"Father's Heart Bible"

[John of Japan]

This is an absolute terrible version that changes the words of the Bible. I found it today when I was looking at Japanese translatins on the Internet. Check out its version of Zephaniah 3:17 here: What Is the Father's Heart Bible™ (FHB)? | Father's Heart Bible™

I suspect that this is an AI generated version, judging by all the so-called foreign Bible translations the website claims. You don't produce that many Bible translations in other languages all at once. Trust me as a bona fide Bible translator, that would be a task taking many years. However, the FHB has a 2026 publication date, so presumably the foreign translations do also.

Also, check out how expensive it is to buy one of their printed books: $79.99 to $99.99. You use the "99 cents" thing when you are trying to make money, IMHO.

 

[Martin Marprelate]

Thanks for the heads-up!

 

[Kai]

At least it doesn't appear to be as bad as The New Testament for Gen Z.

 

[Deacon]

Yuck! It's just plain awful!

 

[John of Japan]

At least it doesn't appear to be as bad as The New Testament for Gen Z.

I still have not looked at that one. How bad is it?

 

[John of Japan]

Here again is the FHB on Zeph. 3:17:
"Your Father is in your midst, a mighty warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."

Here is a Google translate version from Hebrew of that verse, which I just did:
The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty One who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will be silent in His love, He will exult over you with singing.

Note how close the syntax (sentence structure) is between the two. Normally two different human translators would have different, sometimes very different syntax. However, the syntax between the FHB and the Google version is very similar. That points to an AI source for the FHB, though it doesn't prove it necessarily. (Admittedly the Google version messed up "silent," KJV "rest," but the FHB did better.)

 

[John of Japan]

The advertising calls it an "intimate Bible." What in the world is that? Your guess is as good as mine. The "translator" is skilled in selling books, according to his Amazon site, so maybe it's just a marketing phrase. One of the books he wrote is Ultimate Book Marketing Guide.

 

[Deacon]

Here again is the FHB on Zeph. 3:17:
"Your Father is in your midst, a mighty warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."

Here is a Google translate version from Hebrew of that verse, which I just did:
The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty One who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will be silent in His love, He will exult over you with singing.

Note how close the syntax (sentence structure) is between the two. Normally two different human translators would have different, sometimes very different syntax. However, the syntax between the FHB and the Google version is very similar. That points to an AI source for the FHB, though it doesn't prove it necessarily. (Admittedly the Google version messed up "silent," KJV "rest," but the FHB did better.)

"silent" is the right word there.

II חרשׁ: qal: impf. יֶחֱרַשׁ, תֶּחֱרַשְׁנָה: be deaf Mi 7:16; Ps 35:22; w. min to Ps 28:1.
hif.: pf. הֶחֱרִ(י)שׁ, הֶחֱרַשְׁתִּי; impf. יַחֲרִישׁ, אַחֲרִישׁ, יַחֲרִישׁוּ, תַּחֲרִישׁוּן; impv. הַחֲרֵשׁ; pt. מַחֲרִישׁ, מַחֲרִישִׁים:—1. keep still, be silent Gn 24:21; 2 K 18:36;
hitp.: impf. וַיִּתְחָֽרְשׁוּ; keep still Ju 16:2. †
Holladay, William Lee, and Ludwig Köhler. 2000. In A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 118. Leiden: Brill.

יַחֲרִישׁ֙ בְּאַ֣הֲבָתֹ֔ו ( yaḥarish be'ahavato, He is silent in His love).
The Septuagint, probably from a different Hebrew text, reads, "He renews His love."

I'm unsure how the text was turned from the silent characteristic of God to a quiet reaction of a person; a few other versions exhibit this.

Zephaniah 3:17
(ESV 2025) ... he will quiet you by his love; ...

(HCSB 2009) ...He will bring you quietness with His love. ...

(LEB) ... he renews you in his love; ...

Alongside loud rejoicing, the statement about YHWH keeping silent in his love has struck many commentators as incongruous, but there is no alternative reading that can claim greater plausibility ...

LXX and Peshitta have “he will renew you,” reading yḥdš (yəḥaddēš) for yḥrš (yaḥărîš). The letters dalet and resh look very similar and are easily confused, but there is no variation in Hebrew MSS of this verse (CTAT 3:914). Some derive yaḥărîš from the verb meaning “plow, engrave, devise.” Sabottka (Zephanja, 132–34) understands this as “compose, improvise” and renders “sings a song,” but the argument does not rest on secure linguistic grounds. Sweeney (Zephaniah, 193, 202–3) opts for “he plows,” but in none of the instances he cites is the context a happy one. In my judgment, none of the alternatives can claim greater plausibility than reading keeps silent. (The translation “he will quiet you” as in ESV goes against Hebrew usage of the hiphil of ḥrš.)
Renz, Thomas. 2021. The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. Edited by E. J. Young, R. K. Harrison, and Robert L. Jr. Hubbard. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Rob

 

[Kai]

I still have not looked at that one. How bad is it?

At first, I thought it only existed for the sake of being blasphemous, but because I have family who work in the public education system, I genuinely believe there's a section of the population that can only understand English this way.

Luke 1:27-31
So, like there was this girl named Mary who was engaged to this guy named Joseph. Joseph's fam was from the house of David, you know? And Mary, she was a total virgin. And then this angel slides into her DMs like, 'Yo, what's up? Hail, girl! You're totally favored by the big man upstairs, God Himself. You're blessed AF compared to all the other ladies out there. #Winning And like, when she saw {him}, she was totally shook by what he said, and she started thinking like, 'What kind of greeting is this supposed to be?' The angel was like, 'Chill, Mary! God totally approves of you, no need to stress.' Yo, listen up! Imma drop some news on you. You're gonna get pregnant and have a baby boy. And guess what? You gotta name him JESUS.

 

[John of Japan]

"silent" is the right word there.

II חרשׁ: qal: impf. יֶחֱרַשׁ, תֶּחֱרַשְׁנָה: be deaf Mi 7:16; Ps 35:22; w. min to Ps 28:1.
hif.: pf. הֶחֱרִ(י)שׁ, הֶחֱרַשְׁתִּי; impf. יַחֲרִישׁ, אַחֲרִישׁ, יַחֲרִישׁוּ, תַּחֲרִישׁוּן; impv. הַחֲרֵשׁ; pt. מַחֲרִישׁ, מַחֲרִישִׁים:—1. keep still, be silent Gn 24:21; 2 K 18:36;
hitp.: impf. וַיִּתְחָֽרְשׁוּ; keep still Ju 16:2. †
Holladay, William Lee, and Ludwig Köhler. 2000. In A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 118. Leiden: Brill.

יַחֲרִישׁ֙ בְּאַ֣הֲבָתֹ֔ו ( yaḥarish be'ahavato, He is silent in His love).
The Septuagint, probably from a different Hebrew text, reads, "He renews His love."

I'm unsure how the text was turned from the silent characteristic of God to a quiet reaction of a person; a few other versions exhibit this.

Zephaniah 3:17
(ESV 2025) ... he will quiet you by his love; ...

(HCSB 2009) ...He will bring you quietness with His love. ...

(LEB) ... he renews you in his love; ...

Alongside loud rejoicing, the statement about YHWH keeping silent in his love has struck many commentators as incongruous, but there is no alternative reading that can claim greater plausibility ...

LXX and Peshitta have “he will renew you,” reading yḥdš (yəḥaddēš) for yḥrš (yaḥărîš). The letters dalet and resh look very similar and are easily confused, but there is no variation in Hebrew MSS of this verse (CTAT 3:914). Some derive yaḥărîš from the verb meaning “plow, engrave, devise.” Sabottka (Zephanja, 132–34) understands this as “compose, improvise” and renders “sings a song,” but the argument does not rest on secure linguistic grounds. Sweeney (Zephaniah, 193, 202–3) opts for “he plows,” but in none of the instances he cites is the context a happy one. In my judgment, none of the alternatives can claim greater plausibility than reading keeps silent. (The translation “he will quiet you” as in ESV goes against Hebrew usage of the hiphil of ḥrš.)
Renz, Thomas. 2021. The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. Edited by E. J. Young, R. K. Harrison, and Robert L. Jr. Hubbard. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Rob

Good post, and good analysis. I'm not going to examine this myself, since my only purpose with that post was to show the possibility that the FHB was done by AI. I'd have to ask the "translator" himself to prove my assertion.

 

[Deacon]

As much as the colorized versions try to support and distinguish the Trinity by using the title "Father" as a translation of "the LORD" in the OT, this practice fails to recognize that the Son and the Spirit had their identity in YHWH.

Although...

Jeremiah 3:19 (ESV) “ ‘I said, How I would set you among my sons, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful of all nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me.

Jeremiah 31:9b (ESV) ... for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

Rob

 

[John of Japan]

At first, I thought it only existed for the sake of being blasphemous, but because I have family who work in the public education system, I genuinely believe there's a section of the population that can only understand English this way.

Luke 1:27-31
So, like there was this girl named Mary who was engaged to this guy named Joseph. Joseph's fam was from the house of David, you know? And Mary, she was a total virgin. And then this angel slides into her DMs like, 'Yo, what's up? Hail, girl! You're totally favored by the big man upstairs, God Himself. You're blessed AF compared to all the other ladies out there. #Winning And like, when she saw {him}, she was totally shook by what he said, and she started thinking like, 'What kind of greeting is this supposed to be?' The angel was like, 'Chill, Mary! God totally approves of you, no need to stress.' Yo, listen up! Imma drop some news on you. You're gonna get pregnant and have a baby boy. And guess what? You gotta name him JESUS.

Thanks for the post.

This reminds me of the Cabbage Patch version. There are extraneous words in there not needed for comprehension, such as "Yo" and "the big man upstairs" (a little sacriligious, don't you think?). Plus, this is similar to the dynamic equivalence concept, which puts reader response above authorial intent. I believe in emphasizing authorial intent at all times.

There is a linguistic theory of Noam Chomsky's called universal grammar, which teaches that all humans have the capability to learn language. Thus, a subculture with an unusual dialect such as this one should have no trouble understanding a normal Bible translation with a little effort, IMO.

 

[John of Japan]

As much as the colorized versions try to support and distinguish the Trinity by using the title "Father" as a translation of "the LORD" in the OT, this practice fails to recognize that the Son and the Spirit had their identity in YHWH.

Rob

Absolutely correct!

 

[John of Japan]

To me all of the pictures on the website look AI generated. The smiles are too frozen and the people are too generic. What do you think?

 

[Van]

The Hebrew, literally

​

​

​

"YHWH your God is in your midst, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will be silent in his love; he will shout over you with a ringing cry."​

​

Father's Heart Bible™​

​

"Your Father is in your midst, a mighty warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."​

​

Zep 3:17 NASB​

​

“The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will rejoice over you with joy,​

He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. ​

1) Here we see Yahweh determined to refer to the person of the Father, when such an assumption is unlikely.

2) The next phrase appears to mean "a Deliverance Warrior."

3) The next phrases indicate God in three Persons rejoices over each lost sheep brought into the fold.

My assessment, looking at just one verse is not good.