The bible was originally written in Greek and Hebrew. We have very ancient texts from which to translate. There are not many real problems in translation, but there is a sentence here and there that is hard to translate.
There are a few different theories of translation, or perhaps I should say methods. One is to attempt a word for word translation. This can be hard to read, and from Greek you can get close but it is very hard. In Greek word order is not important at all. Or .. In Greek word order no difference makes. If you did an actual word for word translation in the same order, most sentences would make no sense. But still it is possible to get pretty close to a word for word type translation. The NASB does this, and some other translations do
as well.
Another theory is that the meaning is what matters more than the literal words. In this case translators try to translate thought for thought, instead of word for word. This may not be as technically accurate, but it does make the meaning more clear at times. It is often easier to read as well. The NIV is a good example of this type of translation.
A third way is the paraphrase, which is not really a translation at all. A paraphrase just puts it in other words. There is little thought given to technical accuracy and the attempt is to just put the meaning into words the reader can understand. The Living Bible and the Message are good examples of this type of work.
Even in saying this, there is a little bit of all three in any translation. Now technical accuracy is important, but keep in mind, that the important thing is that the reader understand what is written.. If you are technically accurate, but no one can understand it, it is not worth much.
Support the site. Click here to get 30 percent off on wall calendars, and other theme related calendars.
