Handout #5
Languages, translations, and versions
A. The original languages of the Bible
1. Hebrew: the vast majority of the text of the Hebrew Bible was
composed in Hebrew. The stages of the language’s development are
a. “Archaic” Hebrew (10th – 6th century BC) as found in the Song at
the Sea (Exodus 15:1-21) and the Song of Deborah (Judges 5)
b. Standard Biblical Hebrew (8th – 6th century BC), which is the
form of most of the Hebrew Bible
c. Late Biblical Hebrew (5th – 3rd century BC), notably found in the
Books of Ezra and Nehemiah
d. New Testament: there are a few Hebrew words and phrases
that are preserved in the New Testament, such as: Amen,
Armageddon, Hallelujah, Hosanna, Mammon, and Sabbath
2. Aramaic: there are several books of the Hebrew Bible that contain
words or even sections of Aramaic text mingled into the Hebrew text.
a. The most notable examples are found in Genesis 31:47, Daniel
2:4-7:28, Jeremiah 10:11, and Ezra 4:8-68 and 7:12-26
b. New Testament: there are certain place names in the New
Testament that are Aramaic in origin, and there are certain words
that have entered the New Testament text, the most notable
being: “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,” Gethsemane, Golgotha, talitha
cum, and marana tha.
3. Greek: the New Testament was composed in koine (common) Greek,
with the inclusion of inserted words from Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin.
a. The Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) translated the
Hebrew text into koine Greek over a period of centuries (2nd
century BC – 3rd century AD)
B.1 Earliest Manuscripts – Old Testament
1. There are no autographs – in other words, we have no originals of any
biblical book, or even a part of any biblical book
2. The oldest Hebrew manuscript of the entire Old Testament dates from
the 10th century AD
3. The oldest fragmentary evidence we have of Old Testament texts in
Hebrew (including the entirety of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, 2
chapters of Habakkuk, and fragments of all the other OT books except
Esther) are the Qumran scrolls, dating from 160 BC to 70 AD
4. The manuscript that serves as the basis for all contemporary
translations of the Old Testament is a text from the Leningrad Public
Library, Ms. B 19A, written in 1008 AD (its designation is L =
Leningradensis)
a. This is the manuscript used to create the Biblica Hebraica
Stuttgartensia (BHS)1
B.2 Earliest Manuscripts – New Testament
1. There are no autographs – in other words, we have no originals of any
biblical book, or even a part of any biblical book
2. There are three “uncials” which provide the basis for the NT, as well as
the Greek OT2
a. Codex Sinaiticus (a), dating from the 4th century AD
b. Codex Alexandrinus (A), dating from the 5th century AD
c. Codex Vaticanus (B), dating from the 4th century AD –
considered superior to all the others
3. The single oldest fragment of the New Testament is p52, which
represents John 18:31-33 on one side and John 18:37-38 on the other side.
It is dated about 125 AD, or about 35 years after the composition of
John’s gospel (currently housed in the John Rylands Library in
Manchester, England)
C. Principles of translation3
1. Formal equivalence method: “This type of translation aims at
adhering as closely as possible to the form of the original writing. The
translator tries to match word for word and phrase for phrase as closely
as possible.” Binz, Introduction to the Bible, 19
a. English Bible versions represented by this method include: The
Revised Standard Version (RSV), the New Revised Standard
1
Ernst Würthwein, The Text of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B.
Eerdman’s Publishing Co., 1979) pages 12-13.
2 Kurt Aland and Barbara Aland, The Text of the New Testament 2nd edition (Grand
Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdman’s Publishing Co., 1989), pages 103-109.
3 Stephen Binz, Introduction to the Bible: A Catholic Guide to Studying Scripture
(Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2007), pages 19-20.
2
Version (NRSV), the New American Bible (NAB), and the New
International Version (NIV)
2. Dynamic equivalence method: “This type of translation is not so
much concerned with matching words, but with matching the ideas and
thoughts of the original text. The translator aims at identifying the
meaning intended by the author and then expressing it as it would
naturally be rendered in English.” Binz, Introduction to the Bible, 20
a. English Bible versions represented by this method include:
Revised English Bible (REB), the Good News Bible, and the New
Jerusalem Bible (NJB)
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from
your country and your kindred and your
father’s house to the land that I will show
you. I will make of you a great nation,
and I will bless you, and make your name
great, so that you will be a blessing. I will
bless those who bless you, and the one
who curses you I will curse; and in you all
the families of the earth shall be blessed”
Gen 12:1-3 NRSV
The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your own
country, your kin, and your father’s
house, and go to a country that I will
show you. I shall make you into a great
nation; I shall bless you and make your
name so great that it will be used in
blessings: those who bless you, I shall
bless; those who curse you, I shall curse.
All the peoples on earth will wish to be
blessed as you are blessed.” Gen 12:1-3
REB
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing YHWH is my shepherd, I lack nothing. In
I lack. In green pastures you let me
grassy meadows he lets me lie. By
graze; to safe waters you lead me; you
tranquil streams he leads me to restore
restore my strength. You guide me along my spirit. He guides me in paths of
the right path for the sake of your name. saving justice as befits his name. Even
Even when I walk through a dark valley, I were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death
fear no harm for you are at my side; your I should fear no danger, for you are at my
rod and staff give me courage. Psalm
side. Your staff and your crook are there
23:1-4 (NAB)
to soothe me. Psalm 23:1-4 (NJB
And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house,
When Jesus was having a meal in his
many tax collectors and sinners were also house, many tax-collectors and sinners
sitting with Jesus and his disciples – for
were seated with him and his disciples,
there were many who followed him.
for there were many of them among his
When the scribes of the Pharisees saw
followers. Some scribes who were
that he was eating with sinners and tax
Pharisees, observing the company in
collectors, they said to his disciples,
which he was eating, said to his disciples,
“Why does he eat with tax collectors and “Why does he eat with tax-collectors and
sinners?” When Jesus heard this, he said sinners?” Hearing this, Jesus said to
to them, “Those who are well have no
them, “It is not the healthy who need a
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need of a physician, but those who are
sick; I have come to call not the
righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:15-17
(NRSV)
If I speak in human and angelic tongues,
but do not have love, I am a resounding
gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have
the gift of prophecy and comprehend all
mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all
faith so as to move mountains, but I do
not have love, I am nothing. If I give
away everything I own, and if I hand my
body over so that I may boast but do not
have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It is not
jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not
inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its
own interests, it is not quick tempered, it
does not brood over injury, it does not
rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices
with the truth. It bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things. Love never fails. 1 Cor
13:1-8a (NAB)
doctor, but the sick; I did not come to call
the virtuous, but sinners.” Mark 2:15-17
(REB)
Though I command languages, both
human and angelic – if I speak without
love, I am no more than a gong booming
or a cymbal clashing. And though I have
the power of prophecy to penetrate all
mysteries and knowledge, and though I
have all the faith necessary to move
mountains – if I am without love, I am
nothing. Though I should give way to the
poor all that I possess, and even give up
my body to be burned – if I am without
love, it will do me no good whatever.
Love is always patient and kind; love is
never jealous; love is not boastful or
conceited, it is never rude and never
seeks its own advantage, it does not take
offence or store up grievances. Love
does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but finds
its joy in the truth. It is always ready to
make allowances, to trust, to hope and
to endure whatever comes. Love never
comes to an end. 1 Cor 13:1-8a (NJB)
D. Textual dynamics
1. Abbreviations: the titles of all biblical books frequently appear in an
abbreviated form; thus, Genesis (Gn), Exodus (Ex), Leviticus (Lv),
Numbers (Nm), and Deuteronomy (Dt); you should check the
abbreviations section of your bible for the abbreviations that are used in
your biblical version since there are often variations
2. Chapters and verses: chapter and verse divisions came many
centuries after the biblical text and are not “inspired.”4 Still, they are
important for finding your way around the bible; these divisions usually
appear in two ways
4
Stephen Langton (1150-1228) created the system of chapters and Robert Estienne
(1503-1559) created the verse divisions. See Würthwein, p. 21 and Aland, page 6.
4
a. More common in English Bibles: Gn 1:1-2:4a means Genesis,
chapter 1, verse 1 to chapter 2, verse 4a
b. More common in other languages: Gn 1,1-2,4a means Genesis,
chapter 1, verse 1 to chapter 2, verse 4a
3. Textual problems and variations are usually listed in the notes at the
bottom of the page. For example, check Mark 16:9-20 for the shorter
and longer ending – neither of which is original to Mark
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