The Case for Perfect Translations

By Dr. Steve Combs

(Dr. Steve Combs is the Assistant Director of Global Bible Translators. He also serves on the Executive Board of the King James Bible Research Council.)

                In common with those who agree with this idea, I believe the King James Bible is the inerrant Word of God in the English language; a complete, accurate, true, faithful, and mature translation; and a standard for all other translations.  That is, after all, what the English word “perfect” means in regard to a translation: complete and inerrant.

PERFECT means: “being entirely without fault or defect : flawless … satisfying all requirements : accurate … faithfully reproducing the original … lacking in no essential detail : complete” [i] 

                The first use of the word perfect in the Bible is Genesis 6:9 and applies to Noah, who is described as a just and perfect man.  It is also used of the Scriptures in Psalms 19:7.  The Hebrew word, tamiym, means blameless or complete.  It is translated without blemish, without Spot, upright, whole, full (as in a full year), sound, undefiled, and sincerity.  The word perfect is not some mysterious word that carries a meaning that we can’t quite fathom.  It is quite an ordinary term.  In regard to the Bible, whether in the original languages or a translation, perfect means complete and inerrant.  I see no Scriptural reason why any translation in any language cannot be complete and inerrant. 

                Many prefer to use the words accurate and faithful.  What exactly does that mean?

ACCURATE means: “free from error especially as the result of care … conforming exactly to truth or to a standard : exact“[ii] 

FAITHFUL means:  true to the facts, to a standard, or to an original [iii] 

                In looking at these definitions, it is evident that when we say a translation is accurate, it means that it is inerrant, without error.  This is intrinsic in the meaning of the term.  If we say a translation is also faithful, we should understand that means it is true to the original.  If it is true to the original, it is complete and without error.  Therefore, any translation that is accurate and faithful is without error and complete; it is perfect.  A complete and accurate Bible is perfect.  As we shall see, in order to fulfill Matthew 4:4, every people must have a complete and accurate (inerrant, faithful, perfect) Bible in their own language or a language they easily understand.      

                There are some weaknesses to the above “only one language” argument that should be noted.  I find nothing in Scripture to back up the idea that God combined the Old and New Testaments into only one language, English, and that all other Bibles in other languages cannot be perfect.  I find nothing in history to back it up and we will look at history later.

                That view is an opinion only. 

           The argument says in part that in these days English is a universal language and nations which don't speak English must teach English to many of their citizens, such as the military and business people.  However, this is true in only some countries, not all.  Perhaps these countries teach English to the more educated and politically connected, but what about the less educated?  What about the common laborer?  What about the uneducated farmer?  What about the naked tribesman sitting on a log by the Amazon River?  What about the millions, yes, the billions, who are not included in this English training?  In my travels in West Africa, I have learned something about the nine countries of West Africa, whose official language is French.   Many speak fluent French, all know their tribal language, but very few speak or read English.  

                For over two centuries we have known that we cannot evangelize the world by teaching them English or with an English Bible.  We expect … no, we require that a missionary who goes to a foreign country learn the language of the people and communicate with them in that language.  Yet, somehow, some think they can be evangelized with an inerrant Bible only in English?  How would you like to be told you can never have an inerrant Bible in your mother tongue?  Wouldn't you want to have a Bible, an inerrant Bible, in your mother tongue?  There is nothing in the Bible to back up the opinion that you cannot have a complete accurate (perfect) Bible in anything, but English.

                In a 2004 article titled Writing Global English, Dennis List had this assessment of how “global” English really is.

The British Council estimates that the world has about 375 million people who speak English as a first language, another 375 million who speak it regularly as a second language in a country where English has some semi-official status (such as India), and about 750 million more people who speak English as a foreign language. For more details, see Barbara Wallraff's article What Global Language? from The Atlantic Monthly for November 2000.  The implication I drew from this article was that at least half the people who know English don't know it perfectly.  When writing pages for this website, I (DL) think of my own skill-or to be more precise, lack of skill - in French. I studied French at school for 5 years, and can read simple French - though slowly... As for spoken French, I can't keep up with it: watching TV5 (the French satellite channel) is very frustrating. If only the French wouldn't speak so fast! And if only they would pause between words![iv]

                This assessment of English usage amounts to 1 billion 500 million people who perhaps could possibly be evangelized with an English Bible.  In double checking these numbers, I found that Dennis List was more generous in his numbers than the current information on the web site “English Language All About the English Language.”  They list 400 million mother tongue users and 700 million foreign language users of English. [v]  Wikipedia lists 400 million mother tongue users, 750 million second language users, and 700 million users of English as a foreign language.  [vi] 

                There were about 7.5 billion people on earth.  If the numbers and assessment in the largest estimate above are correct, it amounts to a total 1 billion 550 million.  That leaves 6 billion people (at least), who know little or nothing about English, and who could not be evangelized or trained in discipleship with an English Bible.

                In the light of Matthew 4:4, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God", the whole notion of a completely faithful and accurate Bible in only one language is ridiculous.  The very idea flies in the face of what God has actually said.  God has said that every person in the world shall live by every one of His words.  Not only that, but it also flouts what God did at Babel in confusing the world's languages (Genesis 11).  God doesn't want the world to communicate in only one language and He doesn’t communicate with the world in only one language.  God separated the nations in their own languages, so they could more easily seek God (Acts 17:26-27; e.g. Gen. 10:20).  The diversity of language is God’s idea, God’s plan, God’s will.  So, if all of us of every nation are to live by every one of God’s Words, it is God’s will and plan that we have every one of His words in our own language.  That sounds, to me, like it requires a perfect (complete and accurate) Bible in many languages.

                God did limit the number of languages in which He gave the Word, but that was a matter of inspiration not translation.  That is, God limited the Word to three languages when He first gave the Word (1 Tim. 3:16).  But, that was only the beginning.  There is not one word in Scripture that says God limited the number of languages into which His Word could be perfectly translated.  Inspiration and translation are two entirely different things.  Translation is the process by which the original words of God are transferred from the original languages or another accurate translation to a new language.  God is involved in the process of translation, but it is fundamentally different from inspiration.  When God originally gave His Word, it is obvious that he needed to limit the number of languages used.  He inspired it in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.  However, there is no word from God that limits the process of accurate, even perfect, translation to only a few languages or to only one language.  It can encompass all languages.  There can be an accurate translation in every language.  Man is limited and fallible, but God is not. 

                The only conclusion we can come to is that God actually wants all His words to be completely and accurately (perfectly) translated into every language.  Once again, I turn to Matthew 4:4.  We must have all God’s Words if we are to live by every word that proceeds out of His mouth.  That means we must have them, every Word of God, in our own language or a language we easily understand.  Therefore, it is God’s will that His words be translated accurately and completely.  A faithful and accurate (i.e. perfect) translation can exist in every language.   

[i] Merriam Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/ dictionary/perfect. Web. Mar. 2019.

[ii] Merriam Webster

[iii] Merriam Webster

[iv] Dennis List, AWriting Global English, 2004.               (http://www.audiencedialogue.org/english.html). Web. 23 June 2004.

[v] English Language All About the English Language. English Language Statistics. Englishlanguageguide. Com. Web. 5-2019.

[vi] Wikipedia. English Language. Wikipedia.com. Web. 5-2019.