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<\/a>The epistle of John to the Ephesians<\/p><\/div>\n
This particular printing (printed in Canada) appears to have suffered a quire selection problem.\u00a0 There are two copies of Matthew 22:4 to John 12:30.\u00a0 From the second copy of John 12:30 we continue suddenly at Galatians 5:4.\u00a0\u00a0 Reading over the page boundary it says (bizarrely):<\/p>\n
Others said, “An angel has spoken to him”.\u00a0 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Now this is a simple misprint.\u00a0 Some machine that was supposed to grab one pile of pages slipped, and grabbed two, and when the book was big enough to fit in the cover it was bound and put in the “finished” pile.\u00a0 The thickness was correct, so it passed QA, and arrived in .ZA ready to be sold as a marked down reject.<\/p>\n
This brings to mind two problems with modern Bible translations:<\/p>\n
Firstly, there is a rather unquestioned reliance on Wescott & Hort’s notion of a superior “earliest text”, at the expense of the received text.\u00a0 The trouble is that the text that is true is the one that is actually used.\u00a0 The true text is not in good physical condition, since it is worn down by continual use.\u00a0 The text which was not a good and true copy, which was made by people who had no living interest in its content is the text which can later be recovered in pristine condition.\u00a0 Thankfully this overt reliance on “early manuscripts” appears to be waning.<\/p>\n
Secondly, the problem of copyright.\u00a0 Printing and distributing a Bible translation is not a task to be lightly attempted.\u00a0 It requires specialist skills which, for a long time, have been the exclusive preserve of publishers.\u00a0 As a result, the copyright for Bible translations is held by publishers.\u00a0 These publishers, for all their finer qualities have, as a primary goal, profit.\u00a0 Given the choice between serving God and Mammon, they pay lip service to God, and get as much from Mammon as they reasonably can.\u00a0 To enable this, the average Bible translation includes all sorts of legal claims to ownership by the publisher:<\/p>\n
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- Quotes over 1000 verses are prohibited<\/li>\n
- Recordings over 250 verses are prohibited<\/li>\n
- You must make up more than 50% of what you say when you quote the version.<\/li>\n
- You must credit the publisher in various intrusive ways, and advertise their trademark when you quote the content.<\/li>\n
- No commentaries may be made except by permission<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Those are from the ESV.\u00a0\u00a0 The NIV has similar terms, but less generous.\u00a0 Interestingly, there is no requirement that quotations be accurate<\/em>.\u00a0 Quite amazing.<\/p>\n
These terms were placed there for the publisher, and not for the kingdom of God.\u00a0 They are there to ensure a profit for the publisher – or a surplus for the non-profit publisher.\u00a0 Surely they are entitled to payment for their work, but this kind of restriction forgets that a translation of a work owes a lot to the original author.\u00a0 The original author takes a lively interest in his work.\u00a0 He should not be trifled with.<\/p>\n
My printing of this good book includes only one copy of this verse:<\/p>\n
Freely you have received, freely give<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And it has no copies of this verse:<\/p>\n
Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you are not conversant in first century Greek, then in order to read the Bible, you generally need a translation.\u00a0 I am told that the ESV is an excellent translation.\u00a0 My loving wife went out and bought one.\u00a0 It … Continue reading