Are you reading the Bible or someone else's interpretation of the Bible?
As we are well aware, the letters, memoirs and other books that comprise the Bible were not written in English, which means we must depend on a trustworthy translator to deliver us the Word of God from the original Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic originals.
But, I recently was doing a little Bible study with some friends and came across some very interesting (and slightly disturbing) realizations. It struck me how different English translations can render the meaning of a text in some radically different ways with slightly different nuances. In this post, I'll discuss one text, in particular, James 5:14-16 and we'll take a look at several different versions of these verses. The Bible versions that we'll compare are the NIV, NABRE, ESV, KJV, Douay-Rheims, Orthodox Study Bible (OSB), and the Latin Vulgate translated by Jerome in 384 AD.
NIV published in 1978 and updated in 2011.
"Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."
NABRE published in 2011.
"Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint [him] with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful."
ESV published in 2001.
"Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."
KJV published in 1611.
"Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
Douay-Rheims Bible published in 1609.
"Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man: and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess therefore your sins one to another: and pray one for another, that you may be saved. For the continual prayer of a just man availeth much."
Orthodox Study Bible published in 2008.
"Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."
Latin Vulgate translated by Saint Jerome in 348 AD.
"infirmatur quis in vobis inducat presbyteros ecclesiae et orent super eum unguentes eum oleo in nomine Domini et oratio fidei salvabit infirmum et adlevabit eum Dominus et si in peccatis sit dimittentur ei confitemini ergo alterutrum peccata vestra et orate pro invicem ut salvemini multum enim valet deprecatio iusti adsidua"
So, what did you notice from the comparisons?
I noticed that the Bible translations done after the Reformation (1517) take away or downplay the Greek word "presbyteros" as "elders." This is because if you take away the priest, you take away the sacraments. If there is no priest, there are no sacraments. The word "presbyter" is taken from the Greek "presbyteros" and it is also where the word "priest" is derived.
"Elders" is a very bland, almost meaningless term. The only thing they did here was remove the religious connotation of the word "presbyteros." Leaving in the word "priest" would make it sound too-Catholic.
"Elders" is a very bland, almost meaningless term. The only thing they did here was remove the religious connotation of the word "presbyteros." Leaving in the word "priest" would make it sound too-Catholic.
Sacramental vs. non-sacramental understanding of this passage
In the context, we have a clear understanding of the sacrament of the anointing of the sick (Holy Unction) where the priest comes and prays for you and you receive the anointing of oil blessed by the bishop.
Also, in this context, we see clearly the sacrament of confession between the priest and the sick and/or dying person.
In the context, we have a clear understanding of the sacrament of the anointing of the sick (Holy Unction) where the priest comes and prays for you and you receive the anointing of oil blessed by the bishop.
Also, in this context, we see clearly the sacrament of confession between the priest and the sick and/or dying person.
Typically, most Protestant or non-denominational churches (excluding Anglicans or Lutherans because they practice the sacraments of the church) do not practice the sacraments other than Baptism and Communion, which isn't really clear why they even retained those after the Reformation since they reject the sacraments. Catholics and Orthodox practice the sacraments as well as Anglicans and Lutherans.
The basic non-sacramental understanding is that matter = bad and spirit = good.
The basic sacramental understanding is that God works through these visible signs to effect grace in our lives. The word of God in Genesis 1:31 says that "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."
For example, all Christians practice the sacrament of baptism (although they may not like to call it a sacrament but they still do it... it's a VISIBLE sign of grace using matter). Some Christians will tell you that the water does not "save" you which is something Baptists will usually say. Which is interesting that the denomination that takes the name "Baptist" actually downplays the significance of Baptism. (By the way, I was a Southern Baptist for 20 years).
Others quote 1 Peter 3:31 "this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you," which is a very straightforward verse that baptism saves you.
Others quote 1 Peter 3:31 "this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you," which is a very straightforward verse that baptism saves you.
Clear bias
Clearly, we've seen some patently (also disturbingly) obvious bias in Bible translations just in this passage from the letter of James between the word choice of "elders" or "priests" based on the Greek word "presbyteros."
So, the question I leave you is, does your Bible that you read give you a clear and trustworthy translation or someone else's interpretation and bias of what the Bible says?
It may be worth giving a couple of different translations a look before you stake all your Bible studies on one translation that could be extremely biased and hold you back from knowing the fullness of what the Bible says.
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