New translation of Bible draws fire from conservative critics
Latest version aims for more gender-neutral language, though God decidedly remains a He.
In some common translations of the world's most popular Bible, John the Evangelist declares: "If anyone says, ‘I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar." Make that "brother or sister" in a new translation that includes more gender-neutral language and is drawing criticism from some conservatives who argue the changes can alter the theological message.
The 2011 translation of the New International Version Bible, or NIV, doesn't change pronouns referring to God, who remains "He" and "the Father." But it does aim to avoid using "he" or "him" as the default reference to an unspecified person.
The NIV Bible is used by many of the largest Protestant denominations. The translation comes from the Committee on Bible Translation, an independent group of biblical scholars that has been meeting yearly since 1965 to discuss advances in biblical scholarship and changes in English usage.
Before the new translation hit stores, it drew opposition from the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, an organization that believes women should submit to their husbands in the home and that only men should hold some leadership roles in the church.
The council decided it would not endorse the new version because the changes alter "the theological direction and meaning of the text," according to a statement. Similar concerns led the Southern Baptist Convention to reject the NIV's previous translation in 2005.
At issue is how to translate pronouns that apply to both genders in the ancient Greek and Hebrew texts but have traditionally been translated using masculine forms in English.
An example from the translator's notes for Mark 4:25 show how the NIV's translation of these words has evolved over the past quarter-century.
The widely distributed 1984 version of the NIV quotes Jesus: "Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."
The more recent incarnation of the NIV from 2005, called Today's New International Version, changed that to: "Those who have will be given more; as for those who do not have, even what they have will be taken from them."
The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood complained in 2005 that making the subject of a verse plural to convey that it could refer equally to a man or a woman "potentially obscured an important aspect of biblical thought — that of the personal relationship between an individual and God."
The NIV 2011 seems to have taken that criticism into account and come up with a compromise: "Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them."
Although the translators' former grammar teachers might not like it, the translators offer a strong justification for their choice of "they" (instead of the clunky "he or she") and "them" (instead of "him or her") to refer back to the singular "whoever."
The translators commissioned an extensive study of the way modern English writers and speakers convey gender inclusiveness. According to the translators' notes on the committee's website, "The gender-neutral pronoun ‘they' (‘them'/'their') is by far the most common way that English-language speakers and writers today refer back to singular antecedents such as ‘whoever,' ‘anyone,' ‘somebody,' ‘a person,' ‘no one,' and the like."
Randy Stinson, president of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and dean of the School of Church Ministries at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said the changes are especially important to evangelicals.
"Evangelicals believe in the verbal plenary inspiration of scripture. We believe every word is inspired by God, not just
the broad thought," he said.
So if the original text reads "brothers" — even if that word in the original language is known to mean "brothers and sisters" (such as the Hebrew "achim" or Spanish "hermanos") — many evangelicals believe the English translation should read "brothers."
Stinson said a notes section would be the best place to point out that the original word could be read to include men and women.
It's not yet known if the Southern Baptist Convention will reject the new translation the way it did the 2005 version. The nation's largest Protestant denomination still sells the 1984 translation in its stores. If it chooses to condemn the new version, that would happen at its national convention in June.
The publisher says the NIV 2011 will replace both the 1984 and 2005 versions.
Even while panning the new translation, the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood thanked the Committee on Bible Translation for being open about the process they used to develop it. That included taking comments from all
sides of the gender debate.
And the new version doesn't always use gender neutral language. It takes reader sensibility into account by not using inclusive terms for some of the most familiar verses where that might sound jarring. For instance, Matthew 4:4 is rendered, "Man shall not live on bread alone."
That's a change from the 2005 version, where the same phase read, "People do not live on bread alone."
"I think that clause has entered into standard English," translator Douglas Moo explained. "People know it who don't know the Bible."
Moo said the translators hope that the phrasing of the new NIV is so natural that the average reader won't be aware of any of the gender language concerns debated by biblical scholars and linguists.
The group's website says its goal is "to articulate God's unchanging Word in the way the original authors might have said it if they had been speaking in English to the global English-speaking audience today."
Although the change to the generic "man" in some verses is applauded by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, linguist Joel Hoffman, author of "And God Said — How Translations Conceal the Bible's Original Meaning," said it is simply incorrect.
" ‘Anthropos' (the Greek word in the original text) means ‘person,' plain and simple," he said. "It's as much a mistake as translating ‘parent' as ‘father.' "
Changing verses
Some examples from changes to gender language between the New International Version Bible's 1984 translation and the 2011 translation:
Matthew 6:24
NIV 1984: No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
NIV 2011:No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Mark 1:17
NIV 1984: ‘Come, follow me,' Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.'
NIV 2011: ‘Come, follow me,' Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.'
Luke 21:16
NIV 1984: You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.
NIV 2011:You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.
John 3:5
NIV 1984:Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.'
NIV 2011:Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.'
http://www.statesman.com/news/nation/new-translation-of-bible-draws-fire-from-conservative-1333348.html?page=2&viewAsSinglePage=true
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