This is part 2 of a nine-part series on divine authority in Bible translation. Part 1 can be found here:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9
Before we begin any task or role, we need to know what God has to say about it. For instance, if we want to start a business, we need to know what God has to say about treating people fairly, submitting to human laws, loving our neighbor, loving God and not money, working diligently as for the Lord, and more. If we are about to get married, we need to know what God has to say about his purpose for marriage, the role of husbands and wives, as well as the importance of love, forgiveness, and humility in our relationships in general. And how do we know what God says? By looking at the Bible, and understanding and applying its truth in light of the gospel.
If, instead, we take our cues from our surrounding culture, and consider the Bible’s teaching to be irrelevant on a given subject, we will inevitably follow fallible human wisdom rather than God’s wisdom. On a subject as important as Bible translation—a process that creates the texts that Christians should treat as God’s very Word in their lives—it is extremely important that we look first at what God says about it, and let our minds be shaped by his truth, rather than simply coming up with our own ways of doing it, or taking our cues from the surrounding culture. It is impossible to create a Bible translation that seeks to maintain divine authority—what we are calling a “sola scriptura translation”—without first looking at what the Bible says that relates to the subject.
I say this to my shame—I had been part of a Christian linguistics and Bible translation organization for over ten years before I ever once even thought to ask myself the question, “What does God say about language? What does God say about Bible translation?” In all of my linguistics classes, all of my discussions with colleagues, I don’t remember these basic questions ever coming up. Even the main textbook used to teach translation theory to many new Bible translators doesn’t include any biblical theology of translation.1I am referring to Mildred L. Larson’s Meaning-Based Translation: A Guide to Cross-Language Equivalence (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1998). While Larson herself was a Bible translator, Larson’s textbook is intended as a general textbook on translation theory, including for secular purposes. Students learning translation theory from her textbook would therefore have no way of knowing whether the translation theory presented is in accordance with, or opposed to, biblical teaching—in fact, they could easily approach the entire subject without ever considering this crucial question.
Though a complete biblical theology of translation is far beyond this short series,2For an excellent introductory in-depth exploration of a biblical theology of language, an essential component to a theology of translation, see Vern S. Pythress, In the Beginning Was the Word: Language—A God-Centered Approach (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2009). certain themes have particularly important implications for Bible translation. We will review these themes in particular:
- The Bible is God’s Word
- The Bible is flawless at every level
- God authorizes translation of the Bible into all languages
- The full Bible should be translated, not just the New Testament or portions
- Faithful translations of the full Bible are key to building strong foundations for Christian teaching and living in each language group
The Bible is God’s Word
The Bible insists, in both the Old and New Testament, that the writings contained therein are not merely human words—though they all have human authors—but that the Scriptures are the very Word of God:3The development and delineation of the canon is, of course, a crucial topic relevant to this discussion, but I am choosing to take as a given the 66 books of the Old and New Testament, not including the Apocrypha or other non-canonical writings.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16)
[N]o prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20b-21)
Therefore, whatever the Bible says about the “word(s) of God” or the “word(s) of the Lord” applies to the Bible as a whole. So, for example, God teaches us in the Scriptures that his Word is pure, perfect, exactly as he wanted it to be, and not to be changed:
The words of the LORD are pure words—
Silver refined in a furnace on the ground,4Or earthen furnace
Purified seven times. (Psalm 12:6)
Every word of God is pure;
He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Don’t add to his words,
or he will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar. (Proverbs 30:5-6)
You must not add to what I am commanding you, nor take away from it, so that you’ll heed the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you. (Deuteronomy 4:2)
I bear witness to everyone who hears the words of prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share from the tree of life and from the holy city which are described in this book. (Revelation 22:18-19)
This conforms to what we know about God: He is perfect, pure, and exactly the way he should be. So, naturally, his Word shares these attributes. Since the Bible truly is the Word of God, it, like him, is without flaw—silver refined to complete purity. While the human authors, each with their own minds and personalities, were truly involved in writing the Bible, and not simply acting as mindless robots, the Holy Spirit ensured that everything they wrote was precisely what he desired, in such a complete way that the result can truly be said to have the Lord himself as its author.
Flawless Down to the Lowest Level
The Bible also gives us clear indications of the linguistic level this purity and perfection extends to. Jesus tells us that “not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18), referring to the smallest letter or part of a letter. Jesus also makes arguments based on a single inspired word choice. For example, his argument in Matthew 22:45 hangs on the specific use of the word “Lord” in Psalm 110:1; he emphasizes that David said this word “in the Spirit,” indicating that God chose this word, not simply David of his own human will. Similarly, his argument in John 10:34 rests on the single word “gods” from Psalm 82:6; again he emphasizes the perfection and authority of God’s Word by saying that “the Scripture cannot be broken.”
Jesus also makes an argument based on a single grammatical feature, namely the default present tense of God’s statement in Mark 12:26.5In both the Greek of Mark and the Hebrew of Exodus 3:6, which Jesus is quoting, a past tense meaning would require a form of the verb “to be,” whereas a present tense meaning does not require any verb. Paul likewise in Galatians 3:16 treats the singularity of “seed” (σπέρματι) as opposed to “seeds” (σπέρμασιν) as theologically significant—even though, as he knew, the singular “seed” can be understood in a collective sense in Hebrew.
The clear implication of these verses is that the Scriptures are not just God-breathed in a general sense, but God-breathed in their word choice, their grammatical features, even their smallest letter or part of a letter. The Bible clearly states that there is absolutely no flaw in what God breathed out, at any linguistic level. In the Bible, God gave us exactly what he wanted us to have.
The flawlessness of God’s Word has important implications for Bible translation, which we will explore especially in Parts 5 through 8.
God’s Word to All Nations
The events of Pentecost have special importance in our understanding of language from a biblical perspective. Jesus told the disciples that “repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed in his name to all peoples” (Luke 24:47), but that first they should wait in Jerusalem until they were “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). This power came through the Holy Spirit, who enabled the disciples to proclaim the “magnificent acts of God” in all the languages of those visiting Jerusalem from afar (Acts 2:11). By the power of the Spirit, the disciples were able to tell people the good news about Jesus in their own languages. It seems that God intended the church to be multilingual from its birth.
We see this fulfilled in Revelation, where people from “every nation, tribe, people and language” (Revelation 7:9) worship God before his throne. God does not demand that all nations learn Hebrew, the language of his people, in order to come to know his salvation. Instead, he sends out his ambassadors to the ends of the earth to proclaim the good news to people in their own languages. As the perfectly obedient Heavenly One living among sinners, Jesus engaged in “cross-cultural” ministry. “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). Even the message on the cross proclaiming Jesus’ kingship was written in multiple languages—Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
We see this also in the fact that after the Babylonian exile, the Holy Spirit did not insist on all Scripture being written in Hebrew. Instead, he allowed authors to write in the language that was most appropriate in their context, which in some cases meant writing in Aramaic, the language of Babylon. There was nothing “unholy” about Aramaic, despite it being the language of their captors, who worshiped hideous idols. Nor was there anything especially “holy” about Hebrew that God would insist that it be the only language fit for inspired Scripture.
Like Aramaic, Greek was also the language of a predominantly pagan people. This did not stop God from using it to proclaim the good news of his Son in the New Testament throughout the Hellenized world. While the inspired texts were certainly holy, the languages themselves were vehicles, and God showed that he can use any language he sees fit to reveal his truth. As Bible translators David Stabnow and Ray Clendenen write:
In Babylon [Israel] adopted the Aramaic language, and later in Palestine they appropriated Greek. There were many ways in which God required His people to be set apart from the people around them. Retaining the ancient Hebrew language could have been one of the ways—but it was not.6E. Ray Clenenden and David K. Stabow, HCSB: Navigating the Horizons in Bible Translations (Nashville: B&H, 2012), Kindle location 222.
The multilingual nature of the Bible and the lesson of Pentecost together give us confidence that the Lord truly desires the church to translate his Word into the languages of the world, and that he will bless us and enable us to faithfully proclaim his “magnificent acts” among the nations as we seek his wisdom and look to his Word for guidance.
The Whole Counsel of God
When we read Psalm 119, we are rightly moved by the Psalmist’s love for the Word of God and desire to live by it. “I have hidden your word in my heart, so that I won’t sin against you” (v. 11). “I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word” (v. 16). “Open my eyes so I can see wonderful things in your law” (v. 18). But how often do we remember that the Psalmist is speaking of the Word of God as he knew it—namely, the Old Testament, or the parts of it that had been written by his time?
When Paul bade farewell to the elders of the Ephesian church, he declared that he was “innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:26-27). If we truly believe that “every word of God is pure” (Proverbs 30:5), then we will want every language group to have the entire corpus of Scripture in their language, and to actively engage with the full biblical text regularly.
There is an understandable but still unfortunate trend in Bible translation to focus far more on translating the New Testament than the Old Testament. One has to start translating somewhere, and sometimes a gospel or epistle may be the best place to start. But it is still surprising that, according to Wycliffe statistics, 1,787 languages have the New Testament while only 775 languages have the full Bible.7Taken from the Wycliffe UK website: https://wycliffe.org.uk/about/faqs. Statistics are from June 2025. Nearly two billion people—a quarter of the world’s population—speak a language that lacks the full Bible. Tremendous work has gone into translating the New Testament for these language groups, and we thank God that many of them have active Old Testament translation projects. But how can someone live by the “only infallible rule of faith and practice”—how can someone “meditate on” the “law of the LORD…day and night” (Psalm 1:1)—if they do not have the full Bible in their language?
Different groups will have different spiritual needs and priorities as to which portions of Scripture should be tackled first for a sola scriptura translation. But we should never consider the work to be done until everyone can read and engage with the “whole counsel of God” in their own languages.
A Strong Foundation
The purpose of Bible translation is never simply to “check off a box” or create a mere book that will sit on a shelf. Our goal, like Paul’s, must be to “present everyone perfect in the Anointed One” (Colossians 1:28). Churches everywhere need a strong theological foundation in order to survive and even thrive in the midst of temptations, false teaching, and the idolatrous lies in their surrounding culture. Though having a faithful Bible translation is not in itself enough, it is an absolutely essential piece in helping us to not be “conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind[s]” (Romans 12:2).
This is part 2 of a series on divine authority in Bible translation. Part 3 will explore the doctrine of sola scriptura more deeply, and will consider the nature of divine authority in the biblical texts, in translation, and in Christian teaching. Meanwhile, Part 7 addresses a common yet flawed argument regarding the use of the Old Testament by New Testament authors as being a biblical guide for translators today. The full series can be found here.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9
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