Transcript THE ENGLISH BIBLE

EVOLUTION
OF THE
ENGLISH
BIBLE
Early English Bibles
• 5th-11th century (Old English)
Caedmon · Aldhelm · Venerable Bede · Vespasian Psalter
· King Alfred · Northumbrian Gloss on the Gospels ·
Farman · Wessex Gospels · Abbott Ælfric
• 14th century (Middle English) – John Wycliffe
• 16th-17th century (Early Modern English)
Tyndale · Coverdale · Matthew · Great Bible · Taverner ·
Geneva · Bishops · Douay-Rheims · King James
• 18th-19th century (Modern English)
Challoner · Whitby · Wells · Mace · Whitson · Webster ·
Wesley · Sharpe · Brenton · Young · Alford · Rotherham ·
Newberry · Darby · Campbell · Smith · Purver · Revised
Modern English Bibles
• 20th century
American Standard · Ferrar Fenton · Knox · Revised
Standard · New World · New English · New American
Standard · Good News · Jerusalem · New American ·
Living · New International · New Century · Bethel · New
King James · New Jerusalem · Recovery · New Revised
Standard · Revised English · Contemporary English · The
Message · Clear Word · 21st Century King James · Third
Millennium · New International Reader's · New
International Inclusive Language · New Living · Complete
Jewish Bible · International Standard · Holman Christian
Standard · TS98
Modern English Bibles
• 21st century
World English · English Standard ·
Today's New International · New English Translation ·
New English Translation of the Septuagint ·
Orthodox Study Bible · The Voice ·
Common English Bible
King James Version
• Formally, Authorized Version of 1611
• In 1604, King James I (King James VI
of Scotland) authorized the translation
• The predominate use of Geneva Bibles
in homes and Bishop’s Bibles in
churches was considered confusing
• The church did not like the help notes
in the Geneva Bible (too Calvinist)
• Great Bibles, Coverdale Bibles and
even some Tyndale Bibles were in use
King James Version
• 47 scholars (all Church of England, all
but 1 clergy) chosen as translators
• The mandate was to revise the
Bishop’s Bible, not start fresh
• Textus Receptus (from Erasmus NT)
used as Greek textual basis
• Divided into 6 groups, 3 for OT, 2 for
NT, and 1 for Apocrypha
• Worked from Westminster, Oxford, and
Cambridge
King James Version
• Each group had detailed instructions
• 12 reps (2 from each group) QA’ed the
completed works
• Specific members were chosen to
smooth out difficulties
• No one person had full control
• Retain existing chapter and verse
divisions
• Italics used to show words not in the
original language
King James Version
• Specific ecclesiastical words were to
be retained (church v. congregation)
• Would reflect the structure of the
Church of England and traditional
beliefs about ordained clergy
• Tyndale, Coverdale, Matthew, Great,
Geneva Bibles may be consulted if
Bishop’s deemed problematic
• Marginal notes only to explain
Hebrew & Greek words and to link
parallel passages
King James Version
• The committee used 2 years and 9
months to produce the text that
would be printed
• The KJV would be THE English
translation for over 300 years
• Most of us would find an original 1611
version to be almost unreadable
• Over its many various editions the
KJV language has been significantly
updated and improved
King
James
Version
Title page
King
James
Version
Dedication to
King James
King
James
Version
Genesis
King
James
Version
Hebrews
(attributed to Paul)
King
James
Version
2 Thessalonians
King James Version
• The committee used 2 years and 9
months to produce the text that
would be printed
• The KJV would be THE English
translation for over 300 years
• Most of us would find an original 1611
version to be almost unreadable
• Over its many various editions the
KJV language has been significantly
updated and improved
King James Challenged
• 1703 – Daniel Whitby: “Paraphrase and
Commentary on the New Testament”
• 1724 – Edward Wells: “The Common
Translation Corrected”
• 1729 – Daniel Mace: a parallel Greek
NT with idiomatic English
• 1745 – William Whiston: “Primitive New
Testament”
• 1768 – John Wesley: revised KJV with
about 12,000 changes
King James Challenged
• 1768 – Edward Harwood: “Thou great
governour and parent of universal
nature”
• 1808 – Charles Thomson: translated
the Septuagint and updated the KJV
English
• 1840 – Samuel Sharpe: “New
Testament, translated from the Greek
of J. J. Griesbach” & OT in 1865
King James Challenged
• 1851 – Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton: an
English translation of the Septuagint
• 1851 – Abraham Benisch: first British
Jewish translation of the Bible
• 1853 – Isaac Leeser: first American
Jewish translation of the Bible
• 1853 – W.J. Conybeare & J.S. Howson:
The Life and Epistles of St. Paul
• 1862 – Robert Young: extremely literal
translation of the Bible
King James Challenged
• 1866 – Henry Alford: AV with marginal
corrections, references and a critical
and explanatory commentary
• 1872 – Joseph Bryant Rotherham: NT
Critically Emphasized (Emphasized
Bible completed in 1902)
• 1886 – Thomas Newberry: The
Englishman’s Bible with unique use of
signs and symbols to aid
understanding of the tenses
King James Challenged
• 1890 – John Nelson Darby: a modern
translation for the unlearned who have
neither access to texts or training and
knowledge of ancient languages
• Others: Noah Webster, Alexander
Campbell, Richard Challoner
(Catholic), Joseph Smith (Mormon),
Anthony Purver (Quaker)
King James Challenged
• Many recognized the shortcomings of
the Authorized Version and attempted
to make improvements
• Most were not new translations but
rather revisions of the KJV
• A common thread through all of these
translations that kept them from
overtaking the KJV: each version was
produced by an individual, not by a
committee
Textual Criticism
• Identification & removal of errors in
the texts of manuscripts, producing a
text closely approximating the original
• Thousands of hand-copied NT
manuscripts have many variations
• Textual critics determine which
readings were most likely original
• 1796 – Johann Jakob Griesbach,
German textual critic, established 15
rules (“canons of textual criticism”)
Textual Criticism
• Some examples of Griesbach canons
Shorter reading preferred
More difficult/obscure reading preferred
Harsher reading preferred
Less emphatic reading preferred
More unusual reading preferred
Suspicious of readings that tend to
support piety or Catholic dogma
– Reject readings which appear to
incorporate a definition or interpretation
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Textual Criticism
• 1841 – Constantin von Tischendorf:
Critical Edition of the New Testament
• Deciphered Codex Ephraemi
Rescriptus, a 5th century Greek text;
published in 1843 (NT) & 1845 (OT)
• Rediscovered Codex Sinaiticus in
monastery at foot of Mt Sinai;
published contents in 1862
• Heavily incorporated Sinaiticus text
into his final revision in 1872
Textual Criticism
• 1881 – B.F. Westcott & F.J.A. Hort:
The New Testament in the Original Greek
• Considered the oldest known Greek
copies, Codex Vaticanus and Codex
Sinaiticus, to be most reliable
• Produced a Greek NT considered by
scholars to be far superior to Textus
Receptus (Erasmus’ text used for KJV)
• Manuscript discoveries since then
have usually affirmed their decisions
Textual Criticism
• 1898 – Eberhard Nestle:
Novum Testamentum Graece
• Combined the editions of Tischendorf,
Westcott and Hort, and Weymouth
• Son Erwin took over after his father’s
death & published 13th edition in 1927
• Kurt Aland became the associate
editor of the 21st edition in 1952
• Nestle-Aland 27th edition (NA27) is
basis of most recent NT translations
Relative Agreement with NA27
Abbreviation Name
Rank
NAS
New American Standard
1
ASV
American Standard Version
2
NAU
New American Standard - 1995 Update
3
NAB
New American Bible
4
ESV
English Standard Version
5
HCS
Holman Christian Standard Bible
6
NRS
New Revised Standard Version
7
NET
New English Translation
8
RSV
Revised Standard Version
9
NIV
New International Version
10
Relative Agreement with NA27
Abbreviation Name
Rank
NJB
New Jerusalem Bible
11
REB
Revised English Bible
12
JNT
Jewish New Testament
13
GNB
Good News Bible
14
NLT
New Living Translation
15
DRA
Douay-Rheims American edition
16
TLB
The Living Bible
17
MRD
Murdock Peshitta translation
18
NKJ
New King James Bible
19
KJV
King James Version
20
Translation Approaches
• What constitutes equivalence?
• Formal Equivalence
– attempts to render the text in a literal,
word-for-word fashion
– at the expense of natural expression and
readability
– goal is to express as exactly as possible
the full force and meaning of every word
and turn of phrase in the original
– none are truly word-for-word due to
differences in Greek & English languages
Translation Approaches
• Dynamic Equivalence
– also called functional equivalence or
relevant parallel idioms
– attempts to convey the thought expressed
in a source text
– at the expense of literalness
– goal is to generate in the reader the same
effect aimed at by the original
– problem is that the original author’s aim is
subject to interpretation of translator
Translation Approaches
• No sharp boundary between dynamic
and formal equivalence
• Broadly, the two represent a spectrum
of translation approaches
• All translations employ both
techniques but favor one over the
other to varying degrees
• Many contemporary translations lean
heavily toward dynamic equivalence,
bordering on outright paraphrasing
Translation Approaches
• Formal equivalence
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King James Version
American Standard Version of 1901
New American Standard Bible
New King James Version
English Standard Version
Revised Standard Version
New Revised Standard Version
Douay-Rheims American Version
Green's Literal Translation
Translation Approaches
• Dynamic & formal equivalence balance
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New International Version
Today's New International Version
Holman Christian Standard Bible
New American Bible
New English Translation
Murdock's Translation
Modern Language Bible
Translation Approaches
• Extensive use of dynamic equivalence
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New Jerusalem Bible
Revised English Bible
Good News Bible
Complete Jewish Bible
New Living Translation
The Living Bible
Phillips Modern English
The Message (a paraphrase)
Birth of Modern Bibles
• 1870 – Committee was formed to
produce a major revision to KJV
known as Revised Version (RV)
• 36 translators representing several
denominations met for 10 days 4 times
each year starting in 1872
• NT published in 1881, OT published in
1885, Apocrypha published in 1895
• Westcott and Hort were members of
NT committee
Birth of Modern Bibles
• RV more scholarly than KJV, but text
widely regarded as excessively literal
and flat
• Lost the flair and poetic nature of KJV
• Marginal notes showed alternate
readings from Greek and KJV and
explained obscure words
• Sold well at the beginning but never
overtook KJV in popularity
Birth of Modern Bibles
• Invitation was extended to American
religious leaders for scholars to work
on the RV project
• British team used few of the
suggestions from the American team
• Brits agreed to place American
suggestions in appendix if Americans
would wait 14 years to publish their
own version
• 1902 - American Standard Version
Birth of Modern Bibles
• ASV largely the same as RV
– God’s name as Jehovah instead of LORD
– Substituted "who" and "that" for "which"
when referring to people
– Holy Ghost dropped in favor of Holy Spirit
• ASV language still archaic and viewed
as excessively literal, so never
achieved general popularity
• Regarded as many as most reliable
literal English translation
Advances in Greek
• In late 1800s, many Greek papyri were
discovered containing private letters,
official reports, wills, business
accounts, petitions, etc.
• Greatly improved understanding of the
vocabulary, grammar, and idioms of
the Greek NT
• Words which had been assumed to be
"Biblical Greek" were current in the
spoken vernacular of 1st century
Growth of Modern Bibles
• 1937 – Committee was formed to
produce a revision to ASV known as
Revised Standard Version (RSV)
• Published NT in 1946, OT in 1952, and
Apocrypha in 1957
• Posed the first serious challenge to
the popularity of the KJV
• Reverted back to LORD instead of
Jehovah, replaced archaic pronouns
except in reference to God
Growth of Modern Bibles
• 1960 – Work began on a new revision
of the ASV in response to the
theologically liberal nature of RSV
• New American Standard Bible – NT
published in 1963, OT in 1971
• Most literally translated of 20thcentury English Bible translations
• Reliability and fidelity to the original
languages allows for ambiguities in
the text’s meanings (a good thing!)
Growth of Modern Bibles
• Retained KJV pronouns for prayer
• Readability and literary style
sometimes prove confusing to the
average reader
• Updated in 1995 using 26th version of
Nestle-Aland, making use of Dead Sea
Scrolls and other recent findings
• Vocabulary, grammar, and sentence
structure were revised for greater
understanding and smoother reading
Growth of Modern Bibles
• 1968 – Work began on a new
translation (not a revision of another)
that would seek a balance between
formal and dynamic equivalence
• 100 scholars from US, GB, Canada,
Australia, and New Zealand; from over
a dozen denominations
• New International Version – NT
published in 1973, OT in 1978
Growth of Modern Bibles
• Critics point to inconsistencies and
tendency toward dynamic equivalence
• First Bible to outsell KJV, very popular
among Evangelical Protestants
Growth of Modern Bibles
• 1975 – Work began to update the
vocabulary and grammar of the KJV,
while preserving the classic style and
beauty of the 1611 version
• New King James Version – NT
published in 1979, OT in 1982
• Verb forms, personal pronouns,
spelling, grammar, etc updated
• Still relied on Textus Receptus that
KJV used, not earlier manuscripts
For Further Reading