How the Bible is Translated

From Scott Munger (2014) via email:

John 3:16 – Koine Greek, Latin Vulgate (Jerome ~400 AD), and Middle English (Wyclif 1380)
Οὕτως	γὰρ	ἠγάπησεν	ὁ	Θεὸς	τὸν	κόσμον
Houtōs	gar	ēgapēsen	ho	Theos	ton	kosmon
Sic enim Deus dilexit mundum
For God louede so the world

 

ὥστε	τὸν	Υἱὸν	τὸν	μονογενῆ	ἔδωκεν
hōste	ton	Huion	ton	monogenē	edōken
ut Filium suum unigenitum daret:
that he ȝaf his oon bigetun sone,

 

ἵνα	πᾶς	ὁ	πιστεύων	εἰς	Αὐτὸν	μὴ	ἀπόληται	ἀλλ᾽	ἔχῃ	ζωὴν	αἰώνιον
hina	pas	ho	pisteuōn	eis	Auton	mē	apolētai	all᾽	echē	zōēn	aiōnion
ut omnis qui credit in eum, non pereat, sed habeat vitam æternam.
that ech man that beliueth in him perische not, but haue euerlastynge lijf.

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How The Bible is Translated

by Scott Munger (2014) – formerly Biblica VP of Bible Translation

How do Bible scholars translate God's inspired Word from the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic into other languages? Here's a look at the translation process using one of the most famous passages in the Bible, John 3:16.

Step One

Sometimes the first challenge to translating the Bible is just figuring out what the words are. The passage commonly known as John 3:16 (there weren't any verse numbers in the original) would have looked something like this in the earliest manuscripts:

In many ancient Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, all the words ran together — without chapter or verse numbers, punctuation, or even spaces between words.

Scholars have sifted through thousands of Biblical manuscripts, all written by hand from shortly after the time of Jesus until the invention of the printing press in the 1400s. Many of these manuscripts differ, usually in minor ways. Comparing these ancient documents can help translators determine which variations are, in all likelihood, closest to the original texts. Once the text has been established, John 3:16 can be written out in a more modern form — something like this:

Step Two

A translator's next challenge is to determine the meaning of the Greek words. But this is where things get tricky. Almost every word in any language has more than one possible meaning.

Take the English word "trunk," for example. It can mean the main stem of a tree, a piece of luggage, or the storage compartment on a car — just to name a few possible meanings.

There are at least nine possible definitions of the Greek word kosmos, which is translated as "world" in John 3:16. The word huios (translated "son" in this case) has at least seven meanings, and exo ("have" in John 3:16) has about 20 possible meanings.

And then there's the English word love. Webster’s lists 28 different definitions for it.

What's the key to determining the most likely meaning of a word in any given passage? Context. Usage determines meaning. To determine what's meant by the English word trunk, for example, you would look at the surrounding context. For example, if someone were to say, "The trunk is full; you'll have to put your groceries in the backseat," you could infer from the context that they meant the back of a car.

A translator's job is to carefully study the context of each word to determine its most likely meaning.

Step Three

Beyond determining the meaning of individual words, a translator must address challenges posed by the word order and grouping of words in the original language.

For example, the Greek text of John 3:16 literally says, "loved the god" But no English translation says, "The God loved so loved the world,” much less "loved the god." That's because English follows different rules when it comes to word order and grouping of words. So in order to make our translation sensible in English, we have to capture the meaning of the original in the most natural English possible. Which is why most translations say, quite accurately, "God so loved..."

Step Four

Steps 1-3 are the easy part. All translators face difficult judgment calls. In the case of John 3:16, someone might ask why the King James Version (KJV) translates the Greek word mongenes as “only begotten,” while the New International Version (NIV) has “one and only.”

Either the KJV translators misunderstood the Greek term or felt constrained to follow the historical Latin translation which influenced their work. The Greek word monogenes refers to uniqueness, not birth. Decades ago, the NIV bravely parted from the centuries-old tradition and rendered monogenes as “one and only.” That phrase is not only more accurate, it is more evangelical because it helps to prevent misinterpretation of the text. Elsewhere in the New Testament, Isaac is referred to as Abraham’s monogenes (Hebrews 11:17). But there the word cannot mean "only begotten" because Abraham’s son Ishmael was born (that is, "begotten") before Isaac. It's more accurate to say that Isaac was Abraham’s only legitimate heir. His only God-given son by Abraham’s wife, Sarah. This helps us with the translation of John 3:16.

Most recent translations have followed the lead of the NIV Bible in this matter.

Conclusion

So there you have it—a small part of what goes into translating just a few words of Scripture. Bible translating is daunting, inspiring, humbling work. As Martin Luther once wrote:

• I have also undertaken to translate the Bible into German. That was necessary for me; otherwise I might have died someday imagining that I was a learned man. Those who think themselves scholars should try to do this work.