These problems have created what is known as The Science Of Textual Criticism. For many reasons textual criticism has been now classified as a science and rightly so.
If we all are on the same page, we would all agree with the definition of the word science:
Science: The word science comes from a Latin word meaning knowledge. Science implies a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions.
Textual criticism is considered a science. It examines the text from which translations are taken. The science of textual criticism is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts handed down to us though out out the years. The scribes who hand copied these texts made errors when copying manuscripts by hand. Human errors, but errors never the less.
The science of textual criticism is this: Given a manuscript copy,one copy, several copies, or many copies, the translator seeks to reconstruct the original text.The problem is selecting the manuscript containing a text most closely approximating the original. Some times there is not much of a choice and some times there are many choices. In short, this is the science that attempts to discover the original texts of ancient documents.
The problems that the individual translator or the group (committee) translators encounter are reflected in the notes on the page with the texts in the Bible you select. These notes will give the reader a background of why a particular word was used and even an alternative word.
The marginal notes in your translation that say, "Other ancient authorities add ..." or, "Some manuscripts do not have ..."
Textual criticism is a science. All scholarship and careful controls that applies to science applies to this endeavor.
The translators depends on two type of evidence. The first is external evidence. External evidence is the quality and preservation of the manuscripts that come down to us. The quality of the dead sea scrolls were much better than fragments found written later on. The seconds type of evidence is internal evidence. Internal evidence includes the mistakes the scribes make when hand copying what was before them.
The choices made are decided upon with much thought and consideration. Every piece of evidence at hand is studied and considered in making any decision. It all comes down to a deliberate decision by one person or a group of people after consideration of the quality of the manuscript,the history of the manuscript, how old is the manuscript, and what are the word variations, if any. Of course another hugh consideration is where the manuscript came from.Did it come down to us as a Masoretic text or did it come down to us from Greek translations. There are a ranges of choices to be considered. Sometimes it is found that variations are supported equally from all evidence.
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