In 1895, a German scholar named Adolf Deissmann published a work called Bibelstudien (Bible Studies), which revolutionized New Testament scholarship. Second, since 1895 many discoveries from archaeological digs and manuscript finds have been made, bringing into question some of the renderings and translational choices of the KJV. Shortly following Westcott and Hort’s text, the English Revised Version made its appearance, ushering in a new period of Bible translations, an era based on earlier manuscripts. But the Greek manuscripts that the KJV translators followed included these and many other extra passages, which were likewise included-for better or for worse-in the KJV. However, the older manuscripts, which Wescott and Hort used, did not contain passages such as the longer ending of Mark’s Gospel (Mark 16:9-20), or the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11) (for a description of why Mark’s ending stops where it does tap here). People learned, trusted, valued, copied, and were changed by the Word of God long before the most recent discoveries of our most ancient copies. Nonetheless, the Christian faith did stand unshakable for centuries while the earliest copies of its texts lay mostly forgotten in the sands of Egypt. ![]() ![]() Instead, they carefully examine the manuscript and its text, comparing it to other documents of a similar age and later copies that they think it may be the originator of, and come to an educated decision based on a whole host of factors.Īll of this is why some of our earliest manuscripts give us a better picture than what was available in the 17th century. Scholars don’t assume that an earlier copy is a more reliable copy by nature of it being old. This is where examination of the manuscripts is very important. ![]() It is also important to understand that, while these earliest copies do get us closer to what the original may have looked like, earlier does not always equate to more reliable. It wasn’t that the Bible had been lost in any way, but with the uncovering of more ancient Bible copies, it helped to broaden our understanding of how the text of the Bible looked over the last two millennia. The discovery of both more and older manuscripts in the 18th and 19th centuries, however, allowed scholars to map out a clearer picture and create a better understanding of what the original writings, which have been lost to the sands of time, of the New Testament looked like. The King James translators were using a collection of printed texts that were put together based on the manuscript evidence that was available. In the 17th century when the King James Version was being worked on, the amount of documentary sources was limited. This text made many notable deviations from the less ancient Greek text that the King James translators used back in 1611. It is important to understand that there are three basic influences that have given rise to such a wealth of Bible translations over the last hundred years.įirst, in 1881, two British scholars by the name of Brook Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort published a Greek New Testament established on the most ancient handwritten copies, what are referred to as manuscripts, available to them. To start, we simply need to ask the question, “Why are there so many English versions of the Bible?” History of the Text These are all valid questions, and in order to address them, we will need to step back a little to get a “big picture” perspective of the situation. So why are there so many options now? How did the King James get dethroned? Which translation is best for the modern reader? With so many different translations, are any of them actually faithful to the original? ![]() Since 1881, though, things have changed, and a surplus of new translations have been published: The New Revised Version (NRV), New International Version (NIV), English Standard Version (ESV), New Living Translation (NLT), New American Standard Version (NASB), and on and on you can go. Henry Ford once said, “Any customer can have a car painted in any colour that he wants, as long as it is black.”1 Before 1881, this was pretty much the situation with the English Bible:2 you could read any English translation of the Bible you wanted, as long as it was the King James Version (KJV).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |