"Part 00900 - Bibliology, HISTORY"
00900 HISTORYOFSCRIPTURE
First of all, I would like to list the readability index for some of the different translations. It might be handy if a person begins working with different age groups or possibly people with diminished mental capacity.
King James Version 14.0 years of education American Standard Version 11.6 years of education New American Standard Bible 11.3 years of education Revised Standard Version 10.4 years of education JerUSAlem Bible 10.1 years of education Phillips translation 9.6 years of education New King James Version 9.1 years of education New English Bible 8.5 years of education Living Bible 8.3 years of education New International Version 7.8 years of education Today’s English Version 7.3 years of education International Children’s Version 3.9 years of education (Adapted from "WHICH BIBLE TRANSLATION IS BEST FOR ME?"; Kohlenberger, John, III; Moody Monthly, May 1987) The following information is gleaned from three sources. Rather than footnote each quotation, I have adapted the information. The three sources are listed at the end of the information. This is some information on some of the more prominent works of translation and paraphrase through the years since the Bible was originally written.
SEPTUAGINT (LXX) Date: Work started 250 B.C.
Author/translator: Seventy Alexandrian Jews This was the first translation of the Old Testament into Greek. Most of the Jewish people of the time spoke Greek, and they wanted to read the Old Testament in their own language.
LATINVULGATE Date: Completed 405 A.D.
Author/translator: Jerome This translation was done from the original languages. I would like to quote from the introduction of a Revised Standard Version, Catholic edition, "In the Old Testament it has not been thought necessary to make any changes in the text. There is however the very important difference in the number of books. Catholic Bibles include seven extra books and parts of two others. These are known to Catholics as ’deuterocanonical’ and are regarded as an integral part of the Canon of the Old Testament. They are here printed in the order in which they appear in the Latin Vulgate, with the exception of the extra parts of the Book of Esther."
We see that the Latin Vulgate contained the apocrypha.
WYCLIFFEBIBLE
Date: 382 A.D.
Author/translator: Wycliffe This was the first complete English Bible. Wycliffe worked from the Latin Vulgate.
GUTENBERGBIBLE Date: 1456 A.D. This was the first Bible to be printed on a printing press, rather than being copied by hand. It was done from the Latin Vulgate also.
TYNDALEBIBLE Date: New Testament 1525 A.D.
Old Testament 1535 A.D.
Author/translator: Tyndale This Bible was the first to be translated from the original languages into English.
THEGREATBIBLE Date: 1539 A.D.
Author/translator: Cranmer and Coverdale This was a revision of the Tyndale Bible.
COVERDALEBIBLE
Date: 1535 Author/translator: Coverdale This was the first printed in English.
STEPHANUSTEXT Date: 1550 A.D.
GENEVABIBLE Date: 1560 A.D.
Author/translator: Whittingham, et. al. This Bible was the first to use verse divisions.
RHEIMS-DOUAY Date: New Testament 1582 A.D.
Old Testament 1610 A.D. This was the first authorized English version for Roman Catholics. The work was done by two committees from the Vulgate.
KINGJAMESVERSION Date: 1611 A.D.
Author/translator: fifty four protestant scholars This is also called the Authorized Version at times. I would like to list a quotation for your interest from Dr. Miller’s notes. ". . .formally a revision of the 1602 edition of the Bishop’s Bible. This translation was done in 1611 and established itself as the English Bible. Present day translations, however, have several changes. The spelling has been modernized, and other alterations have been introduced. One obvious misprint has persisted in most editions since the first one of 1611 in Matthew 23:24 where ’strain at a gnat’ should be ’strain out a gnat.’ Many of the earlier translations were carelessly printed. Thus the ’Wicked Bible’ of 1641 left out the word ’not’ in the seventh commandment. As to the Greek text, the Authorized Version is in considerable agreement with the Textus receptus."
ROBERTAITKENBIBLE Date: 1782 A.D. This was the King James Version, however it was the first King James printed in America.
WESTCOTTHORTGREEKTEXT Date: 1881 A.D.
Author/translator: Westcott and Hort This was a Greek text which most of the modern translations are based on. The other text being the Textus Receptus, upon which the King James Version is based.
REVISEDVERSION Date: 1885 A.D. This was a revision of the King James Version.
AMERICANSTANDARDVERSION Date: 1901 A.D.
Author/translator: A committee of American scholars This was a revision of the Revised Version. It was partially based on the modern principles of textual criticism. The Old Testament is based on the Massoretic text. It is felt by most readers to be very stiff, however it is usually held as one of the more accurate translations.
NEWTRANSLATIONINMODERNSPEECH (Weymouth Translation) Date: 1903 A.D.
Author/translator: Weymouth This was done from the Greek and gives particular attention to the verb tenses. The author attempted to give the proper idea of the tenses as he set the information into English.
NESTLEGREEKTEXT
Date: 1904 This was based on Tishendorf, Westcott and Hort and the United Bible Society texts. A NEWTRANSLATION (Moffatt) Date: New Testament 1913 Old Testament 1924 Author: Moffatt This is a paraphrase. He was of liberal doctrine and was not against making changes from time to time. John 1:1 for example mentions that the "logos was divine." Christ was not divine, He was deity.
ANAMERICANTRANSLATION
Date: 1923 Author: E.J. Godspeed This work reportedly shows the eunuch of Acts 8 sitting in his car.
NEWTESTAMENTINTHELANGUAGEOFTHEPEOPLE
Date: 1937 Author: C.B. Williams This work also did some good work in bringing the tenses over into the English.
REVISEDSTANDARDVERSION Date: New Testament 1946 Old Testament 1952 Authors: Done by 32 protestants and Catholics. This was a liberal revision of the 1901 version. The Catholic Edition of the R.S.V. mentions, "The Revised Standard Version itself needs no lengthy introduction, being already well known and widely read. It is, as its preface states, ’an authorized revision of the American Standard Version, Published in 1901, which was a revision of the King James Version, published in 1611.’"
Many have rejected the RSV due to its translation of Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the LORD himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." The translation of the Hebrew term, young woman rather than virgin is the problem. This term is a vague term and always refers to a young woman, but not always to a virgin. When the RSV translates Matthew 1:23, a quote from the Isaiah text, it uses the term virgin, because the Greek term clearly speaks to the virginity of the woman.
NEWTESTAMENTINPLAINENGLISH
Date: 1952 Author: C.K. Williams Williams uses large words and some modern terms such as "police" and "handcuffs."
NEWTESTAMENTINMODERNENGLISH
Date: 1957 Author: Phillips This is a paraphrase and was revised in 1966. He was a liberal in theology and reportedly did not believe in verbal inspiration.
BERKELEYVERSION Date: New Testament 1945 Old Testament 1959 Author: Edited by Gerrit Verkuyl of Berkeley, CA This is an evangelical work and many feel that it is a good work.
EXPANDEDTRANSLATIONOFTHENEWTESTAMENT
Date: 1960 Author: Wuest, an instructor in Greek at Moody Bible Institute. This is a technically accurate work. The accuracy took presidence over style.
NEWENGLISHBIBLENEWTESTAMENT
Date: 1961 This is normally accepted as a good work by conservatives.
AMPLIFIEDBIBLE Date: Completed 1964 Author: Mrs. Siewert, et. al.
THENEWTESTAMENT: REVISEDSTANDARDVERSIONCATHOLICEDITION
Date: 1965 This was done as an ecumenical Bible and is accepted by the Roman Catholic Church.
GOODNEWSFORMODERNMAN
Date: 1966 This was done by a man that reportedly denied the deity of Christ and rejected verbal inspiration.
JERUSALEMBIBLE
Date: 1966 This is a Roman Catholic work which includes the Apocrypha.
NEWSCOFIELDREFERENCEBIBLE
Date: 1967 Author: Scofield This was a revision of Scofield’s original notes of 1909. The revising was done by John Walvoord, Charles Feinberg, Allan MacRae, E. Schyler English, Frank Gaebelein, Alva McClain, Clarence Mason, William Culbertson, Wilbur Smith, and Wilber Ruggles.
WILLIAMSTRANSLATION This work was based on the Westcott and Hort text.
NEWAMERICANBIBLE
Date: 1970 Author: Done by fifty Catholic and five Protestant scholars.
NEWAMERICANSTANDARDBIBLE
Date: 1971 Author: Fifty four conservative Protestants. Lockman Foundation. The work is technically good. The Greek tenses were translated so that the English reader could determine the tenses.
LIVINGBIBLE Date: Completed in 1971 Author: Kenneth N. Taylor The work has some accuracy problems and tends toward personal interpretation rather than translation. It is a paraphrase. It was a work from the ASV.
NEWINTERNATIONALVERSION Date: Completed 1978 Author: One hundred fifteen evangelical scholars.
It is a work from the critical Greek texts, which is fairly accurate. I personally have noticed however that in many cases it disagrees in content when compared to the King James and the New American Standard.
TODAY’SENGLISHVERSION/GOODNEWSBIBLE Author: Robert G. Bratcher and six other scholars.
NEWKINGJAMESVERSION
Date: 1982 Author: Done by one hundred nineteen scholars.
NEWJERUSALEMBIBLE
Date: 1985 This is a redo of the 1966 JerUSAlem Bible.
THENEWWORLDTRANSLATION This was done by the Jehovah Witnesses. I have been told that Greek scholars took this translation to secular, unsaved, Greek scholars for evaluation. They reported that it was one of the poorest attempts at translation they had seen. It shows Christ as a god in John 1:1.
THENEWTESTAMENTINTHELANGUAGEOFTODAY Author: William F. Beck Beck was a Lutheran, and his version is well received for its accuracy.
THECOTTONPATCHVERSION Author: Clarence Jordan Jordan has a Ph.D. in New Testament Greek from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
He sets the New Testament in the modern day south. The Jews and Gentiles are viewed as black and whites. Acts is entitled the Happening, while the book of Romans becomes Washington.
There are many other works that have appeared. I have only listed some of the more prominent ones. The following charts are hopefully accurate. I have gleaned information from many sources over the years to set these charts to paper.
SOURCES:
Miller, Dr. David; Theology Class notes, Western Baptist College; Salem, OR.
Kohlenberger, John III; "WHICH BIBLE TRANSLATION IS BEST FOR ME?"; Article in Moody Monthly, May 1987 Till, George A.; Class handout, Western Baptist College; Salem, OR.