Any cautions on using the Tree of Life (TLV) translation?

[pgwolv]

Someone in my church is using this translation, the first I have heard of it. I perused the translation's web pages to understand where it is coming from. You can find them here:

Our Translation

The TLV Bible Society are the creators of the Tree of Life Bible, spearheaded by Daniah Greenberg and a team of over 70 Bible Scholars.

tlvbiblesociety.org

Key Principles

These “Key Principles” were developed and approved by the TLV Bible Society - Board of Directors and under copyright to the Tree of Life Version [Circa - 2009]. 1. Restoring the Jewish Name of Messiah Messiah Yeshua, rather than Jesus Christ. Yeshua is what the Messiah’s mother, Mary (Miriam)...

tlvbiblesociety.org

I want some advice as to whether there are certain things to be weary of in this translation, made by Messianic Jews. I am not concerned regarding its use of the CT rather than the TR; our pulpit Bible is an ESV, with which I am at peace.

For more information, they followed 16 Key Principles in the translation process:

1. "Restoring the Jewish Name of Messiah. Messiah Yeshua, rather than Jesus Christ. Yeshua is what the Messiah’s mother, Mary (Miriam), called him. Likewise, Messiah should be easily understood as His title, not His last name. When using the term Jesus Christ, this title can be easily mistaken as His surname, especially to those unfamiliar with the teachings of the New Covenant."
   
   
2. "Restoring the reverence for the four letter unspoken name of יהוה God. The tetra-grammaton, YHWH, will be translated as Adonai in the Old Testament and also in the New Testament when the Old Testament is being referenced. Elohim reveals the fullness of the plurality of God, and will always be used when it is in conjunction with Adonai. When “God” appears in this text apart from the tetragrammaton, it is being translated from Theos (Greek) or Elohim (Hebrew), not YHWH."
   
   
3. "Restoring the clarity of the difference between the creator and the creation. We will capitalize all pronouns that refer to the deity, of both Father and Son. This allows for all readers to discern easily who is speaking to whom and honors God’s divinity always." I know the concerns regarding theological choices that have to be made, although I actually prefer such capitalisation, having grown up with it with my Afrikaans Bibles.
   
   
4. "Restoring the sacrificial death of Messiah Yeshua to the Torah from which the Good News unfolds. This Bible is committed to renewing the story of hope in the Promised Jewish Messiah by making His message more accessible for all people. Messiah Yeshua’s sacrificial death was not the start of a new religion, but the fulfillment of the covenant that has traveled through time from the seed promised to Eve all the way to the seed sown in Miriam’s womb. The same power that raised Messiah from the dead abides in all who believe, for Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) alike." It is unclear to me how this has any bearing on the translation.
   
   
5. "Restoring more universal Hebrew terminology previously overlooked in most translations. We include these terms in the glossary for the sake of our common Messianic culture and to help newer learners. They should already be very comfortable for most believers today. Examples: shalom, halleluyah, amen, matzah, shofar."
   
   
6. "Adding, with the use of italicizing, on a very limited basis, lesser known Hebrew terms to help the reader better understand some of the lost intent of the original manuscripts. In order to resist paraphrasing, we restore the fuller meaning of certain words - in context- by providing Hebrew terms defined in our glossary. There are only about 50 Hebrew transliterated words throughout the entire New Covenant text and they can easily be added to our growing biblical vocabulary.
   Examples: Ben-Elohim, Torah, mikveh, tsitsit, abba, echad, shabbat."
   
   
7. "Restoring a few key names in the biblical text to a more Hebraic expression to add clarity and reconnect Messiah to His Jewish family. In the original Greek text of the New Testament, names were changed to Greek. We are just changing them back so that their names bear witness to their Jewish Heritage. This list is VERY limited. They include Miriam for Mary, Jacob for James and Judah for Jude. All these names we felt strongly about because they were Yeshua’s family members. Many believers study for years and don’t know that Jacob and Judah, Yeshua’s own brothers, wrote two of the books of the New Testament." Does it matter?
   
   
8. "Clear up confusing language when referring to people not born Jewish in the text. We will be using “Gentile” for non-Jewish peoples of unknown faith distinction. This text will use “pagan” for any person following a faith choice that is not considered 1st century Judaism. We may use “nations” when speaking of people groups not included within the believing “descendants of Israel,” whether born Jewish or “grafted in.”"
   
   
9. "Clear up confusion between misunderstandings about intent when referring to the terms - synagogue and church. We will be using several different terms for “gatherings” of believers in Messiah. The terms we use in this Bible will directly affect how readers self-actualize the personal message of salvation in Messiah Yeshua. Since these terms have often promoted division between Jews and Christians for centuries, we must take special care to define them properly for today."
   
   
10. "Clear up the confusion about the terminology concerning the “Jews” of the New Covenant. Just like there is a distinction between Jewish people (descendants of Israel) and Judeans (all people living in Judea), there are distinct groups of Jewish people in the New Testament that need to be understood. There were antagonistic Jewish people that disagreed with Yeshua, there were Jewish people that loved and followed Yeshua and there were Jewish people who were undecided about Yeshua. And there were Jewish religious leaders in all three of those categories. Since Judaism during Yeshua’s life was pluralistic, knowing who the participants are- in any debate- is essential to understanding."
    
    
11. "Clear up confusion about the terminology of “law”. The ‘Torah’ will be only used for the laws of the five books of Moses. Since the New Covenant writings preceded the canonization of scripture, we will avoid using the word ‘Tanakh’ within the biblical text. While the same word in the Septuagint for ‘law’ is used repeatedly, the New Covenant writers are often referring to different realms of laws in both Jewish and Roman culture. Additionally, sometimes when debating Jewish laws, they are debating Jewish traditions that were commonly followed as “oral laws.” When these different debates about the different types of laws of Yeshua’s day are only translated as “law” they can end up sounding contradictory. Therefore, we will be especially careful to use terminology that can differentiate between natural laws, Roman laws, rabbinical traditions and Jewish customs without adding explanatory words to the text." I am well aware that "clearing up confusion" may cause other types of confusion. Also, I am not sure that the text itself is the place for this rather than footnotes.
12. "Restoring the earlier work of translators by providing new terms for words whose meaning has become altered by changes in language over the centuries. There are some biblical words whose meanings have changed after centuries of religious persecution. Case in point, in the 1st century, apostles literally meant “Sent Ones.” And, they weren’t sent just messengers, they were spiritual ambassadors. Yet, today, proselytizing is viewed through a very narrow – often negative lens. We want to adopt more appropriate language for today’s messengers and sincere followers: Emissaries (instead of apostles), kedoshim (instead of saints)."
    
    
13. "Restoring the Jewish culture of Yeshua’s day through art and documented Biblical holiday observance. We included detailed black and white drawings to bring the reader back into the Jewish culture of the day. The lack of color in these drawings provide the barrier needed to still leave much to the imagination of the viewer. These images are just a starting point to begin the process of the visual discovery of Messiah’s Jewish heritage."
    
    
14. "Restoring the Jewish order to the books of the Old Testament. The order of the books of the Bible, in the Old Testament only, will be in keeping with traditional Jewish texts. To clearly see the need for this, compare the last chapter in Malachai (the Christian order) with the last chapter of 2nd Chronicles (the Jewish order). No wonder the Jewish Scriptures do not end with Malachai. Restoring the Jewish order is a better segue to the grace of Messiah’s love. All those seeking God need to be filled with hope on the next page – The Good News!" Does this matter?
    
    
15. "Focusing upon the principle of gender equality, not gender neutrality. We acknowledge that when a word like “man” or “brothers” is used, it sounds like that the writer is only talking about men and excluding women, but that is not the case! Messiah actually teaches that women and men should be treated as equal before God. It was after Messiah’s resurrection when women began being formally addressed in the crowds, too. Carefully consider each salutation in this translation. Our goal is to increase understanding without straying from an accurate interpretation of the actual biblical language." Sounds a bit like the NIV, hopefully not too liberal...
    
    
16. "Keeping unity within our Theological Review team as they work together on the entire text. This diverse theological team is made up of scholars who follow various expressions of Messianic Judaism. They work together, book by book through a multi-layer review process, allowing discussion, prayerful consideration and ultimately unanimous consensus under Messiah’s headship."

Perhaps any of you has experience with the translation? Any insights will help.

 

[Taylor]

I hope Dr. Duguid gives his thoughts, but here is my brief analysis: This translation sounds like the work of the "Messianic Jew" movement. Frankly, we should have nothing to do with it. We are all Messianic Jews (Rom. 2:28-29; Gal. 3:7), and this movement seems to me to be an attempt to partially raise again the dividing wall that our Lord Jesus broke down by his death. Plus, their apparent obsession with saying words in Hebrew is annoying.

EDIT: I was right. At the bottom of the website, you can see that the work is copyrighted by the "Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society." I would stay away from it merely because of the association. The translation team has Rabbi on it, for goodness' sake!

 

[retroGRAD3]

I am a bit of a bible collector. I like having at least 1 of each translation, minus the ones you know are mistranslations and paraphrases. I have one of these. I have read it side by side with the ESV and it seems to be ok. It some ways it helps you learn a little Hebrew. That said, I would agree with Taylor's cautions. It should be read with care as it seems a lot of "completed Jews" have dispensational leanings.

 

[pgwolv]

I hope Dr. Duguid gives his thoughts, but here is my brief analysis: This translation sounds like the work of the "Messianic Jew" movement. Frankly, we should have nothing to do with it. We are all Messianic Jews (Rom. 2:28-29; Gal. 3:7), and this movement seems to me to be an attempt to partially raise again the dividing wall that our Lord Jesus broke down by his death. Plus, their apparent obsession with saying words in Hebrew is annoying.

EDIT: I was right. At the bottom of the website, you can see that the work is copyrighted by the "Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society." I would stay away from it merely because of the association. The translation team has Rabbi on it, for goodness' sake!

I understand the caution, I guess I was wondering whether the association resulted in a twisting of the message.

 

[pgwolv]

I am a bit of a bible collector. I like having at least 1 of each translation, minus the ones you know are mistranslations and paraphrases. I have one of these. I have read it side by side with the ESV and it seems to be ok. It some ways it helps you learn a little Hebrew. That said, I would agree with Taylor's cautions. It should be read with care as it seems a lot of "completed Jews" have dispensational leanings.

Thank you, I appreciate the information. As long as the message isn't deliberately distorted as with the New World Translation, I can relax a little, but I will know to talk to the brother in terms of keeping an eye out for any unbiblical distinctions between Jew and Gentile with regards to our salvation.

 

[iainduguid]

Most of the individual principles are not in themselves objectionable, although the perspective from which they come seems to be that of the Hebrew Roots Movement, which raises its own concerns.

In general, there is a tendency to be more spiritual than the New Testament, which should concern us. It's not clear how capitalizing divine pronouns is restoring anything, since neither Greek nor Hebrew does that. The New Testament is happy with kurios for the divine name, Iesous for Jesus, christos for mashiach and Greek equivalents for many Hebrew words (eirene for shalom). However, it is perfectly capable of preserving Hebrew forms where it wishes (allelouia and amen, for example). If that's good enough for God, why isn't that good enough for us? And ending the OT with Malachi, as the Septuagint does, with its promise of a new Elijah does seem to me to lead in fairly well to the NT and John the Baptist, though the Jewish ordering has its own benefits (putting Ruth right after Proverbs 31 for example).

Any responsible fresh translation likely will help us see some things more clearly; this translation may illuminate some passages, but I'm not convinced that overall it is a better translation philosophy.

 

[Taylor]

Thank you, I appreciate the information. As long as the message isn't deliberately distorted as with the New World Translation, I can relax a little, but I will know to talk to the brother in terms of keeping an eye out for any unbiblical distinctions between Jew and Gentile with regards to our salvation.

I’m not sure I buy this, personally. Not all distortions are explicit or textual. In my judgment, a distortion in methodology is a distortion in the message. While no verse may be disastrously altered, translations like these can have a combined effect upon one’s doctrine (e.g., a hagiographic disposition toward the modern nation of Israel and Jews).

In the end, as I have said of other translations, there is simply no need for this translation. All the major translations we have today are more than sufficient.

 

[retroGRAD3]

In the end, as I have said of other translations, there is simply no need for this translation. All the major translations we have today are more than sufficient.

Certainly agree with this. The fact that I have 2 rows of English translations on my book shelf confirms this. We have way too many.

 

[Polanus1561]

Certainly agree with this. The fact that I have 2 rows of English translations on my book shelf confirms this. We have way too many.

It must be hard for you to spend money and lose shelf space every time a translation comes out and forces its way into your house...

 

[retroGRAD3]

It must be hard for you to spend money and lose shelf space every time a translation comes out and forces its way into your house...

No one is forcing. Didn't think I implied that. I'm a collector. I was just attesting and agreeing there are a lot of them. A lot of them are quite similar as well.

 

[arapahoepark]

The project comes across as superstitious.

 

[YT&Reformed]

One of the issues I see based on the list OP provided on the post is that it seems to be providing an additional lexicon in the translation itself which carries with it certain cultural meanings and traditions that are foreign to Protestantism and more akin to other religious practices such as Messianic Judaism. As a more general point, I tend to recommend that people use one Bible as it is beneficial for Scripture recognition and memorization. Using a text like this may also create confusion in evangelism. If you were to quote Scripture from your Bible and that quote contained words like, "Shalom" or "Shofar", it might be distracting or confusing. It also seems reasonable that we should be skeptical of novel translations and stick to what is tried and true.

 

[Jerusalem Blade]

Sorry to sort of get off topic for a moment, but I wanted to thank you, Iain @iainduguid , for your three small books on The Gospel According to the Old Testament (one on Abraham, one on Isaac and Jacob, and one on Joseph), published by P&R. As a Messianic Jew myself, I found these helpful and balanced for a sound understanding of the OT and the Jewish people.

As I have been teaching through Genesis, I am finding the one on Abraham excellent for applying the things to be learned from Abraham, his strengths and weaknesses, and God's gracious dealings with him, to the lives of those who come to our Wednesday evening Bible studies. I use other good commentaries, but yours are a must for simple, clear exposition and application. I look forward to getting to your other two in due time. Thank you for your labors!