Introduction

Are you a person who wants to believe God’s truth is for us today in the Scripture?

Our discussion is about translation and interpretation.

The question is whether the Bible has come into English as a proper translation. Can we rely on it as it is in English?

And the other question is can we interpret the Scripture properly as we read it, or do we need to make recourse to the original languages?

Truth revealed

God has not only inspired His Word but also preserved it for His people in a form they can understand. Therefore, the translations in English grounded in the Protestant tradition — the King James Version — is trustworthy and fully sufficient for understanding and obeying the Scriptures. The modern practice of appealing to Hebrew and Greek meanings derived from modern lexicons to reinterpret Scripture often undermines the clarity, authority and Scriptural promise of the provision of God’s Word.

The Scripture is present in English

“The words of the LORD are pure words… Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” (Psalm 12:6, 7).

“But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.” (Romans 16:26).

These verses teach that God’s truth is to be preserved and present for us today, and as these words are made known to all nations, it implies that the English translation must be central to this accessibility.

If recourse must be made today to Hebrew or Greek words, to continually correct, expand or somehow bring out more or deeper meanings, then God has failed, for He would have kept hidden aspects of His words and not be manifesting them or His message properly to the nations (e.g. in English).

The Bible must be rightly understood, and be able to be made known to all, so God is promising access, which means it must all be sufficient and clear or interpretable in English.

The Clarity and Sufficiency of Translated Scripture

The Protestant Reformers championed the doctrine of the primacy of Scripture, that is the final authority in matters of faith and practice. But this conviction was built upon another vital doctrine: the clarity and sufficiency of the Scripture. That is, that the Scripture has perspicuity or clarity.

Now, we know that there are hard sayings in Scripture, or things difficult to know. But to get that knowledge means the requirement to connect to the Holy Ghost, to study and to gain understanding.

“A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.” (Proverbs 1:5, 6).

How are we to study Scripture, except that we have it, which means of course we have it in translation.

William Tyndale famously said he would cause the ploughboy to know more of Scripture than the priest. The Bible was never intended to be the domain of scholars alone. It is for the people and God ensured it would be understandable in their own language.

“The holy scriptures… are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15).

This clarity does not depend on technical knowledge of biblical languages but on the faithful translation and illumination of the Holy Ghost.

The Danger of Modern Lexicon-Based Interpretation

In modern practice, it is common for Bible readers and teachers to appeal to Hebrew or Greek “word meanings” using lexicons (e.g. Strongs, Vines, Thayers, BDAG, etc.) to reinterpret or challenge what has already come to us in our correct English Bible.

God has worked with the Reformers and the KJB men and the Protestants and believers to have a great tradition of upholding the rightness of the KJB. To have that as a standard then means we cannot allow an intervening standard to that necessarily challenges it or starts from a different foundation.

The approach of the modern lexicons and their makers is:

• Inconsistent with believing Protestantism, since lexicons are compiled by scholars with varying theological presuppositions, often shaped by modernist or critical methodologies.
• Subjective, because unlike the traditional and accepted translations of the KJB, modern users are given a selection of various options and told that ancient languages don’t translate nicely and so they have to use their own modern day human judgment to decide whatever context-sensitive meanings means that they think are best, often allowing them to change meanings to suit the bias of the interpreter.
• Undermining the manifest truth, because it subtly tells the average believer that the historical and present standard of the English Bible is insufficient, and that God apparently has a special hidden truth only decipherable by specialists.

This creates a functional priesthood of scholars, the very thing the Reformation sought to dismantle.

“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” (1 Peter 1:20).

Confidence in God’s Providence and the English Bible

To trust the English Bible is not to disregard the original languages, but to affirm that God has been faithful in preserving His Word through translation, just as He promised.

Think about the old Protestant position of the Westminster Confession of Faith, and what it says about our relying upon translation:

“But because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God, who have a right unto, and interest in, the Scriptures, and are commanded, in the fear of God, to read and search them, therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come; that the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship Him in an acceptable manner, and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope.”

Notice that the Puritans, who were the greatest sticklers for truth, claimed here that the Scripture for doctrine, use and comfort was in English. They rightly acted as if the Scripture was fully in English.

The King James Bible, in particular, was produced by godly scholars with reverence for the Scripture, with unparalleled skill in the original languages and deep theological commitment. It stands as a high point in the providential preservation of Scripture in English.

We do not need to revisit the foundations with every new generation of scholars. Instead, we should stand on the work God has already done, and honour the Spirit-led tradition He has used to preserve His Word for the English-speaking world.

Thus, we do not need to go to the Hebrew or Greek and claim some varying concepts to whatever is already overtly stated in English.

A Call to Confidence and Simplicity

The believer does not need to look beyond their English Bible to know what God has said.

We must reject the creeping idea that truth is hidden in linguistic complexity or scholarly authority. Instead, we affirm with the Reformers and with Scripture itself:

• That God has spoken clearly,
• That His Word is preserved faithfully,
• And that the English Bible is sufficient for life, doctrine and godliness.

“The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” (Psalm 119:130).