God's Word (bible translation)

God's Word (bible translation)

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GOD'S WORD
GOD'S WORD

GOD'S WORD is an English translation of the Bible translated by the God's Word to the Nations Society.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 History
* 2 Translation theory
* 3 Criticism and Responses
* 4 References
* 5 External links

[edit] 1 History

The God's Word Translation (GWT) of the bible was produced by the God's Word to the Nations Bible Society in Cleveland, Ohio, by members of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS). The GWT had its beginnings with a new testament translation titled "The New Testament in the Language of Today: An American Translation", published in 1963 by LCMS pastor and educator William F. Beck (1904-1966).

Beck completed his Bible (OT & NT) just before his death in 1966, but was awaiting textual suggestions from two colleagues, Elmer Smick, Professor of Old Testament at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and Erich Kiehl of Concordia Seminary. Smick and Kiehl ensured it was published posthumously in 1976 as An American Translation.

In 1978 it was decided that Beck's translation would be revised. Philip Glessler, a pastor from Cleveland, Ohio then formed a committee and revision work began in 1982. The work of Glessler's committee yielded another revision of the New Testament that was released in 1988 titled New Testament: God's Word to the Nations. This was later renamed the New Evangelical Translation in 1990. In 1994 the New Evangelical Translation was renamed GOD'S WORD and released under that name a year later.

In 2008, publishing rights to GOD'S WORD were acquired by Baker Publishing Group.[1]

[edit] 2 Translation theory

Donald Burdick of the Cincinnati Bible College and Seminary states that there are three general approaches to Bible translations: (1) concordant, (2) free paraphrase, and (3) closest equivalence.[2] Within the latter method of closest equivalence, William L. Wonderly proposes a "dynamic equivalence,".[3] and according to Burdick, this approach has been used for the God's Word translation, along with Today's English Version and the New English Bible.[2]

GWT's publishers believe that communicating the original meaning of the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts that comprise the Scriptures so one can understand what the Bible means today, requires taking a completely new look at the original languages. Many modern translations, they argue, have chosen simply to follow the traditions of older accepted translations, though the traditional words and grammar may no longer mean what they once did, or are not understood.

The theory followed by the Bible Society's translators is closest natural equivalent translation. The first consideration for the translators of GOD'S WORD® was to find equivalent English ways of expressing the meaning of the original text. This procedure ensures that the translation is faithful to the meaning intended by the original writer. The next consideration was readability. The meaning is expressed in natural American English by using common English punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and word choice. The third consideration was to choose the natural equivalent thatmost closely reflects the style of the Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek text. This translation theory is designed to avoid the awkwardness and inaccuracy associated with form-equivalent translation, and it avoids the loss of meaning and oversimplification associated with function-equivalent translation.[4]

About their translation, the GWT translators claim:

Traditionally, the Scriptures have been translated into English by teams of scholars serving part-time. This translation project employed full-time biblical scholars and full-time English editorial reviewers. GOD'S WORD is the first English Bible in which English reviewers were actively involved with scholars at every stage of the translation process. Because of the involvement of English experts, GOD'S WORD looks and reads like contemporary American literature. It uses natural grammar, follows standard punctuation and capitalization rules, and is printed in an open, single column format.[5]

[edit] 3 Criticism and Responses

Proponents claim the result of this new translation is that it reads more easily than a literal translation. The translators claim that the GWT is one of the "most readable" and "most accurate" translations available today[6]. The GWT uses a dynamic equivalence translation methodology it calls "Closest Natural Equivalence".[7]. Critics argue that the name of this method is simply clever terminology designed to avoid the negative connotations surrounding the word "Paraphrase" in evangelical Christian communities.[citation needed]

Bible language researcher Michael Marlowe is critical of the translation techniques used in the GWT, and feels it takes too much liberty in simplifying the original Greek and Hebrew texts. In so doing, argues Marlowe, the translators have deviated from the original emphasis of scripture.[8] They argue there is a place for translations that can simplify these terms, but GWT is one of a growing number of new translations of the Bible that uses a paraphrasing method which goes beyond the aim of a pure (literal) translation, which may result in difficult, misunderstood terms and produces a translation that also interprets the scripture. It is argued that this process is fraught with danger, as the passage could equally be misinterpreted and such a process can amount to a dumbing down.[citation needed]

Marlowe more generally questions translation methods such as Closest Natural Equivalence when he writes:

"[The methodology's] pretensions to 'scientific' principles of linguistics are dubious, as has been pointed out by numerous linguists and biblical scholars. It results in a simplification of the text in which important features of the Bible are erased"[9].

[edit] 4 References

1. ^ History of the GOD'S WORD translation
2. ^ a b Bible Translation: Why, What and How?, Donald W. Burdick, March, 1975.
3. ^ William L. Wonderly, Bible Translations for Popular Use, United Bible Societies, 1968, p. 50.
4. ^ Translation Process for Laypeople
5. ^ God's Word to the Nations
6. ^ God's Word website
7. ^ Translation process of God's Word for scholars
8. ^ Michael Marlowe. "God's Word (1995)". 20th Century. Retrieved on 2006-03-01.
9. ^ Against the Theory of 'Dynamic Equivalence'

* The History of Our Translation at GodsWord.org
* Comfort, Philip W. The Complete Guide to Bible Versions, p. 145.

[edit] 5 External links

* God's Word to the Nations
* http://www.bakerpublishinggroup.com

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God%27s_Word_(bible_translation)"

This page was last modified on 2008-08-28, at 15:18:17. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity.


This page was last modified on 2008-08-28, at 15:18:17. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity.

Talk:God's Word (bible translation)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Copyright products have no place in Wikipedia. Neither does ANTHING ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS. Wetman 23:25, 25 Jan 2004 (UTC)

I disagree. We have lots of copyrighted and trademarked article names in Wikipedia. And we use the capitalization that the owner uses. RickK 00:05, 26 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Their site has the title in all caps. Other site that use GOD'S WORD as a source use caps as well. Examples:

* e-sword
* Crosswire
* Asaisoft
* SearchGodsWord
* Olive Tree #1
* Olive Tree #2
* Crosswalk
* StudyLight
* Scripture.nl
* GMPSoft
* Palmshare

iHoshie 02:42, 26 Jan 2004 (UTC)

The second section is blatant advertising. I propose it be deleted

A good deal of material has been lifted out of the "God's Word" Web Site, and is either plagiarism or an advertising attempt. see [1] The forth paragraph under "History" and downwards has been lifted and reproduced.

--Osjknights 14:34, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Other words have been lifted out of internet pages advertising the GWT such as http://www.beyondbelief.com/g_biblehs.spl [2] --89.240.225.187 15:27, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

I am removing the {advert} lable as the text has now identified clearly material from the God's Word Website, and has balanced material dealing with the advertising claims. --Osjknights 17:35, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

I have modified the page to reduce a lot of the POV criticism. There were a number of misspellings and the text did not flow well. I retained the two criticisms of the translation that were properly sourced. If the other criticisms can be cited, feel free to put them back.-- 67.240.138.239 (talk) 20:48, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Google books citations to GWT

Used:

* http://books.google.com/books?id=6Jmp-p-OP4cC&pg=PT85&dq=%22god%27s+word+translation%22&sig=ACfU3U1OdWnoweNpnA2lOvPWuvgu4kRuxg
* http://books.google.com/books?id=a0wvw6zixikC&pg=PT79&dq=%22god%27s+word+translation%22&sig=ACfU3U2mlu33XKcQ2UtqLjUQ7-GU7ciOPg#PPT79,M1
* http://books.google.com/books?id=a0kMci5JbYUC&pg=PA10&dq=%22god%27s+word+translation%22&lr=&sig=ACfU3U2eDrbm54COpcp_cK6zo4Wi6okVDg#PPA11,M1
* http://books.google.com/books?id=Rf9feOjuzz4C&pg=PA178&dq=%22god%27s+word+translation%22&lr=&sig=ACfU3U3VcG_4Gmsub2eP9ufoGJZXaDIQ-g
* http://books.google.com/books?id=4SYf0e_BZZYC&pg=PA31&dq=%22god%27s+word+translation%22&lr=&sig=ACfU3U2BoYYpklkk57uaPMK-MYaIupK6yw
* http://books.google.com/books?id=tUTp5berJ0cC&pg=PA8-IA2&dq=%22god%27s+word+translation%22&lr=&sig=ACfU3U1U0Rv21GVJIJtQyn9lJHGp20iN7Q
* ... and these go on and on. It's pretty clear GWT is quoted in current Christian devotional literature.

Listed:

* listed alongside a set of clearly notable translations... although not a particularly important source
* Again listed, better source than above
* resource
* Mentioned in the Christian Writers' Market Guide 2003

Also listed four times in Google Scholar, although none of the articles seem to be primarily about the GWT. Jclemens (talk) 04:44, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:God%27s_Word_(bible_translation)"

This page was last modified on 2008-08-27, at 04:45:00. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity.


This page was last modified on 2008-08-27, at 04:45:00. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity.

Talk:God's Word (bible translation)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Copyright products have no place in Wikipedia. Neither does ANTHING ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS. Wetman 23:25, 25 Jan 2004 (UTC)

I disagree. We have lots of copyrighted and trademarked article names in Wikipedia. And we use the capitalization that the owner uses. RickK 00:05, 26 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Their site has the title in all caps. Other site that use GOD'S WORD as a source use caps as well. Examples:

* e-sword
* Crosswire
* Asaisoft
* SearchGodsWord
* Olive Tree #1
* Olive Tree #2
* Crosswalk
* StudyLight
* Scripture.nl
* GMPSoft
* Palmshare

iHoshie 02:42, 26 Jan 2004 (UTC)

The second section is blatant advertising. I propose it be deleted

A good deal of material has been lifted out of the "God's Word" Web Site, and is either plagiarism or an advertising attempt. see [1] The forth paragraph under "History" and downwards has been lifted and reproduced.

--Osjknights 14:34, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Other words have been lifted out of internet pages advertising the GWT such as http://www.beyondbelief.com/g_biblehs.spl [2] --89.240.225.187 15:27, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

I am removing the {advert} lable as the text has now identified clearly material from the God's Word Website, and has balanced material dealing with the advertising claims. --Osjknights 17:35, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

I have modified the page to reduce a lot of the POV criticism. There were a number of misspellings and the text did not flow well. I retained the two criticisms of the translation that were properly sourced. If the other criticisms can be cited, feel free to put them back.-- 67.240.138.239 (talk) 20:48, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Google books citations to GWT

Used:

* http://books.google.com/books?id=6Jmp-p-OP4cC&pg=PT85&dq=%22god%27s+word+translation%22&sig=ACfU3U1OdWnoweNpnA2lOvPWuvgu4kRuxg
* http://books.google.com/books?id=a0wvw6zixikC&pg=PT79&dq=%22god%27s+word+translation%22&sig=ACfU3U2mlu33XKcQ2UtqLjUQ7-GU7ciOPg#PPT79,M1
* http://books.google.com/books?id=a0kMci5JbYUC&pg=PA10&dq=%22god%27s+word+translation%22&lr=&sig=ACfU3U2eDrbm54COpcp_cK6zo4Wi6okVDg#PPA11,M1
* http://books.google.com/books?id=Rf9feOjuzz4C&pg=PA178&dq=%22god%27s+word+translation%22&lr=&sig=ACfU3U3VcG_4Gmsub2eP9ufoGJZXaDIQ-g
* http://books.google.com/books?id=4SYf0e_BZZYC&pg=PA31&dq=%22god%27s+word+translation%22&lr=&sig=ACfU3U2BoYYpklkk57uaPMK-MYaIupK6yw
* http://books.google.com/books?id=tUTp5berJ0cC&pg=PA8-IA2&dq=%22god%27s+word+translation%22&lr=&sig=ACfU3U1U0Rv21GVJIJtQyn9lJHGp20iN7Q
* ... and these go on and on. It's pretty clear GWT is quoted in current Christian devotional literature.

Listed:

* listed alongside a set of clearly notable translations... although not a particularly important source
* Again listed, better source than above
* resource
* Mentioned in the Christian Writers' Market Guide 2003

Also listed four times in Google Scholar, although none of the articles seem to be primarily about the GWT. Jclemens (talk) 04:44, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:God%27s_Word_(bible_translation)"

This page was last modified on 2008-08-27, at 04:45:00. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity.


This page was last modified on 2008-08-27, at 04:45:00. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity.