Ask Pastor Mike Fabarez

Speaker 1

Bibles, Bibles, Bibles. So many translations and opinions. How do you sort through which one is right for you? Well, you're invited to join us for a practical and informative edition of Ask Pastor Mike today on Focal Point.

English Standard, Revised Standard, Holman Christian Standard. When it comes to picking out a good Bible, it seems there's nothing standard about them. Are they all correct? Which one's right for you?

Well, welcome to Focal Point. I'm your host, Dave Drouy. And today we're clearing out our regular schedule as Pastor Mike Febares helps sift through the differences between popular modern versions of the Bible. We're joining executive director Jay Worton from inside the pastor's study now for this edition of Ask Pastor Mike.

Speaker 2

Pastor Mike, we've got a good question from a listener today. They ask, "I want to buy a Bible to read and study, but there are so many different versions out there. How do I know which version to use?"

So before you answer that, Pastor Mike, maybe you could talk about why there are so many different Bible translations.

Speaker 3

Okay, well, yeah, that's a different question. But there are a lot of Bible translations for two reasons. Well, probably a lot more than that, but two basic reasons for why there are good translations out there.

Number one, because the receptor language, the language that you're putting the Bible into, continues to change. And because of that, you're going to have another translation to try to keep up with the lingua franca, the way that people speak in the marketplace and how people understand words. So that's one reason there's different translations.

Another reason there are translations is that we have certainly gone through, in the last hundred years, 200 years or so, a lot of great discoveries in terms of manuscript evidence, especially in the New Testament regarding the Bible. If you're looking at scholars putting these discoveries on the table and saying, "Okay, here we have more manuscripts that go back further," or maybe they don't go back further, but maybe from a different vein and a different family of manuscripts that are copied from this particular region or this place, you start saying, "Well, this really helps us make some decisions between this variant reading and that variant reading," which I teach about a lot in the Origin of the Bible series.

Then, we want another translation perhaps to come out to help clean up some of those debated texts. Now, they're very small, as most people know, and I often teach when I talk about this topic. These variant readings are usually inconsequential, but still, we want to know exactly what did Luke really put down there when he wrote this book to Theophilus? Or, you know, what did Peter write when he wrote his first epistle? What were the actual words on the page? We want to know every word.

So as scholarship advances and more discoveries are made, sometimes it's helpful to come out with a new translation. And as the receptor language changes, that's the second reason you would want to maybe come out with a new translation. I mean, I don't think you're going to be reading the NIV if Christ didn't return a thousand years from now; probably no one's going to be speaking this kind of English then. So we need translations. And sometimes that creates a glut of translations on our Christian bookstore bookshelves. But that's just part of it.

Speaker 2

Well, to get back to this particular question from this listener, how do I know which version to use?

We see a range of Bibles out there that some are really difficult to kind of read through and some are much easier to read through.

Maybe you can talk about the differences between those two.

Speaker 3

Well, for our listener, I'd just be real specific for her and say, listen, if you go to a good Bible teaching church and you've got a pastor that's teaching the word verse by verse, line by line, then I'm going to say get the translation that he's preaching from. I trust he's preaching from one primary translation, and that would be good to utilize that translation as you sit under his teaching and the study that he brings to you. That would be good.

Sometimes you find in some churches maybe the women's Bible study will be using one translation and the main service uses another. I think you need to have a couple translations on hand. I would think it wouldn't be bad for any serious Christian to have a few English translations on hand at home when they study the Bible.

Now remember, translations are just trying to give us a picture of the original. There are manuscript issues, and sometimes a Bible that's 500 years old isn't going to be as up to date in terms of the discoveries as a more recent, good scholarly Bible translation. But they're all translations of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

Because we're looking at a translation, we have to maybe get more than one translation laid out on our kitchen table when we're studying a text very carefully to know exactly how to understand this ancient Greek idiom about "gird up the loins of your mind," for instance. What in the world does that mean? If you have two or three translations sitting on your table, or you've got the Blue Letter Bible online, or you've got Bible software with all these different translations, sometimes you can get a sense of it because one translator only gets one shot at it. He gets to choose one time how to translate that phrase.

Because there are idioms and cultural issues in the language, sometimes we need more than one translation to get a good picture of it. Either that, or you go to school and spend four or five years learning Hebrew and Greek, and then you don't have to be so dependent on English translations.

Speaker 2

What's the difference between a word for word and a thought for thought translation?

Speaker 3

Well, word for word is a word for word translation.

Speaker 4

Is it that basic?

Speaker 3

It's pretty simple, yeah. Jay, good question. Yeah, word for word, it's trying to take a Greek word or a Hebrew word or an Aramaic word and just turning it as carefully and cleanly as it can into English and still be readable. Because if you just sent them right across, it would be hardly readable. I mean, matter of fact, it would probably not be readable after a phrase or a sentence or so they're trying to make it as readable as possible, but be as direct as possible.

A thought for thought just tries to look at what's in that Greek sentence or that Hebrew sentence and then just say, well, what's the thought of it? Let's just put that into nice, smooth English texts. That's why some of the smoothest reading English texts are really not the most accurate because they are thought for thought translations, which you start really to get into an idea of paraphrasing the thoughts of a text.

Now, paraphrase technically is an English Bible that was taken from an English Bible that usually is a paraphrase. Some guys do those paraphrases and do have a working knowledge of Hebrew and Greek. So sometimes it's a little bit more profound than that in that they are referring to the Greek language or the Hebrew language. But it's clearly a thought for thought kind of reading. And that's why some people like paraphrases, because it's so easy to read.

Well, it's not very accurate in terms of exactly what was written by Paul or by John or whatever book of the Bible you're looking at, Isaiah or Jeremiah. So I would always say, because God inspired the words of scripture initially in the original manuscripts, I certainly want to never have, outside the arsenal of a serious Christian, a good literal translation, as much of a word for word as you can get.

Speaker 2

Pastor Mike, we use the English Standard Version here at Compass Bible Church. Why have you chosen that version? And what do you use when you're studying?

Speaker 3

Yeah, I mean, I do use a variety of translations, and of course, I went to school, like all of our pastors here, to learn the original languages. So we're spending lots of time in the original languages. We prepare our sermons and our lessons.

But the ESV was chosen as a preaching translation for us here because it is a good, reliable, recent text. And when I say recent, I mean generally speaking, it's easy for English readers to understand because it wasn't written hundreds of years ago or even 75 years ago. It was written just a few years ago it came out.

And so the English is trying to be understandable to the modern reader. And yet it's one of those translations that really doesn't dumb things down. You know, the reading level is a little higher than some others, and the word-for-word nature of it does make some sentences a little harder to understand, but it's trying to really capture the essence of what's going on in a Greek or Hebrew sentence.

Speaker 2

Well, thank you, Pastor Mike. Hopefully, this conversation has equipped listeners to get a Bible that works for them and start reading it.

And we're going to keep this conversation going with a message on this topic called the Communication of God's Message to the World.

Speaker 4

2Nd Timothy, chapter 3, verses 16 and 17, states that all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. Verse 17 says that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. The key word that we need to grapple with is the term translated into English as "God-breathed." We see that in the NIV, which was translated in 1973 and codified for us in the New International Version. However, this is an old translation, as it originally appeared in Tyndale's translation from Greek and Hebrew into English in 1526. This concept has been around for a long time.

The King James translators and most translations today will read that the Scriptures are given by the inspiration of God. The translation from Greek into Latin was "divinitas inspirada." The word "inspirata" from Latin was simply transliterated into English in 1526. The problem is that the word in Latin, "inspirata," and the word "inspiration" mean two different things, even though they are translated in almost an identical way. If you take an old Latin dictionary, I have two in my library, and look up the word "inspirada," you will find that the verb "inspiro" is defined as to breathe out, to blow in, or to blow on. This is what "inspirada" or "inspiro" means.

When Jerome translated the Bible from Greek in the New Testament, specifically in this passage from Second Timothy, chapter 3, verse 16, into Latin, he chose that word because he believed it was a good Latin equivalent for what he saw in the Greek language. However, this creates a problem. If you open up your English dictionary and look up the word "inspiration," you will find that it is defined as a stimulation of the mind or emotions. For example, I was sitting around watching TV, flipping through the channels, and I saw a commercial for ShamWow, which inspired me to get up and wash my car.

Another definition of inspiration might read something like this: a sudden or creative act or idea. I had an inspiration; it was a sudden creative idea or behavior. It is something that I do, and it feels like a great idea to do something remarkable. When we read the word "inspiration" in a text like this and attach it to the realm of the Bible, we might think that Moses sat around and was inspired to write the Bible, or that Peter picked up a pen and started writing because he was inspired. However, this is not what the word means in the biblical text.

To help clarify this, we should ask the question: what is inspired? How did it get from the mind of the prophet into the pages of Scripture? We need to consider what "God-breathed" means. Does the adjective describe the writer? In fact, the adjective that is translated as "inspiration" in most translations or "God-breathed" in the NIV does not describe the writer. This is a common misconception; people often think that the writers were inspired by God to write the Bible. However, that is not what is being said here, and it is not a biblical doctrine. The authors were not inspired to write the Bible, which is not what this text teaches.

We have taken a 4th and 5th century Latin word and brought it all the way into English, while the meaning of that word in English today is nothing close to what it meant back then. Clearly, in this text, the adjective is describing the Scriptures, the "tagraphae," or the writings. All Scripture is God-breathed. The Scriptures are inspired, not the reader or the author.

Now, let's discuss this difference a bit more. As I mentioned, most translations say "inspired by God" or "given by the inspiration of God." However, there are only four translations that I could find in my rather expansive library that use the words "God-breathed": the NIV, which I am grateful for, and I guess you could add the TNAV, but I am counting TNAV and NIV as one. The ESV is another important translation, as is the ISV, or International Standard Version. Additionally, there is Wiest's translation, which is sometimes produced as a translation.

Speaker 3

It's a rather expanded translation.

Speaker 4

And I guess you could add the Amplified Bible, which does add the phrase, but it's like in a bracket behind it. So let's just say five to be gracious. Okay, so let's grapple with the word a little bit. Theopanustos is the word. It's a compound word, theopanustos, that is the word translated, God breathed. Okay, obviously, theos, theology, theophany, you know, the word theos is the word for God in the Greek language. Super common word. Okay? New O is the root of, if you want to pronounce it that way, is used in passages like Matthew 7:25.

Now you're going to start to get in the sandals of Jerome and you're going to figure out why he used the Latin word inspiro for this word. Because when you read this word nuo in the text, you find it translated this: "The rains came down, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock." That's the word. If we're going to talk about inspiration, which I'd prefer we talk about the doctrine of God breathed, that would be better. We need to talk about God breathing out, blowing out a writing. That's the picture.

Why is 2 Peter chapter 3, verses 15 and 16 important? Because 2 Timothy 3:16 describes at least, we would argue, if I was a skeptic, only the Old Testament. The Scriptures were generally used in the New Testament to describe the Old Testament law, prophets, and writings altogether were called the Scriptures. Jesus used to say, "You don't know the power of the Scriptures." And he was referring to the 39 books of the Old Testament. Okay, that was what was in view.

Now if you say, "Well that's interesting, why is this so important then?" Because 2nd Peter 3:15 equates the Old Testament tag Rapha with the New Testament taw graphe, the writings and the writings. 2nd Peter 3:15 and 16 states, "That our Lord's patience means salvation." In other words, as long as he waits and doesn't wrap up the world history, we got time to see more people saved. That's a good thing. So bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation.

Because this passage started with "Where's Christ? Where's Christ? You guys said Christ was coming back. Where's Christ?" And the answer is, well, he's waiting because he'd like you, you thick-headed critic, to become a Christian. That's the turnabout. In this passage, he said, "Just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you," now he's a New Testament author, right? "With the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all of his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable people distort as they do the other scriptures to their own destruction."

In other words, you disregard the Old Testament. We've already learned. Jesus told us what happens to you if you don't pay attention to the Old Testament. Don't heed that the New Testament takes the word and now applies it to New Testament writings, at least in this text. And we'll expand it further to Paul's writings, which is about half of the New Testament. So 2nd Peter chapter 3, verse 15 is important as defined by Scripture.

2nd Timothy chapter 3, verse 16. All we've learned so far is that whatever inspiration is, it is God's breathing out of a book like you would breathe out a spoken word. He breathes out a written word. Okay, now let's deal with this. How does it work? Get into the inner workings. Open the hood on the concept of inspiration. And we go to 2nd Peter chapter one, verses 20 and 21: "Above all you must understand that no prophecy of scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man. Wasn't man that had the thought, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

That's a helpful picture, whatever inspiration is. Now that we add the prophet in the middle of this, he becomes a part of a chain of events that begins with God's thoughts that now he is privy to. And the Holy Spirit is going to carry him along until that prophecy is written. That word then becomes critical. What word? The word carried along. Pharaoh is a pretty common Greek word. You Greek students know that. But when you add it as a participle and you put it in the passive voice, it becomes much more rare.

Now it's not "I carry the wood to the fire" or "I carry the man along," right? But something about being carried along. Now the object of the sentence becomes someone who is carried by something else. And that picture here is what's in view. The people that spoke from God. And obviously the step that's not stated here because it begins with written scripture. No prophecy of scripture. The writings, their speaking was written, but they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Pharaoh, passive form.

Now here's the picture. In Acts 27:15, let's start in 15, 2 references here. "The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind. So we gave way to it." This is a great setup for this word. "And we were driven along." There it is. We were carried along. We couldn't resist it. It overpowered us. We were just a pawn here, like a ship being driven by the wind. Then we pass through all these places. And then he reiterates this. At the bottom of verse 17, he says, "Fearing that we would run aground." Do you see that there? He says, "They lowered the sea anchor and they let the ship be." Here it is again. Passive form of Pharaoh. "We let the ship be driven along."

The picture here is of a prophet in the middle of some kind of chain of events where he doesn't have the initial idea; God does. He now is given that idea and he is carried along. So that the bottom line, the taw graphi, the prophecy of writing the scripture, is the end result. So whatever is written, it didn't come from the prophet's mind ultimately, and it didn't come from the prophet's interpretation of God's mind. Revelation we already established was God disclosing to people what would otherwise be unknown.

The apostles and prophets have now this process of God putting that thought in their minds and driving them to the end goal of a written document. That is the picture of inspiro. What we're saying is that what you read in Paul's writings to the Ephesians, what you see in Isaiah's writings to the pre-exilic Israel, not really his thoughts. Oh, he gets the thoughts as a part of a process, but the Holy Spirit was moving him along to put that into a written form. God is a thought in the mind of the prophet.

Now revelation God now takes that prophet and the Holy Spirit is so involved in the superintending of that prophet that what is the end result of his writing is something that the Holy Spirit has driven him to. That's the claim of the Bible, and the Bible says in 2nd Timothy 3:16 that all Scripture came about that way. God was the originator of the truth and the Holy Spirit guided him until that was placed into a written format.

Speaker 1

You're listening to Focal Point with pastor and teacher Mike Fabarez and a portion of the message called the Origins of the Bible. Now to hear the original uncut version, find it at focal.radio.org. Picking out a new Bible can be confusing. Hopefully today you picked up some guidelines, like Tammy, who writes, "I'm so uplifted by Focal Point and I depend on the sound teachings of Pastor Mike. I recently purchased a new ESV journaling Bible for the sole purpose of study with Pastor Mike as he goes through his sermons. Plenty of space in the margins for jotting down thoughts and supporting references he makes. I am like a sponge soaking up all the truth. Thank you all for this ministry."

Well, it's because listeners like Tammy write in that we know we're making an impact. If you've never contacted Focal Point before, we'd like to give you a little nudge to do that right now with a free booklet for Thanksgiving. It's called A Thankful Heart in a World of Hurt by Joni Eareckson Tada. Mention it when you call 888-320-5885. And remember, when you give to Focal Point today, you're making it possible for folks like Tammy to experience life confidence in Christ.

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Dave Drewy here, inviting you back when Mike Fabarez continues his teaching on Luke Monday on Focal Point. Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.

Speaker 4

Sam.