Over Zealousness of Church Reformers

Written by Ronald J. Gordon Published: December, 2011 ~ Last Updated: December, 2011 ©
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eal is a very potent attribute in the human experience. When Jesus cleansed the Temple of Buyers and Sellers, His disciples noticed the passion of the moment correlated with Psalms 69.9. Zeal or passion in the lives of men and women can drive them to do things ranging between commendable and questionable. If this involves the handling of scripture it may result in a translation that serves the needs of the translator more than those of the readers. Martin Luther was self-driven to translate the Bible into the German language, but did you know these following little known facts about Luther that might bring his motives into question.

Summary

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     Greek  English +/-              Add         Omit      Modifiy         Free

KJV  1,162    1,401 20.6%        76  5.4%     38  2.7%     79  5.6%  1,246 88.9%

NIV  1,157    1,512 30.7%       289 19.1%    163 10.8%    296 19.6%    927 61.3%

LB   1,157    1,785 54.3%       704 39.4%    354 19.8%    454 25.4%    627 35.1%

There are perhaps many conclusions that can be drawn from this instrument but we recognize principally two: The more literal the Greek text the less expressive will be the English translation with the greatest number of words that are free of bias or influence, and conversely, the more expressive the underlying Greek text, the more subjective the English translation with the fewest number of words that are free of influence. The selection from Matthew produced high counts of free words because the text was inflexible, whereas the passage from 3 John was the most expressive and the number of free words significantly declined.

Word count according to translation discipline was predictable. The literal King James experienced a 20.6% increase in English words to render its underlying Greek text, and the paraphrased Living Bible incurred a 54.3% increase in the number of words. The former allowed 88.9% of its Greek text to pass through translation while the latter permitted only 35.1%. Different people will no doubt come to different conclusions regarding our exercise but this last point will remain without substantial challenge.

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15