For me, a big catalyst was realizing that Bible translations are just the opinions of scholars who may know Greek but who often do not trust God’s exact words. For instance, during my short stint in seminary I learned it was acceptable to omit certain words when translating, because they were superfluous. More than one teacher stated that Greek speakers had a fondness for definite articles so used too many. Thus, it was okay to delete the word “the” when a writer used it too often. Likewise, it was okay to insert definite articles before nouns that didn’t have one, if it would make the sentence more understandable.

When I heard a Bible teacher point out that by removing a definite article in Romans 1:25 translators had changed the meaning of the passage, my life changed forever. After that I found hundreds of instances in the New Testament where words were incorrectly added or subtracted from translations. I then found thousands of instances of the same problem in translations of the Old Testament. Everyone of those additions or subtractions was a violation of God’s command:

You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.⁹

In addition, I know firsthand that though many Greek grammar books contain the original rules of grammar, some of the more complex rules are universally ignored in order to provide renderings that make sense to the modern mind. This problem has existed at least since the Reformation. Though various versions of the Bible may reveal truth does not mean they are accurately representing what God said. I prefer to know God’s exact words so I can ask Him what He meant.

If you have only read English versions of the New Testament, including those advertised as literal, you have never read a real translation of the Bible. Rather, you have read someone’s interpretation of what they think God said. Though I sometimes enjoy others’ opinions, I am capable of discovering exactly what God said so that He can teach me exactly what He meant. Sometimes, what He really said is pretty wild. But should we expect the God Who created a universe that runs on quantum physics to be tame? I remember C. S. Lewis describing Aslan as wild and “not a tame lion.”

Most people know little if any Greek and must depend on someone else’s opinion. But there are so many differences of opinion among scholars, and I decided I wanted my opinion to be my own and not someone else’s. I had been trusting the opinion of people I did not know who were trying to understand something written hundreds of years ago in a language no longer spoken. I knew God would not demand that I trust them.

Though it is good to understand Greek, if you don’t does not mean you cannot know exactly what God said. Of course, God set leaders in the Church who are supposed to know Greek in order to teach others, especially other teachers who do not understand the language, but He has not abandoned anyone who does not comprehend the language.

Sometimes I wonder why translators do not explain how they determine the meaning of certain words and passages. Often it appears to be either educated guess work or agreement with the work of previous scholars, simply because they don’t have a better idea. I can understand the latter because I have found numerous words and passages that seem so difficult to comprehend that it is a temptation to just go with what others think it means. Sometimes I have no idea what a Greek word or passage means, yet I am sure it does not mean what other translators have agreed upon. When I do not understand something, I admit it and wait for God to teach me what I need to know so I can understand what He means.

Years ago, I began wondering why the first century rules of grammar have been rejected. For example, the aorist tense is a past tense verb form in Greek, yet when combined with the imperative or subjunctive moods, it is treated as present tense. Translators render it present tense to make sense to the modern mind and apparently do not consider if the original form made sense to first century believers. I wondered if God would use an aorist (past tense) subjunctive as a present tense verb when there is another form that is clearly present tense when used with the subjunctive? Then when God showed me what the aorist imperative form of a verb means, I about fell off my chair.

An aorist imperative is a command for something to have been done in the past. It is like a backward command. But that is impossible, or is it? Man cannot engineer such a thing, but God surely can. It is based on the principle that enabled Jesus to say, “Before Abraham was, I am.”¹⁰ By cooperating with God, such a command carries a person back in time to take something accomplished in the past as their reality, too. An aorist imperative verb enables a person to experience a changed past which results in a changed present reality. But we will begin that discussion in another blog.

God is not confused. He fully understood Greek. When He used a past tense verb with the subjective or imperative moods, that is exactly what He meant. I think the primary job of translators is not to make sense of what God said but to first tell us exactly what He said, and then explain what they think He meant.

Teachers need to encourage us that we can really know God and, that as our Father, He is delighted to personally teach us. When translators fail to tell us there is another possible way to render a passage, how can the average reader know the passage could mean something else? When a bunch of scholars over several centuries all agree on the meaning of certain passages, is it possible all could be wrong together or do we have to assume they are correct? Surely they can’t all be wrong. Or can they?