A New Bible Translation That Challenges The Progressive Religious Agenda

LSVBible.com ^ | 6/13/2019 | The LSV Bible

[CCC News]

Despite a push by 20th and 21st century progressive translators to paraphrase and de-genderize the Bible, one team is seeking to do just the opposite: translate the Bible as literally as possible, not just "essentially literal" like the recent English Standard Version, but truly word-for-word wherever possible.

From The LSV's Preface:

Many have undertaken to translate the sacred Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek writings—known collectively as The Holy Bible—into English, with varying degrees of success. The word Bible comes from the Greek βιβλία, the plural form of βιβλίον (“book” or “scroll”). Thus the Holy Books or Holy Scrolls are the protocanonical collection of God-breathed writings central to Judeo-Christian belief. Christians regard the original autographic manuscripts to be directly inspired by God, inerrant (“without error”), and infallible (“without fault”; i.e. incapable of fallacy). The absolute truth of God revealed therein is the basis for the Protestant/Evangelical doctrine of Sola Scriptura (“by Scripture alone”)—the fundamental belief that God’s word stands alone as the ultimate arbiter of religious, spiritual, and historical truth because that knowledge which is directly revealed by God to mankind is perfect and without flaw. All beliefs and theories regarding origins and religion are only true insofar as they agree with Scripture, and are false inasmuch as they disagree.

While Christians recognize the infallibility of the autographs, there is also necessary recognition that the original writings have been lost to history. What we now possess are manuscript copies or copies of copies of the originals. Some of these copies were written close in time to the originals and others were written many decades later. To complicate matters, there are distinct manuscript versions and text-types of the Old and New Testaments with minor discrepancies. For the Old Testament we must consider the distinctives between various manuscript versions such as the Masoretic Text (MT), Septuagint (LXX), Samaritan Pentateuch (SP), and Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS). And for the New Testament, translators compare the Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine text-types.

The goal of any good translation work is to produce a readable text that preserves the original autographic meaning and comes as close as possible to translating, word-for-word, manuscripts that accurately represent the original writings. It’s with this goal in mind that the Literal Standard Version (LSV) was written—a modern, yet literal English translation based upon the most prolific texts: the Masoretic Text (MT) for the Old Testament and the Textus Receptus (TR) and Majority Text (M) for the New. However, in certain, specific instances other manuscript versions and text-types are used where the evidence seems incontrovertible (e.g. the LXX and DSS in the Hebrew and Aramaic; the Alexandrian in the Greek).

While many may at first feel disoriented by the cacophony of textual questions, it should be stated with utmost certainty that one of the many things that sets The Holy Bible apart as the unique, and divinely inspired word of God is that the manuscript evidence for it is simply overwhelming. No other ancient text, religious or otherwise, has as much manuscript support as The Holy Bible. There are literally tens of thousands of papyri fragments, external citations, and complete copies of the original texts in the original languages and though there are minor variations, the texts, across all versions, are largely identical. Recent discoveries, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, add further weight to the authenticity of the Scriptures and the accuracy of the translation-base from which we translate to English.

Distinctive features of the

Literal Standard Version of The Holy Bible:

• A modern, literal, word-for-word (formal equivalence) English translation of the Holy Scriptures only utilizing dynamic equivalence when necessitated for readability. The LSV is the most literal translation of The Holy Bible.

• Significant improvement over previous literal translations, including Robert Young's excellent Young's Literal Translation.

• Preservation of verb tenses wherever possible.

• Utilization of the transliterated Tetragrammaton in the Old Testament.

• Generally consistent approach to formal equivalence translation; most English translations use a broad set of words when translating a single Greek or Hebrew word based on context. We are striving to only use varying words when the context demands it.

• Removal of many Hebrew and Greek transliterations; remember, transliterations are generally not translations.

• Unlike most translations, justified typographic alignment consistent with the style of the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek biblical autographs. The ancient caesura mark is used for easy readability of poetic literature such as the Psalms.

• Inclusion of the verses found in older English translations such as the King James Version (KJV) that are not found in many modern translations. These are contained within bolded double brackets for distinction.

• Inclusion of the alternative LXX Genesis chronology in bolded double brackets set next to the MT.

• All uppercase LORD in the New Testament when a reference to YHWH is likely.

• Capitalized pronouns and other nounal forms when referring to God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit. References to the Messenger of the LORD are also capitalized when the subject appears to be a clear reference to God or the Messiah (as found in translations such as the NKJV).

Why should we trust in The Holy Bible

over other religious, historical, or scientific texts?

The Holy Bible is the complete account of God’s revelation to mankind, telling the whole story of history from beginning to end. We can know with absolute certainty that the Bible is true because the Bible is God-breathed. In its original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek manuscripts it is inerrant and infallible. The true God spoke true words audibly, and sometimes into the minds, of fallible human beings (c.f. 2 Tim. 3:16–17 and 2 Pet. 1:20–21). But, understandably, that answer will not satisfy the skeptic. There are at least six key arguments that powerfully vouch for the Bible’s unique authenticity:

1. Every claim in the Bible that can be demonstrably tested has been verified. In other words, if we presently possess some scientific know-how, archaeological discovery, or corroborating text that can directly test a specific claim from the Bible, the claim has been verified. As a matter of fact, this truth has been a great source of humiliation for secular historians over the past several decades as discovery after discovery has proven the Bible true even after historians had said “it just can’t be.” Whether it be the fallen walls of Jericho, the reign of King Hezekiah, or even the existence of a Jewish temple, every bit of physical evidence that has turned up to answer the Bible’s claims has proven the Bible true.

2. There are more ancient manuscripts of the Bible than any other ancient text. Furthermore, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1946/47 dealt a significant defeat to the theory of that generation’s textual critics. They had taught that the Old Testament was composed much later than Jews and Christians believed and had undergone a significant evolution in content. Not only did the Dead Sea Scrolls disprove that claim, showing that the Old Testament we have today is equivalent to the one used by Christ and His disciples, but they also provided rock-solid evidence that numerous prophecies about Jesus Christ were written before He was born.

3. The Bible contains self-verifying mathematical and thematic codes underlying the text. In recent years scholars have discovered numerous number patterns in the text in various books such as Genesis and the synoptic gospels, that would be impossible for humans to have developed on their own. There are similar thematic codes that testify to the Bible’s divine origins.

4. Despite having been written over a period of 1,600 years by 40 different authors, the Bible forms a single metanarrative. The Bible forms a continuous story with a clear beginning, ending, climax, protagonist, antagonist and complex, repeating themes that recur in almost every book. Yet its authors’ lives were separated by many centuries, occurring on three different continents, and in several different ancient cultures. This incredible collection of history, poetry, prophecy, and letters forms a single, overarching story from beginning to end. The protagonist and antagonist show up at the beginning of the story, continue their parts throughout, and reach a climactic moment, culminating with a final showdown at the very end. Dozens of themes, symbols, and patterns recur through the entire text, from Genesis to Revelation. No other religious text can boast of such miraculous development.

5. The Bible forms a doctrinal hologram. Typical religious texts are one or two-dimensional. If you take out a passage from the text the religion is fundamentally altered—removing key doctrines. It is like a painting on a canvas—mar a section of the picture and you can no longer see the whole. Strangely, the Bible is different. From a doctrinal perspective it forms something analogous to a three-dimensional hologram. You can remove any piece of a hologram, move to a different viewing angle and still see the whole. Doctrines revealed in the Bible are spread out across the entire book, like an interconnected web. This is strong evidence that the book’s underlying author intended His message to get through even if someone tampered with the text. This complex web or layering is hinted at in Isaiah 28: “...precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little.”

6. Prophecy is unique to the Bible and is its watermark of authenticity. Other religious texts contain “prophecy,” but unique to the Bible are very specific prophecies that can be demonstrably proven to have been written before the events occurred. Isaiah 53 is an important example. Written some 700 years before Jesus Christ was born, it correctly prophesied that He would come from humble origins, die as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins, be buried in a rich man’s tomb, rise to life again, and be glorified. There are hundreds of other such prophecies.

[yarddog]

My Grandfather attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in the early 1900s. He could read and translate Greek but not Hebrew or Aramaic. He was extremely intelligent.

Daddy said that he told him that the King James Version was an excellent transaction.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

OMG. ANOTHER ONE?

[Lee N. Field]

All uppercase LORD in the New Testament when a reference to YHWH is likely.

Strikes me as quite contrary to the stated translation philosophy.

Capitalized pronouns and other nounal forms when referring to God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit.

Suppose it's ambiguous? This is forcing an interpretation, to one side or the other.

Inclusion of the verses found in older English translations such as the King James Version (KJV) that are not found in many modern translations. These are contained within bolded double brackets for distinction.

Do they miss the point of textual criticism?

[CondoleezzaProtege]

The KJV is excellent, but the language can be a bit outdated. Plenty of the modernized versions are fine. But now there is a new one put out every couple of months it seems. It’s a moneymaking scheme and highly irritating...Honestly most of the stuff that has come out in the past two decades or so were largely unmecessary and added nothing of new value. Just saying.

[ConservativeMind]

Still NASB for me.

It took the same approach as this.

[Phinneous]

I bet they got the very first word wrong.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Honestly most of the stuff that has come out in the past two decades or so were largely uneccessary and added nothing of new value.

And this goes for the ones claiming to be 'conservative' as well as progressive.

[fso301]

Thanks!

[CondoleezzaProtege]

The translation matters but it's putting it into practice regardless of (good) translation that is the hard part.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. ~ James 1:22-25 (NKJV)

[YogicCowboy]

Textus Receptus.

[WalterSkinner]

..sounds interesting, especially being Byzantine Text based.
I’ve used NKJV since ‘82...

[ealgeone]

Still NASB for me.

+1

[Karl Spooner]

Textus Receptus.

Yes, and the Masoretic Text for the OT. Both of these can be had cheaply in the Green's Interlinear Bible. I don't much care for Green's sidebar translation (he took the easy way out), but every orginal word is referenced to the Strong's concordance.

[sauropod]

bkmk

[Zionist Conspirator]

Christians regard the original autographic manuscripts to be directly inspired by God, inerrant (“without error”), and infallible (“without fault”; i.e. incapable of fallacy). The absolute truth of God revealed therein is the basis for the Protestant/Evangelical doctrine of Sola Scriptura (“by Scripture alone”)—the fundamental belief that God’s word stands alone as the ultimate arbiter of religious, spiritual, and historical truth because that knowledge which is directly revealed by God to mankind is perfect and without flaw.

I simply do not understand the conflation of total inerrancy with sola scriptura; not when Catholics/Orthodox do it, and not when Protestants do it. How did the two ever get merged like that?

This is very easy to prove. Is Genesis totally inerrant? Yes. Does it contain all the information G-d wants us to have? No. Are Genesis + Exodus totally inerrant? Yes. Do they contain all the information G-d wants us to have? No. Is Genesis + Exodus + Leviticus totally inerrant? Yes. Do they contain all the information G-d wants us to have? No. Repeat as needed.

Of course this isn't going to convince people who are absolutely dogmatic that the bible was written so it would contain everything so that when the "true church" became corrupted it could be dug up and "restored" later. And certainly it won't convince people who are dogmatic that it was written so the "milkmaid" could read it and be "saved" without any other instruction.

I would like to think that even fanatical Protestants would realize that whatever one believes about the "new testament," the Hebrew Bible plainly and obviously doesn't contain all G-d's instructions for the Jewish People. It wasn't written for the milkmaid, or even for "salvation." It consists of nothing but consonants with no vowels or punctuation, it is written according to the strictest rules--none of which are recorded in the Bible, but which guarantee that our kosher scrolls today are identical to the ones taken down by Moses at G-d's dictation. Plus it mentions rituals that it doesn't elucidate (kosher slaughter, ritual "waving" and "heaving") and doesn't contain all the laws governing the Jewish calendar which were given to Moses by G-d at the beginning of Exodus chapter 12.

The Protestants are welcome to go after the Catholics/Orthodox, but I assure you that no milkmaid could take a colloquial translation and build the Tabernacle and its vessels correctly.

[Zionist Conspirator]

Also not only Protestants but all chrstians seem ignorant of the fact that it is the self-verifying claim of Revelation at Sinai, and not any ongoing research, which assures us that the Hebrew Bible is the Written Word of G-d.

[mel]

King James I agree with daddy

[PAR35]

Truely word-for-word would be pretty much unreadable.

[Chode]

I will make you fishers of people...