bible interpretation: translations essays

Written by Dan King

Christ-follower. husband. father. author of the unlikely missionary: from pew-warmer to poverty-fighter. co-author of activist faith: from him and for him. director of family ministry at st. edward's episcopal church. president of fistbump media, llc.

March 26, 2009

In the Bible Interpretation class that I teach with Sarasota Bible College, the students are tasked with writing a series of essays. Most of them have to do with studies that they do on various genres of Bible passages, but some of them are on certain foundational topics. I’ve challenged the class to share their essays online as a way of getting them to think differently about how they communicate what they are learning.

bible translationsIn an earlier post, I shared some of their perspectives on non-canonical writings from both the Old and New Testaments and a perspective on the Dead Sea Scrolls.

In this assignment the essays are focused on doing an evaluation on various types of translations. They were asked to research how the translation was created and provide an assessment on where (if at all) it fit into the Bible interpreter’s toolkit. Here are the essays that they have allowed me to share…

Literal (word-for-word) translations

Dynamic equivalent (thought-for-thought) translations

Free (paraphrase) translations

  • Anita G. – The Living Bible
  • Justin G. – The Message

Selecting a good translation is an important part of Bible interpretation. Every translation that exists is already filtered through somebody’s bias. How to Read the Bible for All It's WorthThe important thing to consider when selecting a translation to study with is to determine where the bias is minimized as much as possible, or where the translation is as true to the original text as possible.

In my opinion, many translations have value…   even the paraphrases. But each should be used in balance with other strong translations to give you a better picture regarding what the original text is trying to communicate.

For more information on selecting a good translation, and the on topic of Bible interpretation, please check out How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth by Fee and Stuart). You can buy it and other great Bible Study resources now from the BibleDude Store!

9 Comments

  1. Anita

    Hey Dan. Why don't you put some of the newer writings on your blog?

    Reply
  2. BibleDude

    They are coming soon Anita! Don't worry! Thanks for allowing me to post your work here!

    Reply
  3. Anita

    Hey Dan. Why don't you put some of the newer writings on your blog?

    Reply
  4. Anita

    Hey Dan. Why don't you put some of the newer writings on your blog?

    Reply
  5. BibleDude

    They are coming soon Anita! Don't worry! Thanks for allowing me to post your work here!

    Reply
  6. Anita

    Hey Dan. Why don't you put some of the newer writings on your blog?

    Reply
  7. BibleDude

    They are coming soon Anita! Don't worry! Thanks for allowing me to post your work here!

    Reply
  8. BibleDude

    They are coming soon Anita! Don't worry! Thanks for allowing me to post your work here!

    Reply
  9. Daphne Coleman

    Any update about your works? I’d love to see it how you interpreted or translate the bible in your essay. Please share 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Anita Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

bible interpretation: translations essays

by Dan King time to read: 2 min
9