Text: John 1:1-14, 2 Timothy 3:16-17<\/p>\n
First question I have for all of you\u2026 how many of you felt like last week\u2019s discussion of quantum mechanics and elephants was a tiny bit over your head?
\nThat\u2019s okay!
\nEach week we are going to explore a different way of approaching the bible and a different part of its history, so to make up for all of the science last week, I thought we might start this morning by playing a little game.<\/p>\n
NAME THAT TRANSLATION!
\nI do not promise that you will get all of the answers right\u2026 but I do promise you will learn something in the process!!!<\/p>\n
John 1:6-8 The Message (MSG)
\n6-8 There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThis bible was created and translated by Eugene Peterson between 1993 and 2002. He went back to the original languages and his goal was not to translate word for word, but to get the sense of the phrases in the original text and convey the idea. This is an idiomatic translation \u2013 or translating phrases rather than words.<\/p>\n
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John 1:6-8 Wycliffe Bible (WYC)
\n6 A man was sent from God, to whom the name was John.
\n7 This man came into witnessing, that he should bear witnessing of the light, that all men should believe by him.
\n8 He was not that light, but that he should bear witnessing of the light.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe Wycliffe bible is a whole group of translations that were made in the 14th century into Middle English. Most Christians at this time only had access to scriptures through hearing them orally or through seeing verses in Latin. In some ways, his goal was the same as Peterson\u2019s \u2013 to translate the bible into the common vernacular. They worked not from the original languages, but from the Latin version of scripture \u2013 the Vulgate.<\/p>\n
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John 1:6-8 Mounce Reverse-Interlinear New Testament (MOUNCE)
\nThere came on the scene a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear testimony about he light so that everyone might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear testimony about the light.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThis version of the bible was created for people who wanted to study the bible and explore the original languages\u2026 but who didn\u2019t actually know Greek! The purpose is to help teach a little bit of Greek at a time. A traditional \u201cinterlinear\u201d bible would use the Greek word order and then show the English word for word correlary \u2013 but that makes the sentence structure hard to understand. So the Mounce version starts with the English sentence structure and then adds in the Greek words.<\/p>\n
I will often use a version like this to discover what the Greek was and then I can go back and consult a Greek dictionary to see if there are other meanings or how it is used elsewhere in scripture.<\/p>\n
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John 1:6-8 King James Version (KJV)<\/p>\n
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
\n7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
\n8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe King James Version is a translation into English that took seven years from 1604-1611. King James oversaw the translation himself \u2013 giving instructions to make sure that this translation would capture the structure and polity of the Church of England. 47 scholars were used in the translation and they went back to the original languages for their translation, adapting them slightly with known Septuagint and Vulgate texts.<\/p>\n
Fun fact: The English alphabet at the time had no J!\u00a0 So it was King Iames Bible which talked about Iesus Christ.<\/p>\n
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John 1:6-8 Common English Bible (CEB)
\n6 A man named John was sent from God. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him everyone would believe in the light. 8 He himself wasn\u2019t the light, but his mission was to testify concerning the light.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThis is a very new translation of the bible which is distributed by Abingdon Press, the United Methodist denominational publisher. The goal was to make the bible accessible for people today and easy to read, aiming for a seventh-grade reading level. They also wanted it to appeal broadly to many cultural contexts over 120 scholars from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. More than twenty-four denominations were involved in its work. The key feature is that instead of churchy and traditionally biblical words, you will find more seeker-friendly words.<\/p>\n
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In various letters,Paul writes to the young man, Timothy, whom he is mentoring in the faith. Along with advice and doctrine, one of the things he reminds him is that the scriptures help him to be wise and give him the words he needs to help others grow. He includes that famous line \u201cevery scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character, so that the person who belongs to God can be equipped to do everything that is good.\u201d (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
\nWe read that passage within our own biblical texts and we automatically apply that sentiment to the whole of scripture. This entire text has been inspired by God and it is useful for helping us understand who we are and whose we are.
\nOne thing that often fails to cross our minds is that the Bible that Paul and Timothy were reading was very different than the ones we have in our hands today.
\nEarly Christians spoke Greek \u2013 the language of the empire \u2013 and the scriptures that they would have been basing their teaching and writing from would have been a Greek version of the Hebrew scriptures known as the Septuagint.<\/p>\nWhen Alexander the Great conquered the Persian empire (which would have included Jerusalem and the people of Israel), Greek became the common tongue. He was known not only for conquering vast swaths of land, but he also collected books and scrolls for his library at Alexandria.
\nSeventy-two scholars were employed to translate the Torah, two hundred years before Christ, and it took them only seventy two days to recreate those first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The very name, Septuagint (LXX) comes from the seventy days and seventy people.
\nTradition has it six scholars from each of the twelve tribes (or seventy two people) were each asked to do so independently\u2026 and independently recreated identical versions of the Torah.<\/p>\nTalk about inspired!
\nThe authors of the New Testament frequently relied upon this Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures in their own writing, so it is likely that Paul and Timothy were referring to the Septuagint in their own discourse and as they were teaching others about the faith.
\nChristian father, Jerome, however, working around 400 years after Christ, instead turned back to the original Hebrew. His translation of the scriptures into Latin is known as the Vulgate and was used by others in their further translations into English.<\/p>\nBut something I think we often don\u2019t think about is how we got from there to here\u2026 how that inspiration of God works\u2026 and what it means when we open up our bibles and read vastly different things.
\nA couple of weeks ago, one of the passages that we were all invited to read as part of the Bible 101 challenge was a selection from Job 38.
\nIn some of the final chapters, as God kind of puts Job in his place by rattling off a whole series of ways that God is superior and cosmic and knows everything from the time when eggs will hatch to the course of stars in the skies\u2026 some of us read about a gigantic hippopotamus\u2026 and others read about the behemoth. Some of us read about a huge alligator and others read about the Leviathan.
\nThere is a world of difference between a hippopotamus and a mythic beast.
\nSo what gives?<\/p>\nAs we went through some of those various translations, one of the things that you may have heard is that the purpose of each of our translators is different.
\nSome are trying to give us a word for word exact replica into a new language\u2026 and if there isn\u2019t an equivalent word, sometimes they just use the word from the original text.
\nSome are trying to merely get the sentiment of a phrase, with idiomatic translations and so they might try to say the same thing or explain the original phrase with more words in the process.
\nOthers are trying to make the bible as accessible as possible\u2026 and to use words or concepts that are foreign to our ears like behemoth don\u2019t help. They find the closest equivalent in English, in this case, and simply allow the meaning to change slightly.<\/p>\nIt is always good to understand what the motivations might have been behind the translation of the bible YOU are using, because it might help you get a sense of how to approach that text. And when you read from a variety of translations, you get a fuller sense of how God has been speaking to people throughout time and place.
\nBecause in the end, each author and translator began their work, inspired by God, in order to help bring to a new generation in a new time and place the messages of God.
\nWhile the exact words might differ and the phrases might not match, they are inspired to share what is \u201cuseful one way or another \u2013 showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God\u2019s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.\u201d (2 Timothy 3:16-17 MSG) Thanks be to God. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Text: John 1:1-14, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 First question I have for all of you\u2026 how many of you felt like last week\u2019s discussion of quantum mechanics and elephants was a tiny bit over your head? That\u2019s okay! Each week we are going to explore a different way of approaching the bible and a different part…<\/span><\/p>\n