The King James. The Passion. The Message. The Holman Christian Standard. The New International Version. The English Standard Version. These are just six of the numerous translations of the Bible out of which come varying interpretations of what God intended to tell us.
“In some periods of Christian history people actually found as many as seven entirely different meanings in a given passage of Scripture,” according to J. Terry Young. Why are there so many interpretations in the first place, and when did the variety first arise?
Certain tenets of faith are not open to interpretation. A Christian is defined as one who believes that the resurrected Christ came down to earth as a man but is currently in Heaven, preparing to return for his bride (the church) and to destroy Satan.
Christians believe Jesus is One with God and the Holy Spirit and that salvation is a gift of grace alone, not a reward for works. Believers agree that there is “one church, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord Jesus Christ, one faith, one baptism, one God,” wrote Andrew Wilson. What one should not see between the King James Version and the Message is any alteration of the gospel.
Some of God’s Word, however, is perplexing. Original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts have been translated into numerous languages, which can lead to subtle changes in meaning.
Furthermore, language evolves; therefore, the Bible has been retranslated to reflect these changes, which could lead to distortions if editors are unskilled or sloppy.
Scholars continue to pour over original documents and new documents as they have been uncovered. Trustworthy translations of biblical texts are essential.
Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, do not believe Christ is One with God. They have arrived at this heresy partly as a result of translations, which differ from those of Christian translations.
Interpreting the Bible is a pursuit known as hermeneutics. The first interpreters did not follow an organized system, and the scholarly discipline of Biblical Hermeneutics did not arise until the 17th century. Today’s theologians follow what is known as “the literary historical method of interpretation.”
Early interpreters discerned that there were layers of meaning in Scripture: a straightforward meaning for a new believer or for the very young; deeper meaning for mature believers.
One could find “hidden or deeper meaning embedded in the words,” thereby allowing one “to import his underlying philosophical position into the Scriptures, as though this was the message of God to us.” (Ibid). Superimposing cultural bias onto Scripture could distort God’s intended meaning in a passage.
Another issue has been the interpretation of Scripture as mostly figurative, not literal. In the third century, a man named Origen interpreted and translated Scripture based on its simplest historical meaning, its allegorical meaning, the moral lesson of a passage, and a mysterious level understood only by the most mature Christian. This “anagogical” level of understanding was, to Origen, the aspiration of a mature believer.
While Origen looked for hidden meaning and believed that the Bible was mostly allegorical, not literal, the scholars of Antioch refused to impose contemporary philosophy onto God’s Word.
They “insisted that the Bible be interpreted in the light of the literary form and historical situation of a particular passage,” which restored the importance of scriptural context as opposed to Origen’s imposition of modern cultural thought. They believed 2 Timothy 3:16, which tells us that all of the Bible is “God-breathed.”
Origen’s approach, however, dominated the discipline of biblical interpretation until Luther revived interest in the Antioch method. Luther insisted that the reader allow the Scripture writer to inform our understanding rather than deciding “what we think he ought to say” (Ibid).
At the time Luther protested some church practices, the Bible was read only by clergy, in Latin, making it inaccessible to the average person.
Literacy was not widespread, but the printing press would exponentially increase literacy and expand the reach of the gospel while also encouraging interest in and the need for biblical interpretation.
Luther argued that the ordinary person should have access to Scripture, which gave rise to translations of the Bible into several common languages.
When compiling a new version of the Bible today, editors have to consider:
1. Audience (scholarly, average reader, children, new believers).
2. Where to place punctuation in a text, which originally contained little or no punctuation.
3. How to translate rare or new words with no precedent.
4. Whether to change archaic words into modern equivalents.
This is only a sample of the considerations facing a Bible scholar today, yet a slight disagreement in translation can transform the interpretation of God’s Word. For instance, in Luke 23:43 Jesus tells the criminal, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
There was no punctuation in the original Greek, so where does the comma go — before or after “today.” Placing it after “today” would suggest that Jesus is talking today about something that will happen later (which is what Jehovah’s Witnesses argue).
Christian translations feature the comma before “today” and interpret Jesus’ words as meaning that the criminal would be with Jesus thatday.
Jesus knew and commented on the fact, that Scripture is not always easy to understand. In Matthew 22, we see the Pharisees challenge Jesus on the topic of marriage in Heaven. Jesus answers them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” (v.29).
When he told parables, Jesus said to his disciples “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand’” (Luke 8:10).
Hence, certain passages invite multiple interpretations. These can oppose each other (such as the example of Luke 23:43) or complement each other.
Often, a passage will contain so much meaning that it can be interpreted multiple ways depending on one’s personal perspective, and all of those meanings could be true at the same time. An example is Jonah 2:10 — “the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.”
One can read this as a prophecy of Christ’s resurrection. Jonah was released from the whale because it was God’s purpose to use Jonah, so he snatched him from death to preach to the Ninevites so they could turn away from evil and be saved.
The NIV version of Acts 2:24 says, “But God raised [Jesus] from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” The whale can be seen as representing the tomb of Christ.
Jonah 2:10 might also come to mind upon reading Revelation 3:16. “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”
What will become of the Christian who does not serve God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength? He will be rejected by God. Both of these interpretations are valid: one does not need to choose.
Wherever the Word appears puzzling, Wilson argues that Scripture is not the problem. We are confused because of “ignorance, hard-heartedness, sin, rebellion, unbelief.”
Any of these “might prevent us from understanding what Scripture says quite clearly.” “It’s easy to see how, in all kinds of situations, misunderstandings could be our responsibility [...]. But whatever the reason, we can all agree on this: the problem is probably at our end, not God’s.”
When Scripture is newly translated, there should be noreinterpretation — only a recasting of the same meaning into a form, which is accessible to a particular audience. Take Luke 8:10 as an example.
The Message is not a reinterpretation of the gospel, for example, but a new translation. Yet, each time a language goes through major changes, it is possible to step further away from the heart of God’s intended Word, even to arrive at a meaning so far removed that it becomes a new interpretation.
Editors must take great care to prevent distorting the gospel in the interest of accessibility, knowing all the while, however, that the Holy Spirit enables one to interpret Scripture properly.
There are hundreds of Bible translations, making Scripture accessible to billions of people if they are at liberty to read the Word of God. The gospel has spread rapidly and widely as per Jesus’ missional command in Matthew 28.
We will always need discerning men and women to approach the Bible with reverence, discernment, and prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to inform their studies as language changes and new translations of the Bible are released.
While this variety will give rise to multi-layered understanding, Christians must guard against interpreting Scripture from a biased standpoint by asking God to guard their hearts and minds in Christ (Philippians 4:7).
For further reading:
What Are the Different End Times Opinions Amongst Denominations?
Why Are There So Many English Translations of the Bible?
What Is the Meaning of the Body of Christ?
What Lessons Should We Learn from Church History?
What Is the Meaning and Significance of Epistemology in Christianity?
Should the Different Genres of the Bible Impact How We Interpret It?
Why Is Reading the Bible in Context Important?
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