Christian Monthly Standard

NLT Blog Responds to “Tongues vs. Languages” Article

Mark Taylor at the NLT Blog posted a response to my frustration that the NLT did not consistently use the term “unknown languages” throughout 1 Corinthians 12-14. You can read my original post here:

http://www.christianmonthlystandard.com/index.php/tongues-vs-languages-1-corinthians-12-14/

You can read Mark Taylor’s complete response to my blog here:

http://nltblog.com/2008/09/tongues-or-unknown-languages-in-1-cor.html

Mark Taylor reveals that the NLT translation committee held discussions on using “unknown languages” and “tongues.” In an attempt to allow the student to get the sense that Paul could be referring to either human languages unknown to the speaker or ecstatic utterances, the translation committee decided to use both “tongues” and “unknown languages.”

I would disagree with those who thought that “unknown languages” implies human languages unknown to the speaker. I think “unknown languages” is quite broad and can cover either human languages unknown to the speaker or ecstatic utterances. “Unknown languages” allows the student to decide how the language is unknown.

Either way, it is certainly wonderful to have someone like Mr. Taylor, who was part of the translation team, address these kinds of questions. Tyndale is allowing us a glimpse of what goes on when a group of people come together to work on a translation.