Translating God’s Word – A Brief History

God’s people have long recognized the necessity of translating the Scripture into new languages so that they can be read and understood. We see evidence of this within the Bible itself.

For example, during the exile, the people of Israel lived in Babylon, where the dominant language was not Hebrew but rather Aramaic. Thus, it is not surprising to discover that parts of the book of Daniel, which was written during the exile, are composed in Aramaic. Specifically, in Daniel 2:4 we read that Nebuchadnezzar’s officials spoke to him in Aramaic – and the book shifts to Aramaic! This continues to Daniel 7:28. One of the likely reasons for this is that the language of Babylon – and increasingly of many Jews living in Babylon – was Aramaic.

Another early example is seen in the book of Nehemiah. In Nehemiah 8 the exiles who had returned were having the Book of the Law read to them. In Nehemiahs 8:1-8 we are told that Ezra and others had to help the people understand the law. It appears that this included both helping them to understand Hebrew, which many had neglected to learn in Babylon and also helping to interpret. In a sense, what they were doing is similar to a modern sermon or teaching! They are reading and explaining the meaning of the Scripture.

Over time, even fewer Jews were able to read and understand Hebrew. Consequently, there were two key sets of translations of the Hebrew Scriptures that came into being. First, rabbis and scribes created the Targums. These were loose translations and commentaries on the Scripture into Aramaic. This enabled the people, most of whom could not read Hebrew well but were fluent in Aramaic, to read and understand the Scripture.

Secondly, the Old Testament was translated into Greek. This was necessary for two reasons. First, as time passed, the dominant language shifted from Aramaic to Greek. Consequently, many Jews no longer spoke Hebrew or Aramaic, but rather Greek. Thus, the Bible was translated into Greek so the people of Israel could read their own Scriptures. Second, as Jews came into more contact with the people of other nations, all of who spoke Greek, there was a desire to translate the Bible into Greek so it could be shared with these Gentiles who were interested in the God of Israel.

Thus, even before the time of the New Testament, we see the principle that God’s people should translate the word of God from its original language into the dominant language of the day. This was done both for the purpose of worship and discipleship among God’s people, and also to allow the Word of God to be shared with those who were still outside of God’s people. As we will see next week, these same impulses drove the early church to translate the New Testament into other languages as well.

In Christ,

Bret