Why The Language In Which You Read Scripture Matters

 A while back I ran into this, and this morning I realized it was a perfect illustration of why the language you read the Scriptures in matters.

Smash Mouth's 'All Star' lyrics, translated to English from Aramaic by Isaac Mayer:

There was one who said unto me that the universe was going to cause me to tremble,

That I am not the sharpest cutting implement in the storehouse.

She had the appearance unto me as a stupid one,

With her finger and her thumb

In the frame of a Greek gamma upon her forehead.

Behold, the years begin coming, and do not cease from coming.

Fed unto the axioms, and I fell upon the earth and ran.

It was not acceptable if not to live for the sake of pleasurable things.

Your brain increases its wisdom, but your heart increases its stupidity.

A great amount to do, a great amount to see,

Therefore, there is no difficult problem if we take the streets of the backside.

You will not know if you do not go.

You will not shine if you do not glow.

Behold currently! You are entirely a star child! Begin your power! Go! Laugh!

Behold currently! You are a master of the music! Begin your singing! Acquire your wages!

All that sparkles is gold!

Comets alone shatter the frame!

And here are the lyrics to the original song:

Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me

I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed

She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb

In the shape of an "L" on her forehead

Well the years start coming and they don't stop coming

Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running

Didn't make sense not to live for fun

Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb

So much to do, so much to see

So what's wrong with taking the back streets?

You'll never know if you don't go

You'll never shine if you don't glow

Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play

Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid

And all that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars break the mold

It's a cool place and they say it gets colder

You're bundled up now, wait 'til you get older

But the meteor men beg to differ

Judging by the hole in the satellite picture

The ice we skate is getting pretty thin

The water's getting warm so you might as well swim

My world's on fire, how about yours?

That's the way I like it and I'll never get bored

Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play

Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid

All that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars break the mold

Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play

Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show, on get paid

And all that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars

Somebody once asked could I spare some change for gas?

I need to get myself away from this place

I said, "Yup" what a concept

I could use a little fuel myself

And we could all use a little change

Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming

Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running

Didn't make sense not to live for fun

Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb

So much to do, so much to see

So what's wrong with taking the back streets?

You'll never know if you don't go (go!)

You'll never shine if you don't glow

Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play

Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid

And all that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars break the mold

And all that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars break the mold

Language translation is always a moving target. There is no such thing as a 1:1 translation of any word from one language to another unless those languages are sisters and reflect identical socio-cultural worldviews. Even then, it still won’t be fully 100% 1:1. As can be seen from attempting to translate a modern song to an ancient Semitic language and back again, the meaning is almost completely lost and the result sounds like mystic gibberish.

     There is no place where this is more true than in translating the Scriptures, and trying to form doctrine and theology based on those translations instead of the original text. What scrambles it even more is attempting to translate the Scriptures from another translation, such as English, into a language and culture which is completely and utterly alien to either the worldview of the 1st century Mediterranean or 21st century Western culture. The translators, at that point, are really only working off of their own theological understanding of what the text means in English, and not what the text actually says or means in the original languages, because they have to. There are many who valiantly attempt to take the meaning from the original languages, but there are many more who absolutely refuse to and work from English language translations that reflect their own theological biases.

     When Martin Luther, William Tyndale, and all of the Reformers and great colloquial language translators first read the Scriptures in the sixteenth century, they read them in early fifth century Latin using their own spoken academic, Ecclesiastical Latin. Early fifth century Latin was a cousin language to 1st century Koine Greek, and separated from it by about four or five hundred years. The equivalent would be a Modern German taking John Wycliffe’s or William Tyndale’s version and making a Modern German translation from these based on his understanding of Modern English. When they made their translations from Erasmus’ Greek text in the 1500s, they had only what they knew of sixteenth century Greek (Modern Greek for all intents and purposes, and about as close to Koine as Latin to Spanish), a very few Latin to Greek Lexicons if that (ancient Greek study being in its early infancy by the West), and the Latin Vulgate to refer to when they didn’t understand the ancient Greek.

     When they formulated their doctrines and theologies and made their translations, they did so based, not on the original text, but on the wording of the Latin Vulgate using their own sixteenth century worldviews to do so. I firmly believe they did they best they could with it, and were passionate about preaching what the Scriptures actually said to the common people in their own languages in order to free them from a corrupt ecclesiastical and political system. But their understandings of the text were clearly faulty, and modern theologies and translations which are built on their work carry these faults with them to this day producing the faults and problems in the modern churches which we now see.