Ron Rhodes writes that this translation “solved a big problem” because “many of the Jews who grew up in these cities could no longer speak Hebrew, but only Greek.” 3īible translation took off in the first century, Rhodes writes, as early followers of Jesus obeyed his words to “make disciples of all nations”:Įarly in biblical history, Syriac or Aramaic translations of the Bible became increasingly important as Christianity spread throughout Central Asia, India, and China. In the third century BC, Jews produced what’s known as the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament for the Greek-speaking Jews living in Alexandria, Egypt. The New International Version (NIV) says the priests “clearly explained the meaning of what was being read,” and the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) says they read the book of the law of God “translating and giving the meaning.” Thus, they were explaining the first five books of the Bible for the people in a way they could comprehend. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. In fact, in the fifth century BC, after the priest Hilkiah rediscovered the book of the law of Moses in the temple (see 2 Kings 22:8), the Levites stood before God’s people and read the Scriptures aloud. The history of Bible translationīible translations aren’t new. 2īecause the Bible is more than a book of antiquated stories about wars and relationships-it’s the living, breathing Word of God with the power to transform hearts and minds-translating the original language manuscripts into these 3,945 languages is critical. 1 This means some portion of the Bible has been translated into 3,415 languages.īut approximately 3,945 languages still need Scripture-which means the people who speak these languages are not able to read God’s Word in their native tongue. Wycliffe says the entire Bible has been translated into 704 languages, the New Testament into an additional 1,551 languages, and portions of the Bible or individual stories into 1,160 other languages.
In fact, according to Wycliffe Bible Translators-a mission agency focused on training local people to translate the Bible into the language that speaks to them best-there are over 7,000 languages spoken (or signed) around the world. What is Bible translation? And why it’s importantīible translation involves rendering the Bible into languages other than what it was originally written in with the goal of making the Bible not only readable but understandable to everyone in their own language.
Perhaps the better question is: What is the best Bible translation for me right now?īefore I try to offer an answer (and hopefully, equip you to help answer that for others too), let’s explore the basics of Bible translations. And every time I’m asked, I always wish I had a simple answer! In the 25+ years I’ve led and participated in Bible studies, the most-asked question by far-by both new Bible readers and longtime students of the Bible-is what the best Bible translation is. Facebook Twitter Reddit Pinterest Email LinkedIn