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Clarity in translation

January 9, 2010 – 3:21 pm

Translation from one language to another often requires additional words to clarify the meaning of a text. For example, in Romans 5:16 there are 37 words in the New King James Version, 11 of which are in italics to indicate that they are not in the original Greek: And the gift is not like that which [...]

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Get behind me – or – Follow me

August 30, 2009 – 8:15 pm

For the past several years my pastor and I have read his sermon texts in Greek and/or Hebrew and shared insights before he delivered his sermons.  In his recent sermon text of Mark 8:27-38, he noticed that the Greek word OPISO (usually translated “after” or “behind” in the KJV) occurs in verse 33 in the [...]

Posted in ambiguity, Better Life Bible, Bible Translation, translation accuracy | Comments (2)

Translating Doublets

June 2, 2009 – 10:35 pm

A common expression among American English speakers is “pick and choose”.  Some people may associate a different meaning with “pick” than they do with “choose”, but Webster’s Dictionary indicates that their meaning overlaps for most people.  So I think this is a fairly good example of a synonymous doublet, two or more words within a sentence [...]

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Translating “Christ”

January 25, 2009 – 8:07 pm

In my recent post entitled Translating “in Christ”, one commenter asked me to share my thoughts on how to translate “Christ”, and another asked why we go so far from the joy we are meant to know.  What I share in this post will hopefully address both of these points of interest to some degree. [...]

Posted in Better Life Bible, Bible Translation, translation audience | Comments (25)

Translating “in Christ”

January 11, 2009 – 12:37 am

The expression in Christ (and its equivalents in Jesus, in the Lord, in the Son, etc.) occurs 174 times in the New Testament. While it does not occur in any of the Gospels, Hebrews or James, it occurs 21 times in the first two chapters of Ephesians and 10 times in chapter 16 of Romans. The [...]

Posted in ambiguity, Better Life Bible, Bible Translation | Comments (24)

Translating "hell"

February 2, 2008 – 2:49 pm

As I translated The Better Life Bible, I noticed that more than half (seven) of the occurrences of the term hell in the New Testament are in the Gospel of Matthew. So I decided to research where and how the term is used throughout the Bible. I discovered that the common definition of hell as [...]

Posted in Better Life Bible | Comments (25)

BLB Translation Glimpses

January 19, 2008 – 1:26 am

I’ve recently published Glimpses into the Translation of The Better Life Bible, which is a compilation of the Translation Glimpses from my monthly newsletter during the seven-year translation process. This 42 page booklet (8.5 x 11) provides insight into how I translated more than 30 terms, including: BaptizeBelieveCommandmentEternal LifeGraceKingdom of GodLawLoveRighteousnessSalvationSon of GodSon of Man [...]

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Translating "Law" in the New Testament

December 24, 2007 – 9:08 pm

An important term in the New Testament is the Greek word nomos which the King James Version translates law in all of its 195 occurrences. However, this term conveys a wider range of meaning in the New Testament than many people realize, including the following: 1. law in general2. the normal order of things3. the [...]

Posted in Better Life Bible | Comments (11)

Merry Xmas!

December 26, 2006 – 8:24 pm

After reading Wayne’s recent posts of Christmas-related topics, it occurred to me that it might be good to clarify the expression Merry Xmas. I sometimes hear people complain that the X in Xmas takes Christ out of Christmas. Actually, the X has long been an abbreviation of Christ since it represents the first Greek letter [...]

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Target audience of the BLB

December 5, 2006 – 1:44 pm

In a Gallup Poll dated October, 2000, the percentage of people who read the Bible has declined from 73% in the 1980’s to 59%, broken down into the following categories: 16% read it every day21% read it weekly 12% read it monthly10% read it less than monthly41% rarely or never read it___63% Since The Better [...]

Posted in Bible Translation | Comments (9)
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