When we read our Bibles, most of us to do not consider the process that is involved in translating the Bible from Hebrew or Greek into English. Leland Ryken in his book The Word of God in English gives us insight into the complications of translation. One aspect he spends considerable time upon is called dynamic equivalence which is somewhat controversial. Dynamic equivalence is an approach to translation that translates what a passage means rather than translating the exact words. Its purpose is to make the Bible more readable.
Ryken gives many arguments for translating the actual words of the Bible instead of the meaning of a passage. One argument is the fact that when any other book is translated, the emphasis is on accurately translating the words of the author not their meaning. We must have respect for the author and how they chose to express an idea. [1] So why should the Bible be any different?
Another of Ryken’s arguments is that there is a distinction between a translation and an interpretation of the Bible. A good translation should enable us to determine what the author (God) actually said, not what the translator thought the author (God) wanted to say. Should not we want to know exactly the message God is communicating to us and not the translator’s interpretation of that message? [2]
The danger in substituting our interpretation for what God actually says has been illustrated in this blog. We have pointed out there are over 70 verses in the Bible that discuss salvation as being other than through belief in Jesus and yet these verse are ignored by the majority of Christians because they conflict with an established doctrine. So what has priority—our established doctrines (what we think the Bible means) or what the Bible actually says?
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[1] Leland Ryken, The Word of God in English, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002, p. 146.
[2] Ryken, p. 144.
