How Much Paraphrase? Revisited
January 18, 2024 at 11:39 am | Posted in English Bible Translations, Questions for Pastor Glenn | 1 CommentMy article and chart called “How Much Paraphrase” recently received an inquiry asking the criteria I used for the chart. I sent a short response to the effect, as the article states, that it was a subjective process. Personally, I don’t think it can be a scientific process. The comment seems to imply that more literal means more accurate. To the credit of the man asking, he sent me a separate email and doesn’t seem to equate those things in it. Below is my long response to that question, if indeed it is believed that literal means accurate.
Thanks for your inquiry into my blog about literal and paraphrase Bible translations. I have a couple of responses.
Since you are from a country where numerous languages are spoken, and are studying English Bible history, I assume you are fluent in at least two, and maybe more, languages. I admire that; languages have always been a struggle for me. I tease that I have trouble learning only one. Certainly then you know that accuracy and literal in translation are different things. Sometimes figures of speech and localization of words make literal translations impossible to understand. As an extreme example, do you know the old English phrase “don’t beat a dead horse”? In some languages, maybe one you know well, a literal translation of that phrase would be meaningless. Depending on the context of that phrase, the most accurate translation would be something like, “stop going over the same material again and again,” or “quit arguing a position that’s proven to be false,” or “I’ve already made up my mind about it, so stop pleading,” etc.
By literal many people mean word-for-word translation. You know that words in one language have a range of meaning that may not directly overlap the range of meanings in another language. Another example would be the English word “trunk.” What is a literal translation of that word? In my culture it can mean the fattest part of a tree; the nose of an elephant; the storage area in the back of a car; a storage box; someone’s body; the main artery of a river; and in plural can mean a man’s swimsuit or his underwear! That word requires a broad context to understand, and sometimes, to be accurate, a slight paraphrase would be better. That’s why lexicons often give many potential translations for any given word.
Also, grammars differ from language to language. So sometimes a different tense or voice can require different words in another language for accuracy in translation. For instance the New Testament book of First John has numerous continuous present verbs that don’t translate into simple English presents, otherwise you would read things like, “No one who is born of God sins.” That’s why many translations say something like, “No one who is born of God practices sin.” This is an accurate translation but can’t be called a very literal one, since the word “practice” is not in the original
With that understanding, I made my chart, as it says in the article, from a strictly subjective standpoint. This is what I said there, in case you found the chart and not the article, “Of course, this was a very subjective process, and I, in all my depravity, was the subject! Other readers might assign the scores in a completely different way than I did, and I might do the numbers differently today, but this will give you an idea of where I place various versions of the Bible.” The whole point was to give readers an idea of where various translations fall, and not present a scientific analysis.
Book Review: “Veritas, A Harvard Professor, a con man, and the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” by Ariel Sabar
June 21, 2021 at 9:05 am | Posted in Books and Movies | Leave a commentTags: #gospelofjesuswife
In 2012 a papyrus fragment appeared, which came to be called the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife. That Jesus made reference to a possible wife made a huge splash in the secular news. The Harvard professor who championed it claimed that it’s early date (supposedly 4th Century) had been verified by scholars. It turned out the fragment was a forgery, but enough scholars bought into its authenticity that many other scholars accepted it as genuine. It took two amateur sleuths and a research journalist to prove it was fake. This is the journalist’s story. Though very detailed and long, I read every word with fascination.
It turns out, at least according to author Ariel Sabar, that Karen King, the Harvard professor, was duped because she bought into a postmodern view of history. Sabar, who never claims in the book to be a Christian, points out that the fragrant either was written in the Fourth Century or it wasn’t. But to Dr. King, that didn’t matter so much as how people interpret it today. If it supported a moral cause, then it had value whether factual or not. “In other words, a thing was true not if it was real; it was true if — in Karen’s estimation — it was a moral good.” (p. 325) Of course “moral good” is defined by Dr. King’s feminist and theological liberal views.
Dr. King’s bias played into everything said about this papyrus fragment. “King wanted it both ways: she sought to expose the Church’s ‘facts’ as positions while promoting her own positions as facts. She needed a double standard — one that permitted stories she judged virtuous to pass as true, regardless of the underlying evidence, while denying the same narratives she found unethical or ‘operationally ineffective.’” (p. 334)
Our confidence in the New Testament comes from the vast support it gets from manuscripts, whether small fragments or whole books, that scholars from all perspectives agree are ancient manuscripts, a few going back as far as the second Century. No ancient book has even a tiny percentage of the manuscript evidence the New Testament has.
When these events make a stir in the news, remember that we are talking about one manuscript or fragment that, even if proved to be ancient, has no other historical support to back it. The books of the New Testament have thousands of historical documents backing them.
A fascinating read. Pick it up if you’re interested in these kinds of things.
1992 Honda — A God Story
March 22, 2021 at 1:56 pm | Posted in Personal Testimony, Prayer, Uncategorized | Leave a commentEvery once in a while something comes along that is so clearly a unique God story it has to be told.
For the past five years, I’ve been driving a 1992 Honda Civic that now has 183,000 miles on it. It seems to run fine, but it has a few unique quirks, like back doors that don’t open; door locks that only move when you wiggle the door handle; dash lights that don’t come on, except the emergency brake light, which is always on; etc. It needs new tires and a new battery, and a few other maintenance matters.
On Saturday, one week ago, I told Cathy we needed to decide if we were going to put $500 or $600 into a car we paid $1000 for so it would run a few more years, or if it was time to move on to something else. We even said it’s been a blessing for us, so maybe we should pass it on to bless someone else.
On Sunday, the very next day, our doorbell rang, and the man standing outside asked if there was any chance that Honda was for sale! How often does that happen? I was rather surprised, but maintained my composure well enough to say it might be. I told him all the problems and quirks it has and the money it will take to get it up to speed, but he was still interested, so I took his number.
When I called him a few days later, he said he was driving a borrowed car, and needed something reliable to get to work, and wasn’t concerned about all the little quirks. Turns out he’s a Jesus follower (Yeshua as he said; he attends a Messianic church). When I told him we were praying about what to do with the car and asked why he was impressed to stop and inquire about it, he said he had been praying for a car, was in our neighborhood to see another vehicle, saw the Honda, and just had a strong impression to ask.
He really was in need, and after reviewing with him all the money he would have to put into it in the near future, he asked what the price was. When I said, “Because you have such a need for a car, we’ll sell it for $100,” he got real quiet for a moment, Then he said, “That is an amazing blessing!”
His prayer for a cheap, reliable vehicle was answered, and our prayer about what to do with the Honda was answered the day after we prayed it. To me it is an amazing story
Never Cast Out
March 1, 2021 at 5:57 pm | Posted in Devotional thoughts, It's All About God, Personal Testimony, Security and Assurance | Leave a commentThere was such great feedback on Sunday’s message it must have hit a nerve with many people. It certainly did with me! It’s now available both in video and audio versions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDWd7Zjhx1s
https://www.village-church.org/the-bread-of-life
If anyone ever reads this who knows Vance Grace, the author of the book I quote. Have him get in touch with me through this blog. I would love to visit with him and learn the rest of the story.
Thanks in Times of Trouble
September 8, 2020 at 9:35 am | Posted in Devotional thoughts, Worship | Leave a commentTags: #thanksgiving
We’ve been praying through Psalms 50-57 the past week, and I made an interesting observation that I’ve never seen before. Every Psalm that gives something about David fleeing from Saul, or being found by Saul, as the occasion for being written includes a mention of his giving thanks.
Psalm 50 kicks off this section. This was written by Aspah and not David, but it is a great beginning for what follows. Asaph tells us that God is the judge of the universe and our response should be “Offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.” (14) He ends the psalm with “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.” (23)
Psalm 52 is a “Maskil of David when Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, ‘David has come to the house of Ahimelech.'” And it ends with “I will thank you forever, because you have done it.” (9)
Psalm 54 is a “Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, ‘Is not David hiding among us?'” But near the end it says “With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.” (6)
Psalm 56 is “A Miktam of David when the Philistines seized him in Gath” Yet it ends with “I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you. For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.” (12-13)
Finally Psalm 57 says “A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.” It ends with “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!” (9-11)
Maybe this should be instructive for us, as we face troubles in our lives. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.
No Mistaken Identity
September 10, 2019 at 12:31 pm | Posted in Grace and Faith, It's All About God, Security and Assurance | Leave a commentWe just finished a sermons series called “No Mistaken Identity.” Each week we took a biblical word that describes who we are, if we trust in Jesus Christ. We defined those words and studied them in the Bible. Then each week we read a “major truth” defining who we are. What follows is all the major truths we read with the passage we studied that day. I hope this summary is a good reminder for you.
Justification: By his grace, God has declared me not guilty. My righteousness is not based on what I do but on what God has done. Romans 3:21-26
Forgiveness: By his grace, all my sins against God have been cancelled and will not be held against me. Colossians 2:13-14
Redemption: By his grace, I was delivered from the slavery of sin and am free to serve and worship God. Colossians 1:13-14
Regeneration: By God’s grace, I am a new creation who has been born again. Titus 3:3-7
Reconciliation: By his grace, I have an intimate relationship with God and can introduce others to Him. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
The Plain Language of Scripture
March 21, 2019 at 4:13 pm | Posted in Grace and Faith, It's All About God, Questions for Pastor Glenn, Security and Assurance, Theology | Leave a commentI have been preaching through the spiritual blessings we have in Jesus, as they are spelled out in Ephesians 1:3-14. Throughout the series I have encouraged the congregation to accept the plain words of the Bible even when they are hard to understand or hard to accept. Because the first two of these blessings are so hard for some to accept, I took time to go through the Bible and show how these two blessings are not stand-alone scriptures but are spelled out clearly in other places. I wanted to get those notes written out here as well, for future reference.
The first of the six spiritual blessings we have in Jesus is that God chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him. The second is that we were predestined to adoption as his children. The language is very clear, and no other translation of the words is really possible.
Below are some other passages of scripture that also teach this doctrine. I know this is lengthy, but its very length is what adds so much support to the case. Let the plain truth of God’s Word speak.
Genesis 25:23. Jacob was chosen over his brother even before they were born. See also Romans 9:13 quoting Malachi 1:2-3.
Genesis 45:5, 7, 8. God not only ordains the steps of nations, but also of individuals. Joseph could say (three times) that God sent him to Egypt.
Jeremiah 1:4-5. Jeremiah was chosen to be a prophet even before he was born. Thus the Old Testament shows a pattern of God choosing people before they choose him.
John 6:37, 44. Jesus said “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,” and “All that the Father gives me will come to me.”
John 17:2. On a related note, Jesus said in his priestly prayer, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.” Coming to Jesus is something we cannot do apart from a work of God in our lives to draw us to him.
John 15:16. Jesus said to his disciples, “You did not choose me but I chose you and appointed you . . .”
Acts 9:4, 15. Paul was God’s chosen instrument long before he accepted the Gospel. In fact he was hell-bent on destroying the followers of Jesus, yet Jesus said, “He is a chosen instrument of mine.” So Ananias could say to him, “The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth.” (Acts 22:14) And that’s why Paul could say God had set him apart before he was born (Galatians 1:15-16)
Acts 2:39. Peter’s Pentecost message ended with these words “The promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord God calls to himself.” Not the other way around, “everyone who calls on the Lord God,” as I so often read it in my earlier years.
Acts 13:48. After Paul’s first recorded sermon, Luke tells us that “all who were appointed to eternal life believed.” Again it’s not the other way around — it’s not “all who believed were appointed to eternal life.”
Acts 16:14. The Lord opened Lydia’s heart to accept the words of Paul. And so she became the first known convert of the Western Hemisphere. It took a work of God before she responded
Acts 18:10. Before they were converts, Jesus spoke of the people in Corinth, “And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.’”
2 Thessalonians 2:13. “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” God chose you to be saved — pretty clear. NOTE 1 This is not deliverance from the antichrist, as someone tried to tell me, because he clearly spells out what he means by salvation; it’s sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. Not one word study I checked (five of them) or commentary (seven of those) listed that idea as even a possibility for this passage. It clearly means spiritual salvation. NOTE 2 The ESV says “God chose you as the firstfuits,” but it also could be translated “God chose you from the beginning,” (see NIV, NASB, KJV, NKJV, HCSV) which makes the point even more clearly.
2 Timothy 1:9-10. God “has saved us and called us to a holy life — not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.”
Revelation 13:8, 17:8. Who will worship the Beast? “All who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” “And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.” Those who might point out that the Greek of these passages says “from” and not “before” should note that the verbs are perfect tense. In other words, it doesn’t mean “names that were written since the beginning until now,” but “names that already stood written at the beginning.” That’s why some translations not incorrectly use “before;” it clarifies the meaning in English.
Revelation 17:14. I taught this to my New Testament students as the theme verse of Revelation. “They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings — and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”
The language of these passages should cause us to worship in awe a God of such incredible grace. We deserve nothing, but God has chosen us of his grace.
God’s Perspective
December 12, 2018 at 5:29 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentWhen I read some of my scholarly commentaries for sermon preparation, I expect to learn lots of background information and word study knowledge, but sometimes I am pleasantly surprised, when in the midst of that, I also find some profound devotional thoughts. Here are two from a commentary on Isaiah by Dr. John Oswalt, who, at the time of this writing, was Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
It is not always easy to gain the divine perspective. Yet, unless we seek it, we are always in danger of paying too much attention to the passing and paying too little attention to the significant. Furthermore, apart from a diligent search for God’s perspective in every circumstance, we conclude too easily that God is concerned only about spiritual affairs and not about practical matters, a fallacy which leads to the loss of God in all affairs. (NICOT The Book of Isaiah Chapters 1-39, p. 196)
Once abandon a heartfelt conviction that God does truly care for us and is intimately involved with us, once abandon his perspective for our own, then suddenly decisions which are utterly foolish from his perspective become intelligent and wise. (p. 203)
May God grant us to seek and find the divine perspective in all things.
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