet KJV proponents act as if that was the first and best (ever) possible translation. Those that came before paid dearly for the privilege of giving a King of England the right to his own "translation."

    Noted from the original 1611 foreword, however:
    Though there are several references to existing translations, they are not noted in the preface as being a part of this new translation by the original staff of King James, saying rather, "did his Majesty begin to bethink himself of the good that might ensue by a new translation..." indicating to the readers that this was a new work.

    No argument from me on the work above. Just noting that we now have a much larger library of ancient texts from which to work.

    Thanks... Indeed, our goal!


    One other issue often comes to mind when thinking about King James and the 1611 version is the historical fact that King James was one of the great persecutors of the "non-conformists" including the early Baptists. Why so many Baptists insist on the KJV translation over other versions seems rather mysterious in light of the fact that the king responsible for the translation did so much to snuff out their existence from the very start.

    Note that I'm not saying that the actual translation is not worthy of use. It is perhaps the most beautiful expression of the English language coupled with the Holy Scriptures that we will likely ever see. But, much other church tradition is driven by historical events and it is a curiosity of mine why the use of this version is not as well.
     
  7. glfredrick

    glfredrick New Member

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    My own issues with the AB mirror those detailed above. I cringe when I see a teacher whip out the Amplified Bible, then start to make a passage read something completely other than what is intended by context by substituting the words in parenthesis as they see fit. :BangHead:
     
  8. TCassidy

    TCassidy Late-Administator Emeritus
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    Okay, thanks for the clarification. That is what I thought you were referring to but I did not want to presume too much. :)
    Yes, KJVOs tend to suffer serious heart failure when I point out that, not only has the KJV gone through at least 3 major revisions, those revisions resulted in at least 136 significant changes that alter the very meaning of the passages.
    Okay. I too have occasional memory lapses. But, being in my 60s I don't remember most of them. :D
    That or they claim the KJV is the 7th English version and claim some mystical (mythical) "perfection" for the number 7. Unfortunately, for them, the KJV is at least the 11th English version, not the 7th.
    That has always made me stop and think. Either they were being deliberately deceptive, which I doubt, or they had a completely different understanding of what a "new translation" was. I tend to think the latter is more likely. A revision of an existing version resulted in a "new translation." If that is, in fact, what the KJV translators believed, then the KJVOs are going to be sorely troubled! There present KJV is a "new translation" removed at least twice from the version of 1611!

    Yep. It is good when the brethren dwell together in peace. :)

    I have often wondered how much of the persecution of Edward Wightman was political, a sop to the Puritans who wielded a lot of power in the early days of King James' reign (Wightman was burned at the stake in 1612). However, I also wonder if he really was a Baptist? He made a lot of statements that are troubling including what appears to be a belief in soul sleep. Remember James was in a political battle with Roman Catholic defenders regarding the "Oath of Allegiance." His avenue of defense was the text of the three great creeds of Christendom, the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Creed of Athanasius. Wightman referred to all three as "the inventions of men" and departed from historic orthodoxy by denying both the Trinity and the Divinity of Christ. I suspect that was the straw that finally broke the camel's, uh, I mean King James', back. :)
     
  9. BobinKy

    BobinKy New Member

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    Thanks for the appraisal from Sakae kubo & Walter Specht. However, as a user of the Amplified Bible for decades--I disagree. :D

    ...Bob :0)
    Kentucky
     
  10. BobinKy

    BobinKy New Member

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    I do not think Mrs. Frances Siewert had anything in mind for the Amplified Bible other than devotional consultation. Please read the introduction to the Amplified Bible, or go to the Lockman Foundation and read the web page on the Amplified Bible

    Thanks for your concern.

    ...Bob :0)
    Kentucky
     
  11. netbible

    netbible New Member

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    you can read the NET bible on line at http://netbible.org and you can download it for free at http://bible.org/downloads or you can buy it at the bible.org store
     
  12. Rippon

    Rippon Well-Known Member
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