Correcting Translation Errors

As familiarity with Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek declined, biblical translation into new languages became a necessity. But, before long the Holy Roman Church (whose official language was Latin) became utterly dominant and as such, Latin became the de facto language of the Bible.

The principal Bible used in the church was Jerome's Vulgate (completed in 405), which was written in Latin. Hence, if you didn't know Latin, you didn't know the Bible and all you had to rely on was the correct and accurate preaching of the religious leaders of the day. You became subject to the whim and fancy of Church leadership and the political machinations of the day.

The Latin Vulgate was the only source text available to them, but the Pope was so infuriated by their work and Wycliffe's teachings that 44 years after Wycliffe died, he ordered the bones to be dug-up, crushed, and scattered in the river.

This departure from the religious and political hierarchy's will, and the threat of the general populous having access to the Bible in their own language caused Wycliffe and his followers (known as the "Lollards") to suffer extreme persecution as heretics.

He printed his finished Bible in Europe in 1526 and revised it in 1534. Shortly afterwards, Myles Coverdale produced the first complete English Bible of the sixteenth century in 1535, and then in 1611, King James gave his blessing to a new translation, known to us as the Authorized Version or the King James Bible.

Later on, the discoveries of the Codex Sinaiticus, early Greek papyri of New Testament, and the Dead Sea scrolls have further aided new translations in common use today. These include the New English Bible, the New International Version, and the Jerusalem Bible.

With greater advances in linguistic analysis; the ongoing discovery of new texts; text fragments and archaeological discoveries and the mere fact that people from a Jewish background and mindset are again looking at the New Testament has led to new and better translations.

One example (of several) of these exciting new translations is Dr David H Stern's "Complete Jewish Bible" accompanied by the Jewish New Testament Commentary.