When (if) we ever get an "ideal" translation, Frankly, I hope its a little "uneven" stylistically.

Why? Well, why should we expect Peter to sound virtually indistinguishable from Paul, or John, or Isaiah, or Jeremiah? They aren't the same as one another (often dramatically so) in the original tongues.

OK, I understand there are real advantages to smoothing out those differences a little, so that reading through the Bible isn't as jarring. But, maybe it would be a good thing for folks to get that greater "sense" that this is a multi-human-author composition, given over a long period of time, in 2-3 languages. Perhaps the smoothness of one book--as the English translation gives you the sense of the writer's polish and facility; and the rustic "clunkiness" of "Greek-as-a-second-language" of an uneducated fisherman reflected in translation of another book--isn't that bad of a thing.

Just musing...

__________________
Rev. Bruce G. Buchanan
ChainOLakes Presbyterian Church, CentralLake, MI


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