The Rev. Joseph Farnes
All Saints, Boise
Easter 3A
While I very much appreciate the scholarly depth and dedication to accuracy in the translation of the Bible we normally use in church, the New Revised Standard Version, sometimes the translation also can feel stiff. Part of that stiffness is because we want our Bible to sound holy, we don’t want it to sound too much like our everyday speech. If it sounds too “everyday”, then it sounds too casual, almost unserious. The other part is that we’re translating texts from vastly different cultures than ours. How do we translate comparisons and slang and phrases to modern English – do we rewrite them to match how we might say it today, or do we translate it exactly and put the information into a footnote?
Do we go the direction of formal equivalence, translating word for word as they are, even if it sounds clunky and confusing, or do we go the direction of functional equivalence, translating thought for thought even if it means not following the source very closely? Formal equivalence wants to preserve as much of the word choice and grammar of the Hebrew and Greek; functional equivalence wants to make it sound more like natural English.
The translation we use in church is the New Revised Standard Version, updated recently, which leans toward formal equivalence. It wants to follow the original language as closely as it can and has footnotes to help explain obscure word choices; the translating committee represents a variety of religious traditions: Christians of many different denominations, and Jewish scholars in translating the texts of the Old Testament. It also retains some of prior translation choices, too; the NRSV is, in a way, a revision of a revision of a translation revising the King James Version of the Bible, which is still claimed as the “historic” Bible of the Episcopal Church since it was the Church of England that made that translation and we come from them.
But, again, that’s not the only way to translate the Bible. There are many translations. Some of them are perhaps more… ideological in their intent and how they translate. I’m not a big fan of those, but that’s hardly a surprise to most of you. I’d rather wrestle with a difficult Biblical passage that says something *different* than what I believe than make the Bible match my beliefs. And of course, there are times when people say something is in the Bible but it absolutely isn’t. They read into the Bible words and stories and meanings that aren’t even there, because it’s what they wish the Bible would say. That’s not ok at all.
There are, however, functional translations of the Bible that tell the story faithfully, but aren’t focused on translating word-for-word. They try to use everyday language. Though, perhaps we sometimes shy away from reading those translations because we’re worried they aren’t faithful translations, that they’re too simplified since they’re understandable. That was a criticism thrown at the Good News Translation of the Bible in the mid-20th Century; it didn’t sound holy and lofty and so it must be a less-than-accurate version of the Bible. It’s a solid translation, though!
Nowadays, there are many, many different translations. Perhaps too many! Here’s a translation of our 1 Peter reading from a translation that aims to be at a seventh-grade level, it’s called the Common English Bible. Why don’t you turn to the second reading and compare them as I read: “Since you call upon a Father who judges all people according to their actions without favoritism, you should conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your dwelling in a strange land. Live in this way, knowing that you were not liberated by perishable things like silver or gold from the empty lifestyle you inherited from your ancestors. Instead, you were liberated by the precious blood of Christ, like that of a flawless, spotless lamb. Christ was chosen before the creation of the world, but was only revealed at the end of time. This was done for you, who through Christ are faithful to the God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory. So now, your faith and hope should rest in God. As you set yourselves apart by your obedience to the truth so that you might have genuine affection for your fellow believers, love each other deeply and earnestly. Do this because you have been given new birth—not from the type of seed that decays but from seed that doesn’t. This seed is God’s life-giving and enduring word.”
What did you think? Did the second reading hit differently than the first? What did you notice this time, and how did it sound to you? Did it bring to mind images and meaning that weren’t as clear the first time around?
Part of what we are doing in listening to the Bible being read is listening for God speaking to us in the text. Just as Jesus interpreted the Old Testament for these disciples on their way to Emmaus, so we are listening to what the Spirit is telling us through the texts of the Bible. We are active participants in a process – the Bible isn’t dropped into our life for us to decipher like a code book. The Holy Spirit is at work in us, in our eyes, ears, hearts, and minds as we bridge the meaning of the sacred texts into our current world.
You see, there’s these final steps in the translation process that get ignored: your role as the reader of the translation. You read or hear the translation, and you translate it in your mind. You take it into yourself. You pick out certain phrases, words, images. You take the phrases, words, images, and take them into your mind and heart. You make them part of yourself. You translate them into your life, I hope. You take this translation of an ancient text and translate it from English into your everyday life.
But the translation isn’t over yet! You also translate this text for other people. You take these words, these stories about God’s work in the world and translate it for other people in church, for other people in the world, for friends and family and strangers. Other people hear the story about Jesus feeding the thousands when you buy or make food for the community meal. Other people hear the story of Jesus saying to visit the sick and the hurting when you reach out to someone in need. Other people hear the story of the goodness of everything that God has made when you care for creation. Sometimes they hear the story because they see you doing it; it’s even better, though, when you share the story in word as well as in deed. The world needs to hear the Bible translated. The world needs to hear a good translation – not just a written translation but also to hear it translated in your life, in our lives together. How will you make the words of God come alive in your life, and how will you translate the Good News for others? Amen.