What is the challenge of translating the Bible?

Answer 1

We have no original manuscripts. We have many copies. Not all of the copies of the New Testament are worded the same. It would definitely appear that the originals were written in Hebrew/Aramaic but translated into Greek- our copies are Greek. The idioms, customs, slang terms etc. were quite meaningful to the people of that long ago era, but we do not have the same idioms, customs, terms. Translators are stuck with the problem of attempting to convey thoughts/meanings/intentions of the original properly (not to mention studying out the historical data-if available- to just understand what/why the original said. I don't envy them. We would hope the translators and copiers/scribes do/did not have an agenda of their own or were/are just plain sloppy. Some New Testament copies (amonst the thousands) have shown evidence of misses/faults/sloppiness; but we have so many that there is much assurety of proper accurate content.

Another Answer:

There are always translational errors when going from one language to another. This was why many 'scholars' were chosen to perfect each as best they could. The books of the now termed Old Testament were originally written in the Hebrew, with smaller portions written in Aramaic, a kindred language. The New Testament was written in the Greek, the Antiochian or Byzantine type which is different from the Western and Alexandrian type.

The OT scriptures were entrusted by God to the Jewish community for preservation - known as the 'oracles of God' (Romans 3:1-3). They have faithfully preserved them via the Masoretic scribes who went to great lengths to do so - they knew the count of words, where each word and letter was, etc. Jesus Himself, bore witness to this excellent and exacting work in Matthew 5:18, saying not 'one jot or tittle' would be lost.

The NT scriptures were completed by the Apostle John just prior to his death near the end of the 1st Century, while living in Ephesus. This was the same city which had served as a 'repository' of the copies of Paul's writings decades earlier (2 Timothy 4:13, 21). This city represents the entire first stage of the Church of God as Revelation 2 states.

Copies of the Byzantine text were brought west by scholars fleeing the Turkish invasion in the 15th Century. These texts and the scholars who came with them ended up in Basel, Switzerland after Constantinople fell in 1453 AD. From these came the Erasmus text of 1516, the Stephen of 1520. Stephen's became known as the 'Textus Receptus' or received text and became the standard used for about 3 centuries. The 'Age of Enlightenment' of the 19th Century halted much Bible study to search for the Evolutionary missing link still unfound. The New King James Version came about around 1982 with many updates to archaic wording and improper choices of meanings.

Archaeological findings (Dead Sea Scrolls, etals) have attested to the accuracy of the Scripture. Some human preconceptions have caused errors to pop up like the word 'Easter' in the KJV in Acts 12:4 instead of Passover. Other words have changed meanings like 'let' in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 meant prevent, hinder yet today it means just the opposit 'allow.' There is also the infamous addition in 1 John 5:7 speaking of the trinity concept in the latin text of about 380 AD. These extra words are not in any Greek text prior to 1600 AD. Politics I quess.

As all Scripture is 'God-breathed' and we are to live by every word of God, being Judged by these books of the Bible, I am quite confident God has seen to its accuracy from the first to the last word.