From Ancient Greek to Your Phone

The New Testament was written in Koine Greek — not the formal literary Greek of philosophers, but the everyday Greek that ordinary people spoke. From the very beginning, the Bible was written in the language of regular people. Translation has been central to that mission ever since.

Before the New Testament even existed, Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek. This translation — called the Septuagint (meaning "seventy," because tradition holds that 70-72 scholars worked on it) — became the Bible of the early church. When New Testament authors quote the Old Testament, they are usually quoting the Septuagint.

As the Roman Empire's common language shifted from Greek to Latin, Jerome translated the entire Bible into Latin. His translation — the Vulgate — became the standard Bible of Western Christianity for over 1,000 years.

A notable detail: "Vulgate" comes from the Latin word for "common." Jerome's entire purpose was making Scripture accessible. But over time, as Latin ceased to be a spoken language, the Vulgate became the opposite — a sacred text that only educated clergy could read.

For centuries, the institutional church actively resisted translating the Bible into common languages. The official position held that Latin was the sacred language of Scripture and that translating it was dangerous.

Then several courageous individuals changed that:

John Wycliffe (~1380s) — Produced the first complete English Bible. The church was deeply opposed. After his death, they exhumed his body, burned his bones, and scattered the ashes in a river. That is how determined they were to prevent English Bibles.

William Tyndale (~1525) — Translated the New Testament from the original Greek into English. He was executed by strangulation and burning at the stake. His final words: "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." Within four years, the king authorized an English Bible.

Martin Luther (1522) — Translated the New Testament into German while in hiding at Wartburg Castle. His translation helped standardize the German language itself.

King James I commissioned a new English translation, and 47 scholars worked on it for seven years. The KJV became the most influential English Bible ever produced. Its language shaped English literature, law, and everyday speech for 400 years.

Phrases you use without thinking that originate from the KJV:

• "The writing on the wall"
• "A drop in the bucket"
• "The skin of my teeth"
• "Go the extra mile"
• "A wolf in sheep's clothing"

The KJV is beautiful. It is also written in 1611 English, which means many people today struggle to understand it.

Beginning in the 20th century, new manuscript discoveries (especially the Dead Sea Scrolls) combined with advances in understanding ancient Greek and Hebrew led to a wave of new translations:

• RSV (1952): First major modern English translation from the best available manuscripts
• NIV (1978): "Thought-for-thought" translation in clear modern English. Became the bestselling modern translation.
• NASB (1971): Word-for-word accuracy prioritized over readability
• ESV (2001): Essentially a modern revision of the RSV — literal but readable
• NLT (1996): Dynamic equivalence — translates ideas more than individual words
• The Message (1993-2002): Eugene Peterson's one-man paraphrase. Broke new ground for conversational Bible language.

Not all translations work the same way:

• Formal equivalence (ESV, NASB): Word-for-word as much as possible. Excellent for study. Can sound stilted.
• Dynamic equivalence (NIV, NLT): Translates the meaning, not just the words. More natural. Sometimes loses nuance.
• Paraphrase (The Message): Retells the content in completely fresh language. Most accessible. Not suited for word-level study.

None of these approaches is "wrong." They serve different purposes. For close study of a passage, use an ESV. For intuitive understanding, try an NLT. Each serves a legitimate role in making Scripture accessible.

Languages evolve. "Thou" made sense in 1611. It does not anymore. "Brethren" worked in 1978. "Brothers and sisters" works better now. Every generation needs Scripture in language it can understand.

That is not disrespectful. That is precisely what Bible translation has always been — an ongoing effort to ensure that every generation can hear the message in its own language.