Translating the Bible

General Information

Figuring Out a Bible Translation

People sometimes wonder why there are various "Versions" or "Translations" of the Bible. After all, shouldn't smart people be able to figure out how to translate something exactly right? Especially something as important as the Bible, where many thousands of people have been involved?

Well, the problem turns out to be a little harder than that. First of all, many of the source artifacts that we have are incomplete. At some point in history, weather or vandalism or war or just plain age has caused some parts of documents to have disappeared. Next, even though there are several thousand existing (partial) source documents, once in a while, in one of those source documents (which are actually scribe-copied copies of earlier documents), a single character sometimes somehow gets mis-copied by some scribe along the way. After all, by the time that scribe made our source document around a thousand years ago (about as old as most existing documents actually are), that document is a scribe-copy of an earlier scribe-copy of an earlier scribe-copy, etc. All of those scribes were as careful as humans are capable of, and most of them truly believed that they would be banished to Hell if they made even a single copying error! But the Bible contains many hundreds of thousands of characters, and some very minor copying errors have been noted in some of the existing copies of the earlier original Manuscripts.

In addition to this, the actual way the Bible used to be written was quite different from the way we read it today. To give you the "flavor" of the problems, we are presenting Genesis 1 IN ENGLISH here in some historical formats, working our way backward in time as we go. Of course, the original source documents were not in English. Many (over 5,000) are in Greek. Others (over 10,000) are Latin copies of the Vulgate Bible (of about 400 AD). A lesser number are in a variety of other languages.

The Greek documents are particularly important, partly because that was the original language of the New Testament Manuscripts, so there was minimal chance of errors from language translation. Our thoughts below are based on thinking about those Greek language source documents.

Before about 1560 AD and the Genevan New Testament, Bible scripture was not divided into verses. Genesis 1 would then appear (in English) basically like the following:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that [it was] good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, afterour likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold,[it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

That is pretty easy to read and understand, although not quite as much so as our modern Bibles with verses separated and numbered.

Earlier than that, the Greek texts were written without spaces or breaks between words. As an example, the same Genesis 1 would look very different from the above:

InthebeginningGodcreatedtheheavenandtheearthAndtheearthwaswithoutf ormandvoidanddarknesswasuponthefaceofthedeepAndtheSpiritofGodmoved uponthefaceofthewatersAndGodsaidLettherebelightandtherewaslightAnd GodsawthelightthatitwasgoodandGoddividedthelightfromthedarknessAnd GodcalledthelightDayandthedarknesshecalledNightAndtheeveningandthe morningwerethefirstdayAndGodsaidLettherebeafirmamentinthemidstofth ewatersandletitdividethewatersfromthewatersAndGodmadethefirmamenta nddividedthewaterswhichwereunderthefirmamentfromthewaterswhichwere abovethefirmamentanditwassoAndGodcalledthefirmamentHeavenAndtheeve ningandthemorningweretheseconddayAndGodsaidLetthewatersunderthehea venbegatheredtogetheruntooneplaceandletthedrylandappearanditwassoA ndGodcalledthedrylandEarthandthegatheringtogetherofthewaterscalled heSeasandGodsawthatitwasgoodAndGodsaidLettheearthbringforthgrassth eherbyieldingseedandthefruittreeyieldingfruitafterhiskindwhoseseed isinitselfupontheearthanditwassoAndtheearthbroughtforthgrassandher byieldingseedafterhiskindandthetreeyieldingfruitwhoseseedwasinitse lfafterhiskindandGodsawthatitwasgoodAndtheeveningandthemorningwere thethirddayAndGodsaidLettherebelightsinthefirmamentoftheheaventodi videthedayfromthenightandletthembeforsignsandforseasonsandfordaysa ndyearsAndletthembeforlightsinthefirmamentoftheheaventogivelightup ontheearthanditwassoAndGodmadetwogreatlightsthegreaterlighttorulet hedayandthelesserlighttorulethenighthemadethestarsalsoAndGodsetthe minthefirmamentoftheheaventogivelightupontheearthAndtoruleoverthed ayandoverthenightandtodividethelightfromthedarknessandGodsawthatit wasgoodAndtheeveningandthemorningwerethefourthdayAndGodsaidLetthew atersbringforthabundantlythemovingcreaturethathathlifeandfowlthatm ayflyabovetheearthintheopenfirmamentofheavenAndGodcreatedgreatwhal esandeverylivingcreaturethatmovethwhichthewatersbroughtforthabunda ntlyaftertheirkindandeverywingedfowlafterhiskindandGodsawthatitwas goodAndGodblessedthemsayingBefruitfulandmultiplyandfillthewatersin theseasandletfowlmultiplyintheearthAndtheeveningandthemorningweret hefifthdayAndGodsaidLettheearthbringforththelivingcreatureafterhis kindcattleandcreepingthingandbeastoftheearthafterhiskindanditwasso AndGodmadethebeastoftheearthafterhiskindandcattleaftertheirkindand everythingthatcreepethupontheearthafterhiskindandGodsawthatitwasgo odAndGodsaidLetusmakemaninourimageafterourlikenessandletthemhavedo minionoverthefishoftheseaandoverthefowloftheairandoverthecattleand overalltheearthandovereverycreepingthingthatcreepethupontheearthSo GodcreatedmaninhisownimageintheimageofGodcreatedhehimmaleandfemale createdhethemAndGodblessedthemandGodsaiduntothemBefruitfulandmulti plyandreplenishtheearthandsubdueitandhavedominionoverthefishofthes eaandoverthefowloftheairandovereverylivingthingthatmovethupontheea rthAndGodsaidBeholdIhavegivenyoueveryherbbearingseedwhichisuponthe faceofalltheearthandeverytreeinthewhichisthefruitofatreeyieldingse edtoyouitshallbeformeatAndtoeverybeastoftheearthandtoeveryfowlofth eairandtoeverythingthatcreepethupontheearthwhereinthereislifeIhave giveneverygreenherbformeatanditwassoAndGodsaweverythingthathehadma deandbeholditwasverygoodAndtheeveningandthemorningwerethesixthday

OK. That's still somewhat easy to figure out. But, earlier yet, the Greek manuscripts were written without differences of upper and lower cases, so our example text would appear as the following:

inthebeginninggodcreatedtheheavenandtheearthandtheearthwaswithoutf ormandvoidanddarknesswasuponthefaceofthedeepandthespiritofgodmoved uponthefaceofthewatersandgodsaidlettherebelightandtherewaslightand godsawthelightthatitwasgoodandgoddividedthelightfromthedarknessand godcalledthelightdayandthedarknesshecallednightandtheeveningandthe morningwerethefirstdayandgodsaidlettherebeafirmamentinthemidstofth ewatersandletitdividethewatersfromthewatersandgodmadethefirmamenta nddividedthewaterswhichwereunderthefirmamentfromthewaterswhichwere abovethefirmamentanditwassoandgodcalledthefirmamentheavenandtheeve ningandthemorningweretheseconddayandgodsaidletthewatersunderthehea venbegatheredtogetheruntooneplaceandletthedrylandappearanditwassoa ndgodcalledthedrylandearthandthegatheringtogetherofthewaterscalled heseasandgodsawthatitwasgoodandgodsaidlettheearthbringforthgrassth eherbyieldingseedandthefruittreeyieldingfruitafterhiskindwhoseseed isinitselfupontheearthanditwassoandtheearthbroughtforthgrassandher byieldingseedafterhiskindandthetreeyieldingfruitwhoseseedwasinitse lfafterhiskindandgodsawthatitwasgoodandtheeveningandthemorningwere thethirddayandgodsaidlettherebelightsinthefirmamentoftheheaventodi videthedayfromthenightandletthembeforsignsandforseasonsandfordaysa ndyearsandletthembeforlightsinthefirmamentoftheheaventogivelightup ontheearthanditwassoandgodmadetwogreatlightsthegreaterlighttorulet hedayandthelesserlighttorulethenighthemadethestarsalsoandgodsetthe minthefirmamentoftheheaventogivelightupontheearthandtoruleoverthed ayandoverthenightandtodividethelightfromthedarknessandgodsawthatit wasgoodandtheeveningandthemorningwerethefourthdayandgodsaidletthew atersbringforthabundantlythemovingcreaturethathathlifeandfowlthatm ayflyabovetheearthintheopenfirmamentofheavenandgodcreatedgreatwhal esandeverylivingcreaturethatmovethwhichthewatersbroughtforthabunda ntlyaftertheirkindandeverywingedfowlafterhiskindandgodsawthatitwas goodandgodblessedthemsayingbefruitfulandmultiplyandfillthewatersin theseasandletfowlmultiplyintheearthandtheeveningandthemorningweret hefifthdayandgodsaidlettheearthbringforththelivingcreatureafterhis kindcattleandcreepingthingandbeastoftheearthafterhiskindanditwasso andgodmadethebeastoftheearthafterhiskindandcattleaftertheirkindand everythingthatcreepethupontheearthafterhiskindandgodsawthatitwasgo odandgodsaidletusmakemaninourimageafterourlikenessandletthemhavedo minionoverthefishoftheseaandoverthefowloftheairandoverthecattleand overalltheearthandovereverycreepingthingthatcreepethupontheearthso godcreatedmaninhisownimageintheimageofgodcreatedhehimmaleandfemale createdhethemandgodblessedthemandgodsaiduntothembefruitfulandmulti plyandreplenishtheearthandsubdueitandhavedominionoverthefishofthes eaandoverthefowloftheairandovereverylivingthingthatmovethupontheea rthandgodsaidbeholdihavegivenyoueveryherbbearingseedwhichisuponthe faceofalltheearthandeverytreeinthewhichisthefruitofatreeyieldingse edtoyouitshallbeformeatandtoeverybeastoftheearthandtoeveryfowlofth eairandtoeverythingthatcreepethupontheearthwhereinthereislifeihave giveneverygreenherbformeatanditwassoandgodsaweverythingthathehadma deandbeholditwasverygoodandtheeveningandthemorningwerethesixthday

When we get back to about the Ninth Century AD, this Greek text was written in a scriptio continua called MINUSCULE WRITING or Cursives. This had the text not only unspaced but written in a handwritten script where all the letters were connected. The appearance of our example text would now look more like:

inthebeginninggodcreatedtheheavenandtheearthandtheearthwaswithoutf ormandvoidanddarknesswasuponthefaceofthedeepandthespiritofgodmoved uponthefaceofthewatersandgodsaidlettherebelightandtherewaslightand godsawthelightthatitwasgoodandgoddividedthelightfromthedarknessand godcalledthelightdayandthedarknesshecallednightandtheeveningandthe morningwerethefirstdayandgodsaidlettherebeafirmamentinthemidstofth ewatersandletitdividethewatersfromthewatersandgodmadethefirmamenta nddividedthewaterswhichwereunderthefirmamentfromthewaterswhichwere abovethefirmamentanditwassoandgodcalledthefirmamentheavenandtheeve ningandthemorningweretheseconddayandgodsaidletthewatersunderthehea venbegatheredtogetheruntooneplaceandletthedrylandappearanditwassoa ndgodcalledthedrylandearthandthegatheringtogetherofthewaterscalled heseasandgodsawthatitwasgoodandgodsaidlettheearthbringforthgrassth eherbyieldingseedandthefruittreeyieldingfruitafterhiskindwhoseseed isinitselfupontheearthanditwassoandtheearthbroughtforthgrassandher byieldingseedafterhiskindandthetreeyieldingfruitwhoseseedwasinitse lfafterhiskindandgodsawthatitwasgoodandtheeveningandthemorningwere thethirddayandgodsaidlettherebelightsinthefirmamentoftheheaventodi videthedayfromthenightandletthembeforsignsandforseasonsandfordaysa ndyearsandletthembeforlightsinthefirmamentoftheheaventogivelightup ontheearthanditwassoandgodmadetwogreatlightsthegreaterlighttorulet hedayandthelesserlighttorulethenighthemadethestarsalsoandgodsetthe minthefirmamentoftheheaventogivelightupontheearthandtoruleoverthed ayandoverthenightandtodividethelightfromthedarknessandgodsawthatit wasgoodandtheeveningandthemorningwerethefourthdayandgodsaidletthew atersbringforthabundantlythemovingcreaturethathathlifeandfowlthatm ayflyabovetheearthintheopenfirmamentofheavenandgodcreatedgreatwhal esandeverylivingcreaturethatmovethwhichthewatersbroughtforthabunda ntlyaftertheirkindandeverywingedfowlafterhiskindandgodsawthatitwas goodandgodblessedthemsayingbefruitfulandmultiplyandfillthewatersin theseasandletfowlmultiplyintheearthandtheeveningandthemorningweret hefifthdayandgodsaidlettheearthbringforththelivingcreatureafterhis kindcattleandcreepingthingandbeastoftheearthafterhiskindanditwasso andgodmadethebeastoftheearthafterhiskindandcattleaftertheirkindand everythingthatcreepethupontheearthafterhiskindandgodsawthatitwasgo odandgodsaidletusmakemaninourimageafterourlikenessandletthemhavedo minionoverthefishoftheseaandoverthefowloftheairandoverthecattleand overalltheearthandovereverycreepingthingthatcreepethupontheearthso godcreatedmaninhisownimageintheimageofgodcreatedhehimmaleandfemale createdhethemandgodblessedthemandgodsaiduntothembefruitfulandmulti plyandreplenishtheearthandsubdueitandhavedominionoverthefishofthes eaandoverthefowloftheairandovereverylivingthingthatmovethupontheea rthandgodsaidbeholdihavegivenyoueveryherbbearingseedwhichisuponthe faceofalltheearthandeverytreeinthewhichisthefruitofatreeyieldingse edtoyouitshallbeformeatandtoeverybeastoftheearthandtoeveryfowlofth eairandtoeverythingthatcreepethupontheearthwhereinthereislifeihave giveneverygreenherbformeatanditwassoandgodsaweverythingthathehadma deandbeholditwasverygoodandtheeveningandthemorningwerethesixthday

Finally, we might as well look at what this sort of situation would have looked like in Greek, except we don't have available a computer font that can represent connected Greek script:

inthebeginninggodcreatedtheheavenandtheearthandtheearthwaswithoutf ormandvoidanddarknesswasuponthefaceofthedeepandthespiritofgodmoved uponthefaceofthewatersandgodsaidlettherebelightandtherewaslightand godsawthelightthatitwasgoodandgoddividedthelightfromthedarknessand godcalledthelightdayandthedarknesshecallednightandtheeveningandthe morningwerethefirstdayandgodsaidlettherebeafirmamentinthemidstofth ewatersandletitdividethewatersfromthewatersandgodmadethefirmamenta nddividedthewaterswhichwereunderthefirmamentfromthewaterswhichwere abovethefirmamentanditwassoandgodcalledthefirmamentheavenandtheeve ningandthemorningweretheseconddayandgodsaidletthewatersunderthehea venbegatheredtogetheruntooneplaceandletthedrylandappearanditwassoa ndgodcalledthedrylandearthandthegatheringtogetherofthewaterscalled heseasandgodsawthatitwasgoodandgodsaidlettheearthbringforthgrassth eherbyieldingseedandthefruittreeyieldingfruitafterhiskindwhoseseed isinitselfupontheearthanditwassoandtheearthbroughtforthgrassandher byieldingseedafterhiskindandthetreeyieldingfruitwhoseseedwasinitse lfafterhiskindandgodsawthatitwasgoodandtheeveningandthemorningwere thethirddayandgodsaidlettherebelightsinthefirmamentoftheheaventodi videthedayfromthenightandletthembeforsignsandforseasonsandfordaysa ndyearsandletthembeforlightsinthefirmamentoftheheaventogivelightup ontheearthanditwassoandgodmadetwogreatlightsthegreaterlighttorulet hedayandthelesserlighttorulethenighthemadethestarsalsoandgodsetthe minthefirmamentoftheheaventogivelightupontheearthandtoruleoverthed ayandoverthenightandtodividethelightfromthedarknessandgodsawthatit wasgoodandtheeveningandthemorningwerethefourthdayandgodsaidletthew atersbringforthabundantlythemovingcreaturethathathlifeandfowlthatm ayflyabovetheearthintheopenfirmamentofheavenandgodcreatedgreatwhal esandeverylivingcreaturethatmovethwhichthewatersbroughtforthabunda ntlyaftertheirkindandeverywingedfowlafterhiskindandgodsawthatitwas goodandgodblessedthemsayingbefruitfulandmultiplyandfillthewatersin theseasandletfowlmultiplyintheearthandtheeveningandthemorningweret hefifthdayandgodsaidlettheearthbringforththelivingcreatureafterhis kindcattleandcreepingthingandbeastoftheearthafterhiskindanditwasso andgodmadethebeastoftheearthafterhiskindandcattleaftertheirkindand everythingthatcreepethupontheearthafterhiskindandgodsawthatitwasgo odandgodsaidletusmakemaninourimageafterourlikenessandletthemhavedo minionoverthefishoftheseaandoverthefowloftheairandoverthecattleand overalltheearthandovereverycreepingthingthatcreepethupontheearthso godcreatedmaninhisownimageintheimageofgodcreatedhehimmaleandfemale createdhethemandgodblessedthemandgodsaiduntothembefruitfulandmulti plyandreplenishtheearthandsubdueitandhavedominionoverthefishofthes eaandoverthefowloftheairandovereverylivingthingthatmovethupontheea rthandgodsaidbeholdihavegivenyoueveryherbbearingseedwhichisuponthe faceofalltheearthandeverytreeinthewhichisthefruitofatreeyieldingse edtoyouitshallbeformeatandtoeverybeastoftheearthandtoeveryfowlofth eairandtoeverythingthatcreepethupontheearthwhereinthereislifeihave giveneverygreenherbformeatanditwassoandgodsaweverythingthathehadma deandbeholditwasverygoodandtheeveningandthemorningwerethesixthday

This is only Genesis 1, a tiny portion of the Bible. If you were a Monk responsible for precisely copying about 300 times this much text, in that connected (English) script format above, by hand, one character at a time, are you SURE that your entire copy would be absolutely free of even a single copyist error?

An Experiment

If you're part of a Bible Study Group or some other Christian Small Group, why not try hand copying just this Genesis 1 (not the Greek text, but the script style continuous text) as carefully as you can. Then give YOUR copy to a different member of the group to copy. Then THAT copy would be given to a third person, and so on through the Group. Once everyone has copied their given source text as precisely as possible, you would finally get back a final copy. As long as all of you had done a perfect job of copying, that final copy should read EXACTLY like the original. But it will probably have at least a few minor variations. Even though each of you copyists are familiar with the Genesis story, and even though each of you was extremely careful, small errors are bound to appear. Such an experiment definitely increases one's respect for the multitude of anonymous Scribes that copied the Bible over the many centuries.

The situation with the Bible and its extensive size seems like it would have caused massive copyist errors over the centuries because of the scale of the task and the format that is being copied. It is truly a sign of how incredibly careful the copyists all were that there were as few (minor) errors as are found in a few of the manuscripts. Fortunately for us, there are so many source manuscripts that exist that the few variations that have been found have been checked in all the source documents and scholars are now extremely certain of the accuracy of modern translations.

As an additional element to think about, many early Old Testament source manuscripts are written in Hebrew. Before about 900 AD, Hebrew was written without any vowels! Can you imagine the possibilities of what might happen if copyists were even slightly careless? By the way, this is closely related to YHWH, the Name of God, becoming Yahowah or Jehovah (or Yahweh), when the vowels from Adonai (another ancient Name for God) were inserted into YHWH.

This discussion has been presented so you might better appreciate the amazing efforts put forth by the many copyists of the Bible Manuscripts over the centuries, and also in the task that Bible translators face in making sure they have the absolutely most accurate translation that can be made. It's not quite as easy as translating Buenos Dias into Hello! (even though that phrase could equally mean goodbye!)

Finally, we have really only been considering here the difficulties of perfect copying (for the scribes) and in confirming the perfect accuracy (for the Bible scholars). There is yet another level of complication in the translators' job. Many ancient words had several different meanings, often very different from each other. We created a separate little presentation to give you a taste of that aspect of the problem, at Literal Translation.

subject=Translate_Bible

translatebible

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email