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| 2008·08·15 · 0 Comments |
| Psalm 51, more or less |
Wayne Grudem offers an example of the editorializing found in dynamic equivalence translations of the Bible:
Generations of Christians have identified with David’s famous words of repentance in Psalm 51:Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me (Ps. 51:10–11, esv).
All essentially literal translations include the same elements of this prayer: a request for a “clean heart” (or a “pure heart”) and a right spirit from God, and a plea that God not cast the person from his presence or remove his Holy Spirit.
But look at The Message on this passage:God, make a fresh start in me,
shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don’t throw me out with the trash,
or fail to breathe holiness in me.
On first reading The Message on this passage people might think, “How creative!” “How Catchy!” “What an interesting way to put it!” But then we realize: creating new ideas is not what translators are to do. We have no business creating things God did not say. Why should anyone think it right to invent new metaphors that God did not use (“Don’t throw me out with the trash”) and omit clear wording that he did use (“Cast me not away from your presence”)? This kind of material belongs in sermons; it does not belong in a book that says “Bible” on the cover.
Are only some words of Scripture breathed out by God?
—Wayne Grudem, Translating Truth: The Case for Essentially Literal Bible Translation(Crossway, 2005), 44–45.
