On this day, October 6, 1536, William Tyndale
was strangled to death and his body burned at the stake for the crime of translating the Bible into English. Remember that as you read your English Bible today. As he was dying he yelled out his final
prayer, "Lord, open the king of England's eyes!"
A true HERO of The Faith! Sadly, nowadays, all too few Christians recognize what great men these were and how much we are indebted to them for their courage and for their contribution to our now being able to easily access the text of Scripture.
Since Tyndale's
English translation in 1526, translators and publishers have created
approximately 450 different English Bibles. Counting other languages there may be 900+ printed translations and paraphrases of the Bible making it difficult to know what was originally written.
Example: Psalm 12:6-7
Geneva 1599: The words of the Lord are pure words, as the silver, tried in a furnace of earth, fined sevenfold. Thou wilt keep them, O Lord; thou wilt preserve him from this generation forever. What does "him" refer back to?
KJV 1611: The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
"Them" refers back to the words of the Lord.
NIV 1978: And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times. You, Lord, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked.
Notice
all the word changes of the NIV version. Why did the
publishers change so many words? Answer: Publishers cannot get a
copyright (and make more money) unless at least 10% of the words are different from the original.
No need to fret over which translation to choose, simply go to Strong's Concordance and see what the original word God inspired to be written.
Do not blindly trust ANY translation of the Bible. Always check the
original Hebrew and Greek words to get the true meaning and intend.
