Gerhard Ebersoehn said:
GE
Tyndale took his task of translation so seriously, he said if but IN ONE instance he translated against his conscience, may his part in Christ be taken away from him. I have told you about this before.
Will the translators of the NKJV say the same? Perhaps, if they don't really believe in God.
You say I made a 'blanket' statement. Yes, I did. The NKJV is just one of several 'versions' _supposedly_ from the original -- but -- by the priciples of the dynamic equivalent method of Bible-translation. That, justifies my 'blanket'- statement for the MANY things implied by the 'method', as well as text from which the 'translation' (if one could call it that, strictly) has been made.
I assume you aren't one for 'KJV-onlyism'. Why? because no translation is 'inspired'. But when one of the newer 'versions' are cirticised, you are up in arms? Are these newer ones 'inspired'. But I'll tell you, my experience has been the translators are convinced they are!
I am not one for any "only-ism". (And yes, I will defend the KJV, just as I will defend the NKJV, or another 'legitimate' (as opposed to one 'contrived' IMO, such as the NWT, e.g.) version - no more; no less. Every version we have available today, in every language, including the texts we use from the Hebrew, Chaldee/Aramaic, and Greek are apparently "not from the original", since we do not have these actual manuscripts. (Obviously, some versions are 'better' than are others.) Nor did the NJKV translators, the KJV translators, Coverdale, Rogers, Tyndale, Luther, Erasmus, Wescott or Hort, Farstad or Hodges, Robinson, Beza, or anyone else as far back as at least the times of Jerome, et al., "have the 'original'".
At best, Jerome, Origen, Augustine, et al., of that era, may have had first , second, or third generation copies. That argument is spurious, at best.
However, it is an error to ascribe the NKJV as generally in the camp of "DE", just as it would be wrong to ascribe this to the KJV or Tyndale. This simply is not so.
There is no such thing as a 'perfect' "word-for-word" translation, not will there ever be. It, likewise, simply is not so, nor is it even possible.
And, BTW, the only reason I do use an NKJV these days, is because my 'Scofield' wide margin KJV was stolen from my cab, a few years ago, and I could not get the same edition to replace it, anywhere at any price. As I am very partial to the Majority text (contrasted to the TR) tradition for the NT, to overall formal equivalence translations, generally (the occasional 'DE' readings that are to be found in all versions for 'sense', notwithstanding), to fairly wide margins for notes (always), and large print, for ease in reading (even that has become an impossibility, these days), I got the best combination available at a reasonable cost that I could find.
My MLB was not acceptable to me, as a primary Bible, for the above reasons. Nor was an NIV, which was the other alternative, I could get at that time. I can get two or three editions that are probably acceptable ten years later, at a price higher than I am really willing to pay, however, but do not see the need.
And I can now get all sorts of Electronic versions, as well. But I prefer a hard copy to hold in my hand. It's kinda' hard to write marginal and study notes on a two inch screen.
And it is faulty reasoning to equate Tyndale and the KJV translators, as well. They were not the same, being separated by a century. (FTR, nor did any individual KJV translator, to my knowledge, quite achieve the level of Tyndale, as a language scholar, IMO.) I do not use a Tyndale, simply because the spoken English of today is not the same as it was in his day. I can say the same as to the KJV language, as well. And the best I have, of all worlds put together, is the NKJV, currently.
However, the allegations implied about the motives of the late Arthur Farstad, are just as baseless as the same allegations would be about the late John Rainolds or the late William Tyndale, since we are mentioning the NKJV, KJV and Tyndale's versions. Not one of them deserves their motives to be judged post-humously, in
absentia, and absent any evidence.
And FTR, I would offer that the only version of the three that could be strictly called a translation from the original languages, would be that of Tyndale, and even that not in 100% entirety. For Tyndale drew on his vast studies and intellectual abilities in linguistics and certainly his knowledge of the Vulgate and Wycliffe, as well. Some of Wycliffe's words and phrases can be found in Tyndale, as well.
Ed