Translating the Bible Literally: The History and Translation Methods of the King James Version, the New American Standard Bible and the English Standard Version

By Michael T. Schmid

Differences in translation between so-called literal Bible versions make it quite appropriate to re-evaluate what is meant by the label literal. What do different literal Bible translations have in common? How do they differ? How do we account for possible different concepts of literalness? How is the concept of literalness applied to the making of a Bible translation?

To answer these questions, the author compares three literal Bible translations: the King James Version, the New American Standard Bible and the English Standard Version. For each of these versions, the historical background and the writings of the translators themselves are analysed. The book concludes with a comparison of the three translations in their renderings of selected examples from the Gospel of John.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512741445

Michael T. Schmid

Michael T. Schmid works as a missionary in Mexico and also serves as an interpreter for The Gideons International. He received a Bachelor’s degree from Bob Jones University and a Master’s degree in Translation in a European Context from Aston University. Following his studies, he had five years of experience as a translator for the German software company SAP and for Deutsche Bundesbank. He is married to Lisa and they have two children.

Book preview

Translating the

Bible Literally

The history and translation methods of

the King James Version,

the New American Standard Bible

and the English Standard Version

Michael T. Schmid

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Copyright © 2016 Michael T. Schmid.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Scripture quotations marked (CEV) are from the Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are from the Authorized Version of the Bible (The King James Bible), the rights in which are vested in the Crown, and are reproduced by permission of the Crown’s Patentee, Cambridge University Press.

Scripture quotations marked (NASB) as well as the preface to the NASB taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture marked (NIV) taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture marked (NKJV) taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (REB) taken from the Revised English Bible, copyright © Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press 1989. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (RSV) are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (The Message) from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Scripture marked (TNIV) taken from the Holy Bible, Today’s New International® Version TNIV®. Copyright 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission of International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-4143-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-4145-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-4144-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016907450

WestBow Press rev. date: 5/31/2016

Dedicated to Jesus Christ

You are

amazing, astounding, awesome – and my Adoration,

beautiful, benevolent, bounteous – and my Beloved,

caring, charitable, compassionate – and my Creator,

dependable, discerning, divine – and my Desire,

enough, eternal, everywhere – and my Example,

faithful, fierce, forgiving – and my Friend,

good, gracious, great – and my God,

healing, holy, humble – and my High Priest,

incomparable, indescribable, invisible – and my Immanuel,

jealous, joyful, just – and my Judge,

kind, knowable, knowledgeable – and my King,

long-suffering, lovely, loyal – and my Lord,

meek, merciful, mighty – and my Messiah,

near, notable, nurturing – and my Necessity,

omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient – and my Omega,

patient, personal, precious – and my Peace,

qualified, questioning, quickening – and my Quest,

refreshing, renowned, righteous – and my Righteousness,

sinless, sovereign, sufficient – and my Saviour,

terrifying, triumphant, trustworthy – and my Teacher,

unchangeable, understanding, unique – and my Upholder,

valuable, victorious, virtuous – and my Vine,

wise, wonderful, worthy – and my Worship

CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1 The King James Version

Historical background

The translators of the King James Bible

Translation rules

Dedication

Preface

Final revision

Chapter 2 The New American Standard Bible

Historical background

The translators of the New American Standard Bible

Foreword

Preface

Promoting the NASB

Reception of the NASB

Chapter 3 The English Standard Version

Historical background

The translators of the English Standard Version

Preface

Reception of the ESV

Chapter 4 Translation analysis

Italicised words

Marginal notes

A final translation example

Conclusion

Appendix A The translators of the King James Version

Appendix B Translation rules for the King James Version

Appendix C The dedication of the King James Version

Appendix D The preface to the King James Version

Appendix E The translators of the New American Standard Bible

Appendix F The foreword to the New American Standard Bible

Appendix G The preface to the New American Standard Bible

Appendix H The Colorado Springs Guidelines

Appendix I The ESV Translation Oversight Committee

Appendix J The ESV Translation Review Scholars

Appendix K The ESV Advisory Council

Appendix L The preface to the English Standard Version

Appendix M Comparison of italicised words

Appendix N Comparison of marginal notes

Bibliography

Foreword

Michael Schmid’s new book, Translating the Bible Literally, serves as a worthy primer for those who wish to understand the confusion and competing claims that surround the translation of the Bible into English. Using the Gospel of John as his basis of comparison, Schmid evaluates the claims of greater accuracy and greater literalness that advocates for several translations have made in defending their preferred texts, and he strives for a more objective standard in estimating the real proximity of the Greek text to its English translations. Translating the Bible Literally does not seek to persuade devoted followers of a particular English text so much as it seeks to demonstrate to its readers how close the King James Version, New American Standard Bible, and English Standard Version come to approximating the underlying vocabulary and syntax of the Greek text. If you are interested in exploring these English translations, you will profit from Schmid’s new work.

Dr. Brian R. Hand

Professor of New Testament Interpretation

Bob Jones University Seminary

Preface

My interest in Bible translation started at an early age. When I was six years old, Jesus Christ saved me and gave me a new heart. As I learned more about God and the Bible, God gave me the desire to serve Him with my life. Missionaries became my heroes, but I never thought I could be a missionary myself. I was far too shy and could never imagine myself preaching or speaking in front of a crowd. One day, at the age of twelve, I read some statistics on Bible translation around the world and about the many people groups that are still without God’s Word in their own language. I was shocked, but realised at the same time that this may be God’s calling for my life. God had given me the privilege of growing up in an environment of three languages: my father was German and my mother was English and they had started a Spanish-speaking church in Germany. So I had learned English at home, German at school and Spanish at church. After realising that God might be calling me to use my gifts in languages as a Bible translator, I started learning all I could about Bible translation and took part in different events on missions and Bible translation and went on some short-term mission trips.

Following my graduation from high school and one year of service in the German military, I enrolled at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, majoring in French Education. However, just a few weeks into my studies, I realised that a major in education would not allow me to choose Greek as a minor, so I switched my major to just French and selected Greek as my minor. God helped me do well in my studies of Greek and later also of Hebrew, which encouraged me to continue preparing myself for missionary service – in particular in the area of Bible translation.

Upon completing my Bachelor’s degree at BJU, I completed one more year of graduate studies at Aston University in Birmingham (England) for a Master’s degree in Translation in a European Context. Even in this secular environment, the subject of Bible translation played an important part in studying the history of translation in general. This led me to the decision to write my dissertation on this topic. The idea of comparing the history and translation of the KJV, NASB and ESV came about as I had encountered different opinions in various Christian circles as to which was the ‘best’ or ‘most literal’ Bible version. At that time, the ESV was still a very new Bible translation on the market. I had my own opinions on each of these three different versions, but these were admittedly formed more by the opinions of others and not so much by my own study of the subject matter. Seeing the dissertation requirement as an opportunity to further my own knowledge and understanding of the history and translation of these three versions, I embarked on this project. I found both my research and my writing experience to be fascinating, enjoyable and rewarding. Some of my findings were more or less what I had expected, but others surprised me and made me re-evaluate my opinions about each of the three Bible versions.

Now more than ten years have passed since I wrote my dissertation. It has been on my mind for quite a while to have my work published. When the opportunity for publication with WestBow Press came about, I did not want to wait any longer. Even though I already had my manuscript at hand, it still required a good amount of work making necessary revisions and updates. But I believe that these efforts have been worthwhile and it is my hope and prayer that this book will further an interest in studying the history, the languages, the translations and – most importantly – the message of the Bible. May God receive all the glory.

Acknowledgements

I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the faculty of the School of Languages and Social Sciences at Aston University, in particular to Dr Beverly Adab and Professor Christina Schäffner. Your help, guidance and encouragement have been essential in successfully accomplishing my Master’s dissertation on literal Bible translation, which forms the basis for this work. This book is merely a revised and updated version of my dissertation.

Further thanks goes to the faculty of Bob Jones University who furthered my interest in languages in general as well as in the Bible, in particular to my French teachers Dr Bruce Byers, Jacqueline Eaves and Rob Loach. Thank you for investing in my life and also for your continued friendship. A special thank you also goes to Dr Brian Hand, one of my first teachers of Greek at BJU. What I learned in your classes laid the foundation for my continued interest and advancement in Greek. Thank you also very much for taking the time to read through my book and for writing the foreword to it.

I also wish to thank the following individuals who agreed to review my book prior to publication: Pastor George Platt of Highgate Road Chapel in London, Mathew B. Sims, production manager for The Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, and Dr William E.G. Thomas, the International President of The Gideons International. Thank you to all of you for your interest in my book and for providing your endorsements.

Additionally, I want to thank the publishers of the NASB and the ESV, i.e. The Lockman Foundation and Crossway, respectively. You have shown yourselves to be very kind and helpful in providing valuable information for my research.

In the matter of providing information, I also wish to thank Wycliffe Bible Translators (UK) for granting me access to their library, as well as the following individuals who have graciously provided assistance from their personal libraries: Pastor Dennis Jacob (formerly of Galway Bay Baptist Church) and Pastor Ray Clancy of Calvary Galway in Ireland. May God bless you as you continue serving Him.

Thank you also to all of the staff at WestBow Press who played a part in the publication of this book, not only for taking on my first book project and publishing it, but also for your great help and guidance in this process. Without your assistance, this book would not have come into existence.

A very special thank you goes to my parents, Georg and Rosalie Schmid. You sacrificed much to make it possible for me to study in the USA and in the UK, and you have given me your continued support and encouragement for my studies. You have also showed your loving care for me in countless other ways. Thank you for teaching me about God, leading me to Christ and being examples in my life. Daddy, I wish you were still alive on this earth so that I would have the chance to tell you that personally just once more. While nobody is perfect, I believe I have been blessed with the best parents anyone could ask for, and I count it a privilege to be your son.

There is one person who I love and appreciate more than any other human being – my most precious and beautiful wife. Lisa, you are the love of my life. I thank and praise God for you – how He made you and how He continues to work in and through you. You are a very special person. Thank you for all your love, support and friendship in our still relatively young marriage. It is a tremendous blessing, encouragement and help for me to know that you are behind me and at my side – as my ‘help meet’ given to me by God. I could not imagine life without you. It is a joy to live each new day together with you and I look forward to growing old with you. I will always love you.

Finally, and most importantly, I want to thank my Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ. My words cannot express and my works could never repay the debt I owe to You. You have been so good to me and have lavished your blessings on me in countless ways. I do not deserve any of your kindness. It is all of your amazing grace. Thank You for coming to the earth and bearing the punishment of all my sins on the cross before I was even born. Thank You for giving me life and breath and food and clothing and shelter and family and friends. Thank You for opening my heart at a young age to receive the truth of Your Word. Thank You for granting me faith and repentance. Thank You for saving me from my sins. Thank You for changing my heart and giving me a new and eternal life in You. Everything I am, everything I have and everything I can do comes only from You. All honour and glory belong to You alone. It is therefore to Jesus