Comments on: Be Ready In Season and Out of Season (2 Timothy 4:2)

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:49:30 +0000

That being said, we just had someone baptized reading from, guess what, The Living Bible – also a paraphrase like the Message.

To me, a perversion of scriptures would be something like “he who believes and is not baptized will be saved”.

I know this is a touchy issue for many….need to be careful of extremes.

By: Wendyl

Wendyl — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:35:58 +0000

Brent, I agree with you to a degree. You said:

“Translators exist to take us from the original language to the English language, communicated in a way that we can understand. Translation has no value if it does not make sense.”

What you said is true. However, when translators take the actual words written by the original writers and try to tell the reader “this is what the writer really means” is perverting the inspired Words of God. For far too long publishers have insisted that we “change” the actual words of the Bible so that elementary kids can read it.

To me it’s like you receiving a love letter from your wife, but in route to your mailbox the mailman decides he knows more about what your wife meant to say than she did . . . so he changes the words and terms to those he thinks you’ll better understand. If you knew this I think you’d be a little bit upset!

It’s all about greed and the publishers will do anything they can to sell their “Bibles.” I just cringe when “Christians” tell me they just love “The Message.” They’ll read it before ever even thinking about opening a real Bible. Not good. Not good at all.

By: Brent Kercheville

Brent Kercheville — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:19:40 +0000

To a degree, I agree with you Wendyl. Terms that do not have an understandable counterpart can be just terms we learn (like propitiation, justification, etc). But that does not mean that we should intentionally make the scriptures difficult. Nor do commentaries or preachers exist to deal with difficult English translations. They exist to help us dig deeper in the word of God. Translators exist to take us from the original language to the English language, communicated in a way that we can understand. Translation has no value if it does not make sense.

The same word translated "in season" is used in Mark 14:11 and is most commonly translated "opportune time." It is not some theological terms. It is means "opportune, convenient." So "in season" is simply a traditional rendering and there are words that communicate the idea better.

I do not want the Bible dumbed down. It is silly to try to use only 150 words to translate the Bible. Don't dumb it down. But there is no reason to go out of our way to make it difficult to read. If a term is hard, don't dumb it down. But if a term is simply, don't make it hard. I feel the phrase "in season and out of season" is taking a simply concept and making it harder than it needs to be.

By: Wendyl

Wendyl — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:55:32 +0000

Brent, I personally favor the “traditional” rendering of this verse simply because it’s the language of the Bible. It’s terms like “begotten,” “propitiation,” “sanctification,” and the like, that gives the Bible its uniqueness and special literary style, just as this verse does.

Now days, people growing up on these modern “meaning for meaning” Bibles don’t have a clue what these words mean because the publishers have decided people can’t read beyond the sixth grade level. So, they’re written for sixth graders.

Why do you think we have commentaries, Bible dictionaries, and Bible encyclopedias? Why do we have preachers to preach from the pulpit? They’re to help us understand what these terms mean. These words and terms give the Bible a certain flavor and distinctiveness all its own. It makes for memorable reading. Most times these modern translation even with their “explanation” of what these words are rather than just use the correct word makes for a worse translation.

Though I’m not an advocate of the King James Version and don’t use it, there’s one thing for sure, when it was the only Bible available people knew their Bibles and could quote Scripture right and left. Anymore, it’s a lost art . . . simply because we have all these different flavors of Bibles that try to be “today’s Bible for today’s modern reader.” It’s a travesty!