The first in a series of questions being asked to the ESV translation oversight committee has been posted on Adrian Warnock’s blog today.
The following questions was asked to the committee.
It is of note that the group of scholars who wrote the ESV include some great giants of evangelicalism. I wonder how important to the accurate translation of the Bible is an evangelical faith. How much does the doctrine one believes in influence the act of translation and the philosophy which lies behind it?
If you want to, you can read the text of the reply, or watch a video of a member of the committee answering it.
In short, the answer is: no. But the reasoning given is solid.
My thoughts:
It seems that the question that is being answered here is a question of trust.
Can we trust the translators to be faithfully transmitting God’s word, or should we be suspicious that they are pushing some doctrinal agenda.
I feel that plurality on the translation oversight committee really helps guard against pushing a doctrinal agenda, but then, I am coming at this from an evangelical viewpoint.
I can see where it would be difficult for those outside of the evangelical community to trust that a translation committee that contains some “great giants of evangelicalism” would not be pushing an agenda.
Whether or not such an agenda actually exists is another question entirely.
How’s that for a postmodern view on the issue ;)
Incidentally, in order to spur discussion, the ESV publishers are offering a chance to win a free ESV bible. You are entered every time you comment on the site. However, this topic is dear to my heart and fascinating to me anyway. I hope I’m not participating solely for selfish reasons :)
June 16, 2005 at 9:47 am
I would agree that you do not need to be an evangelical in order to accurately translate the Bible. A careful, erudite translation of any ancient text is dependent upon a qualified team of scholars who are intent on being thorough and professional in their efforts.
Having said that, I will say that fearing God and the Scriptures helps a great deal in the process. The Jewish Scribes in days of old followed a painstaking procedure to ensure accurate copies of the Scriptures. Their accuracy was motivated by their love and fear of God. So being an evangelical will help a person have a higher motivation to create a trustworthy translation.
June 16, 2005 at 10:20 am
My feelings are that no matter how many people you have doing the translations there will still be mistakes, how ever few, and however small… especially when you’re translating from a dead language.
None-the-less, I’m sure it will be interesting to see how this translation (which I have to say will probably be more accurate) will look.
June 16, 2005 at 10:35 am
Dave,
It’s already out. You can read it online.
June 16, 2005 at 11:17 am
I agree with Tim. I think a person with a “liberal” view — that Scripture is not the inspired Word of God — would be more likely to shape his translation to fit his world view than a person who reveres Scripture as sacred. A “sacred-view” person would strive to be as accurate and complete as possible.
I have heard of this translation/paraphrase, but have not read any of it yet.
Also, this discussion points to the importance of using multiple translations in your studies and of striving to at least get a sense of the original languages.
June 16, 2005 at 11:22 am
Dan – this is more of a literal translation (in the vein of NASB) than a paraphrase (like NLT/Message)
Agree with your point about the importance of multiple translations in study.
Also, I think your point about the sacred view of scripture being important in translation is huge, and one they are making on the site.
If you view this as the literal word of God, there is a lot of fear, humility, and caution that goes into the accurate translation/rendering of the original text.