People love word games. I play Wordle almost every day. Even Bible translators play word games. One of their favorite is called “Translator’s Bias.” The goal of this game is to translate a word in such a fashion that it will obscure its plain meaning in order to guide readers into accepting the translator’s view of things. This happens all the time as translators wrestle with the difficult task of how to best communicate the meaning of scripture. The New Living Translation does this on purpose in an attempt to accurately present larger ideas instead of the literal meaning of specific words. Sometimes they hit a home run. At other times one is forced back to a more literal translation to properly understand a passage.
It is a sad state of affairs, however, when translations that are supposed to be literal engage in obfuscation of the text.
A great example of translator’s bias is how the Hebrew word “raqia” is rendered in English. The people who wrote the Bible and lived at that time understood it to mean a solid dome that enclosed the stationary plane of the earth and the seas. (If you want to read more about the raqia, click here.) The KJV and NKJV give us an honest pre-Copernican rendering of the word in English by using the word “firmament,” which communicates the idea of solidity. Almost every other translation bows the knee to post-Copernican cosmology by using words such as sky or expanse. These words are not “wrong,” per se, but such a translation allows readers to think that biblical cosmology does not differ from modern astrophysics.
As a result, most Christians today believe in the heliocentric lie without realizing that it contradicts the Bible and dishonors God.
(I have written an article that focuses on the occult religion of heliocentrism.)
This morning I read Psalm 104:3 in my daily devotions, which says that God “lays out the beams of his upper chambers in the waters.” (NKJV) The Hebrew word (aliyyah) translated “upper chambers” could be rendered more literally “roof chambers,” which accurately communicates the concept of the firmament being a roof over the earth, above which is God’s throne. (I wrote another article going into more detail about this place called heaven.)
My notation in the margin next to Psalm 104:3 took me to Amos 9:6.
He who builds His layers [Hebrew: maalah] in the sky, And has founded His strata [Hebrew: aguddah] in the earth; Who calls for the waters of the sea, And pours them out on the face of the earth— The LORD is His name. Amos 9:6 (NKJV)
I have numerous Bible translations, but for my daily reading and study I use the NKJV. I switched to this version because it accurately translates raqia as the firmament. It is a fairly good translation, but I like the NASB the best. In this instance, the NKJV let me down. The Hebrew word it renders as “layers” (maalah) communicates little of the literal meaning, which the NASB better translates “upper chambers,” which corresponds to Psalm 104:3.
Below is the NASB rendering of the verse in Amos.
The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens And has founded His vaulted dome [aguddah] over the earth, He who calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth, The LORD is His name. Amos 9:6 (NASB95)
I suppose you noticed how differently the NASB translated the Hebrew word “aguddah.” The literal meaning is bands, thongs, slavery fetters, or bunch (as a bunch of hyssop). Why then did the NASB translate this “vaulted dome?”
We are told in Genesis that another term for firmament is heaven. (Genesis 1:8) We are also told that heaven has multiple layers called “the heavens.” God apparently dwells in the third heaven. (2 Corinthians 12:2) We know so little about the heavens that it is quite probable that the first heaven, our atmos has multiple layers. We are still discovering what has been deliberately obfuscated for centuries. So, we see that translating aguddah as vaulted dome is consistent with other scriptures, but is not a literal rendering. Here we seem to have translator’s bias in support of biblical cosmology, instead of against it as usually happens.
When we interpret the Word of God, it is important that we allow it to speak for itself instead of twisting its meaning to fit a preferred paradigm. Let us not resort to word games as we search for truth, even if that search leads us away from long cherished presuppositions.
