Bible Translations: Old & New May 19, 2014 ISSUE

Small changes yield fresh inspiration

Laurie Whitehead

My most valued print Bible is a Greek interlinear text, which has a word-for-word translation of the original Greek text. It is a treasure to me.

I also greatly value the Complete Jewish Bible by David H. Stern. Many Jewish terms are not translated, giving more of a feel for the Jewish setting of the New Testament. Poems and psalms are set apart from text. Old Testament passages quoted in the New Testament are in bold. In Matthew 4, it is the “Adversary” that tempts Jesus. Genesis 2 uses “a person” in some verses instead of Adam. It makes Job so much easier to read and understand. Just now browsing through the book and looking for an example of the value of this translation, I came across John 1:5 translated: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not suppressed it.” This little difference in the translation just relieved me of the depressing thought that evil is flourishing in the world. Regardless of what evil claims to be doing, good continues unsuppressed, undeterred, undiscouraged!