Understanding The Bible

The two main points of view for the study of the Bible in this particular paper will be history and linguistics. The Bible's main intention is to be a source of inspiration for Christian beliefs and rituals. It is hardly ever viewed as a anything more than a treaty of religious doctrine. For the purposes of understanding the theory of dynamic equivalnce, we must also understand the Bible as more than just that. That a text should be sound in terms of grammar is only to examine one facet of it. The other facet is culture, which is intimately linked with history. A failure to fully apprehend the series of relations that led to the creation of any non-technical text will simply create a translation that may ultimately provide nothing more than

After a certain ammount of safety had been achieved, when the Israelites established a quasi solid footing in Canaan, followed a time of relative prosperity. During this period, the Temple of Jerusalem was built. External pressure eventually led to the dissolution of the kingdom the Israelites had built. Understanding these events helps us understand the context in which the Bible was written, and for what purpose. The tone of the book is also shaped by external events. As we shall see in the fourth chapter, God's tone changes in relation with the events that affect the lives of His people. Catastrophic events, such as the fall of Jerusalem are explained by way of showing that it is disbelief that has led to God forsaking the Israelites, basically to punish them. Nevertheless, this is not the wish of God. His ultimate wish is that the people understand their mistakes, and put an end to actions that are against His wishes. In the end, we see that it is mostly impossible to distinguish history from religion within the Bible, in as much as religion was not a separate concept in the 1st millenium

The earliest translation that will be examined is the KJV. This translation was a landmark translation in its own right. Its popularity right up to this day is testament to its qualities. It is a perfectly balanced translation, whose prowess remains unrivaled. The other two translations with which we will become acquainted with are the NRSV and the NIV. The first was chosen on the basis of its history and its connection with the KJV. The second was chosen due to the fact that it is a very popular translation. It also differs in terms of translation philosophy form the KJV. The KJV was written as a word for word translation, the NIV chose to translate idioms. Moving away from the structure of the original does give the translators more freedom, but it does make it difficult for someone who may wish to study the Bible as a book that was written in the antiquity. Translating for the 20th century English-speaking population can help lessen the stress of understanding certain nuances within the text. As shall be argued, given the extremely diverse nature of the readership, there are fifteen major Protestant denominations in the US (Rainer), and countless other minor ones. To have inspired so many denominations to adopt the NIV is, at least in these terms, a success