Translations are inevitable when it comes to the bible, and they’ve been around for a very long time – even during the time of Jesus and earlier. But are these translations inspired? The question is actually a little more complicated than it initially appears. Take Gen 4:8 as an example of this complication:-
NKJV – Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field …
NASB – Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field …
NIV – Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field …
JPS – Can said to his brother Abel … and when they were in the field ..
NET – Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field …
NRSV – Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And they were in the field …
ESV – Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field …
You’ll notice, right off the bat, that some versions have extra details: “Let’s go out to the field”, while others don’t. Why is this so and what does the Hebrew text say (R-to-L)?
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר קַ֖יִן אֶל־הֶ֣בֶל אָחִ֑יו וַֽיְהִי֙ בִּהְיוֹתָ֣ם בַּשָּׂדֶ֔ה …
The transliteration and word-for-word translation is:-
v’yomer Cain al_Hevel achiu … v’yehi b’heyotem b’sadeh …
and said Cain to_Abel his-brother … and-it-was(that) they-were-together in-the-field …
In the Hebrew, it is actually quite clear that something is missing in the text because it says “And Cain said to Abel his brother” which would normally be followed by the content of the speech. In this case, nothing is given and the verse moves right on to another part where they were already in the field. This begs the question, “but what did Cain say to Abel?” The Hebrew text here doesn’t provide it.
If you were reading the NKJV or the ESV, you wouldn’t have suspected that anything was missing because the translators deliberately mistranslated יֹּ֥אמֶר (yomer) which means “said” into the intransitive verbs “talked” and “spoke” which did not require content to be provided, thus obscuring the problem from readers. The NASB was a little better but still mistranslated the word. Had they used “said” like how the JPS did, it would have become more obvious that something was missing.
So how did the NIV(2011), NET and NRSV come up with the missing content, “Let’s go out to the field”? Well, they looked to the LXX and the Samaritan Torah/Pentateuch for it. As I have earlier explained, the LXX is a relatively early Greek translation of the Hebrew bible that is especially valuable since the copies of the Masoretic Text from which we get the Hebrew of the OT dates to 8th century AD at the earliest. The LXX relied on much earlier Hebrew manuscripts (pre-3rd century BC). The Samaritan Torah is an independently maintained Hebrew Pentateuch (first 5-books of the bible) with many variations and some textual corruptions but generally attested ancient source. In both these sources, the LXX and the ST, the missing bits can be found.
Now we have a situation where the canonical Hebrew text is clearly missing bits that can be out in extra-canonical translations and texts, the LXX and the ST. The question is – should we consider those missing bits “inspired” and add those external data back into the canonical texts, knowing that they were not part of the canonical manuscripts as received in the first place? If so, should we consider the LXX an inspired translation? What do you think?
This just goes to show that our understanding of “inspired” is usually too unsophisticated and simplistic. In most cases, our doctrines of inspiration isn’t even biblically founded in the first place but it doesn’t bother most people because of the general ignorance of the textual issues. Of course, ignorance has never stopped people from zealously crusading for doctrines and positions that they themselves don’t fully understand.
p.s. Think about this but don’t reach a conclusion too quickly – there will be other LXX curiosities in the next post (or two.)
