Janet and I are headed out later this year for an intracoastal cruise in the southeastern part of the United States. We are in the process of trying to decide what things we would like to do when we are docked at the various ports listed in the itinerary (these are called shore excursions). On must cruises, there are a number of choices of things to do – some of them complimentary and others that require an additional fee to participate.
Since we are unfamiliar with many of the excursions that are being offered, I called the customer service area last Saturday morning and was greeted by a terrific young lady who was more than glad to help us make our selections. We have found this to be one of the greatest benefits of small ship cruising. There are only 100 passengers on the ship and the crew is always helpful beyond words.
During our session last Saturday, there was a suggestion that we may enjoy a tour of a distillery located at one of the ports we would be visiting. I replied that we were “teetotalers” and that really wouldn’t be of interest to us. We selected another option and soon we were finalizing the last several excursions to take. The last port had several great options including a visit to a local plantation. Janet and I have always loved visiting mansions and plantations on our travels, and our customer service person recommended one in particular that included a tea tasting at the end of the tour. Since we loved tea so much, she thought this would be a great selection for us.
As before, we made another selection and our call finished soon thereafter, with grateful appreciation for all the help that we had received. But it kept bothering me as to how the young lady thought that we would love a tea tasting. It wasn’t too long before I figured it out. Of course, you are probably way ahead of me, but it wasn’t so obvious at the time. I had told her that we were “teetotalers” and I’ll bet that she is too young to know what that word means! Makes sense, doesn’t it?
But the exchange got me thinking about the Bible and how throughout the years, different versions have been written to accommodate the changing vocabulary and language patterns of our society. The King James was translated in 1611 and while I did all my seminary work in that version, many people today find it difficult to understand. Words such as “thee” (object of a sentence), “thou” (you, singular), “ye” (you, plural) or words such as “believeth” (refers to he, she, or it singular) are more complicated than our current language. As you can see, the KJV is much more definitive than many later versions of the Bible. It’s also what we call a “word for word” translation from the original language. The NASB (New American Standard Bible) is also a word for word translation, but in more modern English than the KJV.
Moving into more recent translations we have the NIV (1984), ESV (English Standard Version) and several others that are what we call “phrase for phrase” translations. While not literally word for word, they smooth out the verses in such a way as to preserve the big idea while using more modern language. In fact, while I do my studies in the KJV, I teach from the NIV. It’s more understandable than many of the older versions.
At the other end of the spectrum, we have the NLT (New Living Translation) and the Message, which is best described as a paraphrase of the Scripture. All English translations fall somewhere on the continuum of word for word to paraphrase content. Different people, including those from different generations, learn best from reading Scripture that contains language that they are familiar with. There is also the realization that it is more difficult to learn to memorize verses from a version you don’t understand!
So reading the Bible in familiar language isn’t much different from the way that we may have trouble communicating with people of different generations. My experience for decades in the corporate world confirms that people of different age groups communicate with different styles. But what’s most important in studying the Bible is to build a personal relationship with Jesus and invite the Holy Spirit to illuminate your understanding of the Scripture.
Our verse for tonight embodies the words of the apostle Paul who is speaking to his young friend, Timothy. Paul tells him, and us, in 2 Timothy 2:7, “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.” Paul is asking the Lord to give unusual wisdom and understanding of God’s Word to his young pastor friend. That’s a wonderful arrow prayer that we should all try ourselves.
My encouragement this evening is that God usually approaches us in a familiar way and that includes speaking to us through the pages of Scripture. My prayer is that we would all do well to increase our vocabulary so we have a better understanding of God’s Word throughout the ages. After all, the average American knows about 3000 words, while the ancient Greeks, around the time of the birth of Christ, knew about 14,000 words of vocabulary. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…