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More Literal Than Thou
EWernst wendland · Jun 22, 2021, 3:12 PM · Last modified: Sep 28, 2026, 11:39 AM
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The preceding is the title of an insightful article on this subject in the latest July-August issue of Christianity Today. Written by Daniel Stevens, it is tucked away in a Special Bible Advertising Section towards the end of the current issue (pp. 82-93). In this short overview, the author clarifies a number of common misunderstandings about the nature and purpose of a "literal translation."
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Nice article, thanks for pointing it out. I was thinking about this "literal is best" marketing mentality when I was reading about the new translation (Legacy Standard Bible) MacArthur and company are working on. They have no linguists or translators on their team and they are attempting to do almost everything this article said should not be done (like use the same word for word translation consistently, regardless of non-overlapping semantic domains). Even in their promotional material, they pretty much admit it their translation will be so awkward and opaque you will need their expository study notes to understand it. How convenient.
I do wonder whether "literal translation" actually has any empirical value as a term.
A great essay. Two bits I enjoyed, first this:
Greek and Hebrew words do not mean English words, just as French words do not mean English words.
... and this:
Don't be too quick to smooth out the little disturbances in the text. These rough edges provide us with a useful reminder that these words were written in a foreign world--more bizarre, more enchanted, and more wondrous than the one we typically imagine. These little disruptions drive us to explore the context of the Bible.
Douglas Moo has a paper where he discusses the use of the term "literal." He doesn't like the term, but on the other hand, he discovered that he used the term "literal" 24 times in his Romans commentary.
https://www.thenivbible.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/We-Still-Dont-Get-It.pdf
Now available here: https://www.christianitytoday.com/partners/creative-studio/more-literal-than-thou.html
Great article. Is there a link between loving literalism and monolingualism?