Biblegateway for study

BIBLEGATEWAY.COM FOR STUDY

A Great Resource for Non-seminary-trained Preachers and Teachers

BEFORE WE START: BASIC TRANSLATION THEORY

NO TRANSLATION IS PERFECT!YOUR PERSONAL PREFERENCE DOES NOT MAKE A TRANSLATION GOOD OR

BAD!


Translation Approaches Differ: “Word-for-word” vs. “thought-for-thought.”


Translation Approaches Differ: “Word-for word” vs. “Thought-for thought”• “Word-for-word”: Translation tries to choose one English word or phrase to

represent each original language word in every situation if at all possible, even if the result is awkward or unclear.

• “Thought-for-thought”: Translation tries to render the original as clearly as possible into good English according to the context, even if the result may be more heavily interpreted than some might consider necessary.


SARX IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN• John 3:6 (ESV): That which is born of the

flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

• The ESV is a “word-for-word” translation. Sarx is “flesh” everywhere it appears in the NT, even if it is not completely clear what is meant.

• John 3:6 (NCV): Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit.

• The NCV is a “thought-for-thought” translation. Sarx is “human life” and “human parents” in this verse, and is many other things throughout the NT depending on what the NCV translation committee thought was appropriate for the context.


The Goal: “get behind the translation” by comparing and contrasting the two approaches to the same text.

Back to John 3:6 – what do YOU think sarx means in that verse, taking both translations into account? It could be either or neither!

PARALLEL VERSIONS: TRANSLATION THEORY APPLIED

You can open up to five versions of the Bible on one screen with the parallel button.• Recommended “Word-for-word” Translations: NASB, NRSV, LEB• Recommended “Thought-for-thought” Translations: NIV, HCSB, NCV• AVOID: YLT, LB, AMP


Ecc 12:13 (HCSB) When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is: fear God and keep His commands, because this is for all humanity.

Ecc 12:13 (ESV) The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.


• If you wish to compare ALL English translations, click the link “(verse address) in all English Translations” beneath the copyright information for the version you are currently viewing. This only works for a single verse at a time.

• This gives you a tremendous amount of data to work through, and it is best for studying one difficult word or expression, rather than a whole verse.

• This does NOT give you permission to read them all and pick the one you like the best! That’s missing the point!


You can display other world languages in parallel with English. Choose a language from the list when you open a parallel column, and they will display together.

This is especially helpful for bilingual congregations!

CONCORDANCE: A STEP UP FROM STRONG’S

Concordances search for a word or a group of words throughout an entire translation of the Bible.



Concordances work differently for different translations.



Concordances work differently for different translations.

They can search whole words, parts of words, or groups of words.

CONCORDANCE PLUS PARALLEL VERSIONS: NOT YOUR DADDY’S CONCORDANCE

Enter a search term in the box while multiple versions are on the screen, and biblegateway.com will search all of them at once.



Try “love” in the NIV, NCV, and NASB at the same time.



Try “love” in the NIV, NCV, and NASB at the same time.

Look at Gen 4:1 in parallel, or engage the “other translations” link for a shotgun approach.

COMMENTARIES: HARNESSING THE HARD WORK OF OTHERS

Basic Commentary Theory:


Basic Commentary Theory:• Commentaries can be WRONG! (gasp)


Basic Commentary Theory:• Commentaries can be WRONG! (gasp)• Commentaries have different audiences


Basic Commentary Theory:• Commentaries can be WRONG! (gasp)• Commentaries have different audiences• Commentary writers have biases (wow, who knew?!)

The commentaries on biblegateway.com are low- to mid-level in expected audience, which means most of them will be accessible to most non-seminary-

trained people.

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RESOURCES: FOR THOSE WHO CAN GO DEEPER

A parallel Bible set up with original language texts along with an English translation is called an Interlinear Bible.

Interlinear Bibles are great for those who have studied Greek and/or Hebrew, but don’t feel confident enough to rely on the original language text by itself.

I recommend using the SBLGNT for Greek if you need a Greek-English Interlinear.

What are some uses for an Interlinear?


There are four Greek NT texts and one Hebrew OT text available on biblegateway.com.


There are four Greek and one Hebrew text available on biblegateway.com.• The Scrivener and Stephanus texts are the basis for the KJV translation.


There are four Greek and one Hebrew text available on biblegateway.com.• The Scrivener and Stephanus texts are the basis for the KJV translation.• The Westcott-Hort text is the forerunner of the modern NA-28/UBS-4 scholarly

texts.



texts.• The SBLGNT is an alternative modern scholarly edition.



texts.• The SBLGNT is an alternative modern scholarly edition.• The Westminster Leningrad Codex is an electronic representation of the best

complete Hebrew text of the Old Testament.


Greek Textual Comparison Function• We have many Greek manuscripts of the NT to choose from, and they are all

slightly different from each other. This means that we have to compare them to judge which one is the most accurate in any given place.




• There are several major “families” of Greek manuscripts. W-H and SBLGNT try to pick and choose the best readings from all of them.





• Scrivener and Stephanus rely on a single family, the Textus Receptus.





• Scrivener and Stephanus rely on a single family, the Textus Receptus.• You can compare the wording of a NT passage in the SBLGNT and the Scrivener,

for example, to judge the best reading.


Just as you can search one or more English translations with the concordance function, so can you do it with Greek texts.



• Set up your screen with a Greek version only (no English or other modern language.)




• Enter a verse address in English in the search box, and search.




• Enter a verse address in English in the search box, and search. • Copy and paste words, a word, or part of a word into the search box, and it

will search in Greek.

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