A Proper View of Mistakes - NEW TRANSLATIONS MULTIPLY

In the meantime, people continue to make other translations of the Bible-such as the famous Syriac Peshitta by about the fifth century B.C. But it was not until the 14th century that renewed efforts were made to give many ordinary people the Scriptures in the vernacular.

In England in the late 14th century, John Wycliffe began the process of breaking free from the clutches of a dead language that people in his land  could actually understand.  Soon after that, Johannes Gutenberg's printing methods opened the way for Bible scholars to produce and distribute new versions of the Bible in many different living languages throughout Europe. 

When English translations multiplied, critics questioned the need to make different versions in the same language.  The 18th-century English cleric John Lewis wrote:  "Language grows old and unintelligible, therefore it's necessary to review old Translations to make them speak the Language in use, and be understood by the living generation." 

Next time: A Proper View of Mistakes - NEW TRANSLATIONS MULTIPLY

From the jw.org publication