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understanding of their meaning. Most of the significant theological terms, including the
names and titles of God, are found in such poetic pairs.
K. Theories of Translation.
Theories of translation greatly affect our interpretation
of our Hebrew words. We may describe the current dominant theories of translation as
follows:
1. The Direct Equivalence Method.
This method assumes that one will find only
one English word to represent each Hebrew word that appears in the Old Testament text.
Since some Hebrew words have no one-word equivalent in English, they are simply
transliterated
(turned into English letters). In this case, the reader must be taught what the
transliterated term really meant. This method was used in the earliest translations of the
New Testament, which attempted to bring the Latin equivalents of Greek words directly
into English. This is how our early English versions adopted a large amount of Latin
theological terminology, such as
justification, sanctification,
and
concupiscence.
2. The Historico-Linguistic Method.
This method attempts to find a limited number
of English terms that will adequately express the meaning of a particular Hebrew term. A
scholar using this method studies the historical record of how the word has been used and
gives preference to its most frequent meaning in context. This method has been used in
preparing the
Expository Dictionary
3. The Dynamic Equivalence Method.
This method does not attempt to make any
consistent use of an English word for a specific Hebrew word. Instead it endeavors to
show the thrust or emphasis of a Hebrew word in each specific context. Thus it allows a
very free, colloquial rendering of Old Testament passages. This enables lay readers to get
the real kernel of meaning from a particular passage, but it makes Bible word study
virtually impossible. For example, a comparison of the concordance for
The Living Bible
and the concordance for the RSV will show the difference in methods of translation. The
RSV actually uses fewer different words than the KJV to translate the Hebrew Old
Testament.
The Living Bible
uses many more specific words to reflect the subtle shades
of meaning in the Hebrew text, thus making it impossible to trace how a particular
Hebrew word has been used in different contexts.
This
Expository Dictionary
attempts to show the different methods of translation by
indicating the different meanings of a Hebrew word given by various English versions.
L. How to Use This Book.
When beginning a word study of a particular Hebrew
term, you should obtain good editions of at least three English versions of the Old
Testament. Always have a King James Version or a New King James Version, a more
scholarly version such as the RSV or NASB, and a colloquial version such as the TEV.
You should also have a good concordance to the KJV, NKJV or the RSV.
The
Expository Dictionary
gives wide ranges of meanings for most Hebrew words.
They should not be substituted for each other without carefully reviewing the usage of the
term in its different contexts. All Hebrew words have different meanings-sometimes even
opposite meanings-so they should be studied in all of their occurrences, and not just one.
Strive for consistency in rendering a particular Hebrew word in different contexts.
Seek the smallest number of equivalent English words. The contributors to this book have
already done extensive research in the original languages and in modem scholarly
literature. You can make the best use of their work by looking up the various usages of
each word in order to get a balanced view.