Too Many Translations? [Doug]

I grew up with the KJV. It was my first Bible, and the translation I used in Sunday School along with all of the other kids. We memorized some verses, but none of the kids in my class ever read from the Bible because it was somehow beyond our understanding. But that was the only Bible we knew at the time.

When I turned ten years of age, the kids in my age group went through a Summer long "Bible Instruction Class" taught by the pastor. It was helpful to us, and helped me understand certain things better than I had, but the NASB Bible we were presented at the end proved to be no easier to me than the KJV had been. To be honest with you, I never even knew that it wasn't a KJV Bible until I was almost 30! Yes, I am blushing right now.

I got a NLT Bible for Christmas when I was 25 or so, and it was OK and quite readable, but I just couldn't stick with it. In the end, it was the Chronological setup of this particular Bible that got me going, but the translation didn't help me any. When I actually read the entire Bible for the first time, it was an NIV Bible that I read. Since then, I have purchased a NKJV Bible and an ESV Bible. For a time, the NKJV was my translation of choice, but now that honor goes to ESV.

So what? What am I getting at? We have 6 translations mentioned here, and I have only listed the translations I currently own and have in my possession. Whatever happened to that Good News version and that other paraphrase whose name escapes me, I have no idea. But still, what is the point of all this?

In order for one to proclaim a Bible translation their preferred translation, there must be some sort of a commitment made to that translation. This is not the same thing as saying that one translation is the authoritative one and the others are all abominations. This is just my personal take on the matter. If I am to say that the ESV is now my translation of choice I should be expected to make some sort of commitment to it, otherwise I am treating it like any of the other versions that I have mentioned.

This commitment means that I should be memorizing passages from it, referring to it before others, studying the words contained within it and more. But what about the verses I remember from the KJV and the NIV, the only other translations from which I have ever tried to memorize? I am anal about such things and will not argue against anyone's claim of this. I realize that if I want to learn the Bible the purest sense, I will have to learn Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic as well as learn about the histories and cultures of the Biblical world over several millinea. I will need to do all of this with a total resolve of immersion into these things.

And I'll still miss the point. At least some of the points.

So here I sit with my ESV Bible beside me. You would think that it would be a breeze to relearn the same verses I know from before, but in mental recitals, I get caught up in the different words used and the different sentence structure from what I knew before. This forces me to go back and read slower, which is not a bad thing, mind you.

I fully expect the ESV to remain my favorite for years to come, perhaps for the rest of my life. I once thought this about the NKJV and the NIV, and anyone my age or older thought the same of the KJV. The others have become secondary to the ESV to me. Why should I believe that this could never happen to the ESV?

Psalm 119:11
(ESV) I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
(KJV) Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
(NIV) I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
(NASB) Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.
(NKJV) Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
(NLT) I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
(MSG) I've banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won't sin myself bankrupt.

It is pretty clear to me that these different translations have the same general meaning. I'm no fan of "the Message" and would not study it for any reason other than to note the changes in word and in tone. The most familiar translation of this verse for me is the KJV, but do I want to have the difficult task of mixing and matching verses from different translations for memorization?

There are translations that are better than others. There are translations that dangerously bend and flex to the culture. New translations are coming out at an alarming pace. While I am happy for some of these options, there is one thing I really miss about the KJV-only (please do not misinterpret this) upbringing I had. There was continuity. You could believe that you would be able to memorize a verse as a child and find the exact same words in the Bible as an adult.

Is it feasible to ever be able to say this with absolute certainty again? I'm not betting on it.

This is where proper interpretation and application becomes paramount! The above-quoted verse must be studied and the interpretation must be honored. We must ratify this interpretation with our conformity to the instruction given. It is good to memorize scripture, and I do intend to do that in the ESV. But words alone have no power. They are shaped and molded. They are rearranged and substituted. I need to hide the Law of God in my heart so deeply that words cannot shake it from my life.

Translations come and go but the will of the Lord is eternal. Hiding the word of God in my heart means more than memorization, for when the heart of man truly meets the word of God, the heart cannot remain unchanged. The heart is what God is seeking, not the words that are spoken. The word of God is powerful, but to an unchanged heart it remains just words.