Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Nathan MacDonald <nm28 AT st-andrews.ac.uk>]

Peter Kirk wrote:

> "... and often overtly
> slanted to a particular theological persuasion. ..." (Bill Rea)
>
> Again, which ones are you talking about? I hope you are not 
> confusing Bible versions with editions complete with study notes. 
> For example you might find that the "Reformed Study Bible" and the 
> "Spirit-Filled Life Bible" have the same text, just different notes.

Examples are easily adduced. NIV frequently pulls OT towards NT. Note 
Bruce Waltke on Ps 2 "Although on the historical level one migvht 
rightly opt for rendering the references to the king by lower case, 
on the canonical level one rightly opts for upper case, as in the NIV 
text. By using upper case in Psalm 2 the NIV translators expose their 
orthodox views not only of inspiration but also of Christology" 
('Translation Problems in Psalms 2 and 4', in K. Barker [ed.], The 
Making of a Contemporary Translation [London: Hodder, 1987]) a view 
that conflicts with the translator's primary concern to preserve 
'fidelity to the thought of the biblical writers' (NIV preface). 
Moberly points out a similar case in Hag 2.7 (TynBul 53 [2002], pp. 
177-202).

Nathan MacDonald

--
Dr Nathan MacDonald
Lecturer in Old Testament
University of St Andrews
St Mary's College
St Andrews
Fife, KY16 9JU
Scotland, UK

Tel: +44-1334-462827
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> From peter.r.kirk AT ntlworld.com  Fri Aug 15 05:43:05 2003
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On 15/08/2003 01:55, Nathan MacDonald wrote:

> Peter Kirk wrote:
>
> > "... and often overtly
> > slanted to a particular theological persuasion. ..." (Bill Rea)
> >
> > Again, which ones are you talking about? I hope you are not confusing 
> > Bible versions with editions complete with study notes. For example 
> > you might find that the "Reformed Study Bible" and the "Spirit-Filled 
> > Life Bible" have the same text, just different notes.
>
>
> Examples are easily adduced. NIV frequently pulls OT towards NT. Note 
> Bruce Waltke on Ps 2 "Although on the historical level one migvht 
> rightly opt for rendering the references to the king by lower case, on 
> the canonical level one rightly opts for upper case, as in the NIV 
> text. By using upper case in Psalm 2 the NIV translators expose their 
> orthodox views not only of inspiration but also of Christology" 
> ('Translation Problems in Psalms 2 and 4', in K. Barker [ed.], The 
> Making of a Contemporary Translation [London: Hodder, 1987]) a view 
> that conflicts with the translator's primary concern to preserve 
> 'fidelity to the thought of the biblical writers' (NIV preface). 
> Moberly points out a similar case in Hag 2.7 (TynBul 53 [2002], pp. 
> 177-202).
>
> Nathan MacDonald
OK, that's one example of theological slant, although it sounds covert 
rather than overt to me if it conflicts with the preface. And no doubt 
you could refer also to the New World Translation. But Bill seemed to be 
referring to Bibles which explicitly claimed a theological slant. I have 
not seen any, except arguably for the older Catholic Bibles. I thought 
maybe he had misunderstood the titles he had seen in bookshops as 
referring to different translations rather than different study notes.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/