The Importance of Bible Translation

In recent months we have looked at the big topics of inspiration, canonization, and transmission. In these posts, we have learned that the Bible is God’s Word given through humans, the process the people of God used to recognize the writings which were actually inspired by God, and the process through which the biblical writings were copied to make them available to later generations. But how do we get the Bible into our own language? This is the process of translation. We will look at this in upcoming posts.

God’s Word is a treasure, giving us critical truth. Consider this verse:

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ

Or how about this one:

οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον, ὥστε τὸν υἱὸν ⸆ τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται ἀλλ’ ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον.

Don’t they move you with their truth? No? Well, how about now:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

and

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

Now we should all be moved by their truth! God is the Creator of all things, and He is the One Who has so loved us as to give His Son so that we might be saved through Him!

This is why we need the Bible to be translated! Most of us can not read the Bible in its original languages (Hebrew and Greek, along with a small amount of Aramaic). Thankfully, there are scholars who labor to translate the Bible into modern languages so people around the world can hear, believe, and obey God’s Word in their own native language.

In the posts ahead we will look at the process of translation. But for now, let’s thank God that we have His Word available to us in our own language. What a treasure we have in God’s Word!

In Christ,

Bret