Anthony Morris of the Governing Body further explained the principles that guided the New World Bible Translation Committee in preparing the new revision. Applying 1 Corinthians 14:8, 9 to their work, the committee wanted to ensure that the revised Bible would be easily understood. Where word-for-word renderings would distort the Bible’s meaning, they were avoided. For instance, a strictly literal translation of Genesis 31:20 would read: “Jacob stole the heart of Laban.” However, the Hebrew idiom used here differs in meaning from the English idiom, so the New World Translation now renders this expression: “Jacob outwitted Laban.” Similarly, a word-for-word translation of 1 Corinthians 7:39 would imply that a wife could marry another man if her husband “should sleep.” Since the Scriptures sometimes use “sleep” to refer to the sleep of death, though, the New World Translation helps the reader avoid confusion by using the phrase “should fall asleep in death.” “The Bible was written using the common, everyday language of average people—farmers, shepherds, and fishermen,” Brother Morris said. “A good translation of the Bible makes the message it contains understandable to sincere people, regardless of their background.”
Posted on: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 10:50:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015