3,686 translation inaccuracies in the TNIV
"R. Mansfield" posted a comment to my post on the TNIV.
I will attempt to answer his question, “What specifically do you object to in the TNIV?”
Bible scholars, with much more wisdom than I, have done extensive research on the translation of the TNIV. Here is a short list of some of the changes they have found.
Changes made to remove “he/him/his”
-Changing “he/him/his” to “them/they/their” – 857 times
-Changing “him” to “they” – 474 times
These two changes are not only grammatically incorrect, they leave open the possibility that the reader would understand the text applies to a group of people, rather than the intended individual. See Revelation 3:20 as an example.
-Removing “he/him/his” altogether – 255 times
Changes made to remove “father”
-Diminishing the role of the father in ancient Israelite society – 11 times
Changes made to remove “brother”
-Changing "brother" to another word with no familial connotation – 26 times
Changes made to remove “man”
-Removing "man" when the word means a male human being – 247 times
-Changing "mighty men" to "mighty warriors" – 21 times
-Removing man when it means the "human race" in Genesis – 20 times
-Renaming occupations generally held by men – 33 times
Total translation inaccuracies TNIV Old Testament – 2,776
New Testament translation inaccuracies – 910
Total translation inaccuracies for whole TNIV – 3,686
I am really concerned by the changes of diminishing the role of the father, renaming occupations and intimating that women could/should be included in combat. These changes lead me to believe that there is indeed an agenda … although TNIV advocates would have us believe otherwise.
Apparently, those who have changed these words (along with those who agree with those changes) feel okay about changing the actual words of the texts. This is a problem because I believe that God was breathing the very words to the author as he was writing and I think these changes go outside the boundaries of proper Biblical interpretation (along with those who wrote and/or signed the Colorado Springs Guidelines… see below).
I will attempt to answer his question, “What specifically do you object to in the TNIV?”
Bible scholars, with much more wisdom than I, have done extensive research on the translation of the TNIV. Here is a short list of some of the changes they have found.
Changes made to remove “he/him/his”
-Changing “he/him/his” to “them/they/their” – 857 times
-Changing “him” to “they” – 474 times
These two changes are not only grammatically incorrect, they leave open the possibility that the reader would understand the text applies to a group of people, rather than the intended individual. See Revelation 3:20 as an example.
-Removing “he/him/his” altogether – 255 times
Changes made to remove “father”
-Diminishing the role of the father in ancient Israelite society – 11 times
Changes made to remove “brother”
-Changing "brother" to another word with no familial connotation – 26 times
Changes made to remove “man”
-Removing "man" when the word means a male human being – 247 times
-Changing "mighty men" to "mighty warriors" – 21 times
-Removing man when it means the "human race" in Genesis – 20 times
-Renaming occupations generally held by men – 33 times
Total translation inaccuracies TNIV Old Testament – 2,776
New Testament translation inaccuracies – 910
Total translation inaccuracies for whole TNIV – 3,686
I am really concerned by the changes of diminishing the role of the father, renaming occupations and intimating that women could/should be included in combat. These changes lead me to believe that there is indeed an agenda … although TNIV advocates would have us believe otherwise.
Apparently, those who have changed these words (along with those who agree with those changes) feel okay about changing the actual words of the texts. This is a problem because I believe that God was breathing the very words to the author as he was writing and I think these changes go outside the boundaries of proper Biblical interpretation (along with those who wrote and/or signed the Colorado Springs Guidelines… see below).
posted by Lisa Stucky at 9:23 PM
2 Comments:
Hi Lisa, I am a Bible translator myself. I have followed the debates over the TNIV from the very beginning. I recognize this list of 3,686 supposed inaccuracies. It comes from Dr. Wayne Grudem and the CBMW website. Unfortunately, they are very mistaken about most of what they call mistakes. They are very sincere and they love God and his Word but they are confused about what are real mistakes in translation. The TNIV is an accurate translation. It is not at all a feminist translation. I am deeply grieved that Dr. Grudem and men like him have led so many people to believe that lists such as this are actual lists of errors in the TNIV. They are not. At most they are differences of opinion about what the meaning of a Hebrew or Greek word is. But most of them reflect a lack of understanding of how the English language works today and what the most accurate words today in English would be to translate the original Hebrew and Greeek words.
Oh, I'm with you all the way about not changing any of the words in God's Word. That must never be done. But it has not been done in the TNIV. And I don't work for them or have any connection with them. I am just deeply saddened, as I believe God is, when a good translation is maligned as this one has been.
I think it would be best for you not to post information like this unless you can testify yourself to whether or not it is accurate. I have studied these issues and can assure you that they claims for there being 3,686 translation inaccuracies in the TNIV are not true at all.
If you'd like I can show the inaccuracy of several of those claims. I'm too busy in my Bible translation work to go through each of them, but I am familiar with all of the claims.
My wife and I appreciate YWAM Montana. One of our daughters learned to worship God one summer as she toured with King's Kids from the Montana area.
Blessings, in Christ our Lord, Wayne
Lisa, I'm actually a bit diasppointed. I specifically asked you what you felt was wrong with the TNIV rather than referring to what someone else thought was wrong with the TNIV.
I'd ask you again, Do you own a copy of the TNIV for yourself?"
The list of 3686 "inaccuracies" is recognizable as Wayne Leman says. The list comes from Wayne Grudem and the CBMW. Although I have a great amount of respect for much of what Dr. Grudem has done over the years, I've been very disappointed with him over his reaction to the TNIV. Considering that he was on the committee for a competing translation, the English Standard Version, he has--at the very least--mixed interests in the matter if not worse.
What I've found Lisa is that most people opposed to the TNIV fall into about one of three camps. Quite a few simply took the word of someone like James Dobson who said he was opposed to the TNIV, and that was good enough for them. A second group has read the arguments of one side, usually that of Grudem, Poythress, or Ryken and that has influenced their opposition to the TNIV. Rarely do I find folks in the third group (but occasionally I do) who have honestly looked at both sides of the issue.
I looked at both sides of the issue and I completely changed my mind on it.
I wonder if you have read either of the following books or would be willing to do so:
Mark L. Strauss Distorting Scripture?: The Challenge of Bible Translation & Gender Accuracy
or
D. A. Carson, The Inclusive Language Debate: A Plea for Realism
Or Lisa, I wonder if you would be willing to at least read the paper by Mark Strauss, Current Issues in the Gender-Language Debate: A Response to Vern Poythress and Wayne Grudem .
If you come away and you are still convinced that the TNIV is a bad translation, at least you will be better educated about the issues. But you may be surprised to find that the TNIV is actually a conservative evangelical translation that renders the original languages in a very accurate fashion.
I would still be interested in dialoguing about the TNIV with you on your blog. But I would prefer to deal in specifics rather than your throwing "3,886" supposed errors at me.
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