But don't you agree that the TRANSLATION, the actual rendering of the Koine Greek into the target language, English, must change as the target lasnguage itself changes? Is it still appropriate to refer to the Holy Spirit as 'ghost' ir 'it' in MODERN usage?
This is where the advantage of having both old & new Bible translations comes in. One who has read only the KJV may believe the HS is really a ghost in the modern sense of the word, or be bamfoozled when he/she comes across 'let' as meaning 'hinder' in one place and 'allow' in another. To a reader of 400 years agon the meaning would be clear, but mosta us now don't know archaic English all that well. (Not to brag, but it's no prob for me, as I've read Chaucer, Shakespeare, and the tales of chivalry, many of them written in the 1400s/1500s from my youth. Not that I'm so smart; I've simply had a keen interest in those old works mosta my life. Thus, I voraciously read the Bishop's Bible, Geneva Bible, and AV 1611.)
What if the words DIDN'T change in later versions to reflect the changes in the language?
Here's the most famous, most-quoted verse in all Scripture, in the English of C.995 AD:
“God lufode middan-eard swa, dat he seade his an-cennedan sunu, dat nan ne forweorde de on hine gely ac habbe dat ece lif."
Now, if all our English Bibles were in THIS version, how many could read it?
See what I'm getting at? As time passes, languages change, and not just by adding words as tech advances. I 100% believe GOD causes/allows those changes, hince HE created the languages to begin with, and that He provides His word in versions that reflect those changes. As I said before, I THANK HIM EVERY DAY for providing His word in my language, while keeping the old versions before us also. WHAT A GREAT, ALL-WISE GOD HE IS; HE IS THE ONLY GOD!
