I have a question about the Bible that I’d like to ask. Does the language in which the Bible is read change the way we interpret certain passages?<\/p>\n\t
Translating a text from one language to another ideally expresses the same ideas in both languages. However, there are always difficulties in translating because in every language words have a range of meanings, but they don’t line up between languages. It is the translator’s job to find the best wording in the target language that most closely matches what is being said in the original language.<\/p>\n
Another problem that comes up is that what the translator thinks the original text says may bias his translation. To combat this, most good translations employ a panel of translators to double-check all work. One mark of a careful translation is when a variety of people from different backgrounds are used on the review panels. It won’t totally remove bias, but hopefully, it minimizes any bias problems.<\/p>\n
When it comes to English translations, we have a large number of translations to select from. Even if a translation is biased, there are other translations to compare it to.<\/p>\n
Then, of course, we can always go back to look at the original text and get an idea of what the text is saying.<\/p>\n
Therefore, if a person only reads from one translation, there is a possibility that he may come away with a wrong impression about the meaning of a passage. But understanding the Bible as a whole and reading from a variety of sources tends to keep such wrong impressions at bay.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I have a question about the Bible that I’d like to ask. Does the language in which the Bible is read change the way we interpret certain passages? Answer: Translating a text from one language to another ideally expresses the same ideas in both languages. However, there are always difficulties in translating because in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[530,311],"class_list":["post-49264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-interpretation","tag-translations"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37328,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-trust-the-translation-of-the-bible-since-languages-change\/","url_meta":{"origin":49264,"position":0},"title":"Should we trust the translation of the Bible since languages change?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I was wondering, should we be so confident to trust the translation of the Bible, seeing that language changes and the Greek spoken back then is most likely not the current Greek. Also with English and any other language, Language changes through time, words and meanings sometimes change\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1303,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-bible-translations-are-the-best\/","url_meta":{"origin":49264,"position":1},"title":"Which Bible translations are the best?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Which Bible translations have the highest accuracy? Answer: At one time, Bible translations were an arduous task that took years, if not decades, to complete. Now translations are appearing in rapid succession, and it is becoming difficult to keep up with the many that are available. I'll restrict my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49007,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-bible-left-to-each-individuals-interpretation\/","url_meta":{"origin":49264,"position":2},"title":"Is the Bible left to each individual’s interpretation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: A few questions I have: Is the Bible left to each individual's own interpretation? How can we trust translations? Isn't that just someone else's interpretation(s)? How can I prove the Bible is correct if someone doesn't even believe it in the first place? Thank you. Answer: \"But know this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7470,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-a-preacher-teach-from-the-greek-and-hebrew-text\/","url_meta":{"origin":49264,"position":3},"title":"Must a preacher teach from the Greek and Hebrew text?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 18, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I would like you to answer a question for me. There's a person here in our city teaching from his basement or another room he has rented. He teaches Greek and Hebrew lessons and he also appears on TV. This person teaches that if your pastor isn't teaching from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42032,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-there-random-italic-words-in-my-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":49264,"position":4},"title":"Why are there random italic words in my Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: So what is with these random italics in passages? Example: \"And those\u00a0members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts\u00a0have more abundant comeliness.\" It's everywhere. Random words emphasized for what reason? This one: \"Let their table\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66715,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-bible-incomprehensible\/","url_meta":{"origin":49264,"position":5},"title":"Is the Bible Incomprehensible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gardner Hall A growing number of articles in the last few years emphasize difficulties in translating the Scriptures. Perhaps they are slightly helpful in giving pause to some \"hyper rationalists\" who declare that all the Bible is easy if you'll just let them interpret it for you! However, such\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49264\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}