Modified Literal Translations

     If you have extensively read the scholarly literature that discusses
the theory  of  Bible translation,  you  have  likely  seen  the  phrase
"modified-literal."  What  is  a  modified-literal  translation  of   the
scriptures?

     A strictly literal translation is one that follows the form of the source
language even though doing so does "violence" to the receptor language.
A strictly literal translation attempts to follow the form of the original in
every way; word order, grammar, number of words used, etc. The
closest  literary  production  that  we  have of such  literalism is called
an  interlinear. A  strictly  literal  translation  of the original languages of
scripture  would be  difficult  to  read  and more difficult to  understand. 
Note  this example:  The Greek text of Heb. 3:1 says, "hothen   adelphoi   
hagioi  kleseos  epouraniou metochoi katanoesate ton apostolon kai 
archierea tes homologias hemon Iesoun."  A  strictly  literal   English
translation of the Greek text is, "For which reason brothers holy calling
heavenly partners consider carefully the ambassador and high priest of the
confession of us Jesus." At least two things are apparent, (1) a strictly
literal translation is difficult to read and understand, (2) it can also be
misleading, especially for the person not conversant in Greek, and who
is not aware that Greek and English word order are not always the same.

     Now we ask, what must be done in order to achieve understandability
and maintain accuracy? Some degree of modification has to be made in
the receptor language. We try to make as few modifications as possible,
but we make any that are necessary in order to produce an understandable
and  accurate  translation.  This  is  the  idea  underlying   modified-literal
translations. The modified-literal versions remain as close to the original as
possible, and they sometimes sacrifice English style in doing so. They are
not always easy to read, but they make the best study Bibles for close,
indepth  research. Even  the  slightest  deviation  from  the original  is  a
modification, whether it is a change in word order, word count, or other
linguistic alterations.

     When  we  make  the  necessary  modifications  to the strictly literal
translation  of   Heb. 3:1  noted  earlier,  the  resultant  modified-literal
rendering could be something like this, "Therefore, holy brothers and
sisters, partners  in  a  heavenly  calling,  carefully  consider  Jesus,  the
ambassador and high priest of our confession."

     The English speaking world is blessed with several good modified-
literal versions of the scriptures. The ASV-1901 is a very close rendering
of the Hebrew and Greek. In fact it is generally so close that it is quite
difficult to read, but its deviation value from the biblical languages is quite
low. It is an excellent translation for comparative study if a person can
navigate through the archaic Elizabethan English. The RSV, ESV, NASB,
and the NRSV are all modified-literal versions that have a good degree
of accuracy, and each is useful to the careful student of God's word.
This does not mean that all translations of the scriptures are equal, but
most are useful, and their usefulness varies from passage to passage.
                                                                                             RD

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