The goal of the translators of The Passion Translation is to bring God’s fiery heart of love and truth to this generation, merging the emotion and truth of God’s Word, resulting in a clear, accurate, readable translation for modern English readers
Two kinds of Bible translations include formal equivalence and functional equivalence. These terms describe either word-for-word versions (formal) or thought-for-thought versions (functional or dynamic). Some versions, like the New King James Version and English Standard Version, seek to make a comparable one-to-one connection between the original form of words in the biblical languages to their new form in English. It is why we call them word-for-word translations. The translators of these versions believe that mimicking the syntax (order) of the original wording should have some priority-that standard English syntax should bend to imitate Hebrew and Greek syntax.
Other versions, like the New International Version, New Century Version, New Living Translation, and Good News Bible, seek to make a corresponding connection between the function of the original biblical words in English. These are called thought-for-thought translations. The translators of these versions believe that the original content of the message should have priority over the syntax (order) of the wording. The philosophy of the translators of The Passion Translation is that the meaning of God’s original message to the world has priority over the grammatical rules of the original languages.
The reason is simple: God wants his message of love to be received in every culture, every community, and every language
This was the basic philosophy Martin Luther used when he translated God’s Word into German for his people: “I must let the literal words go and try to learn how the German says that which the Hebrew expresses. . . . Whoever would speak German must not use Hebrew style. Rather he must see to it-once he understands the Hebrew author-that he concentrates on the sense of the text, asking himself ‘Pray tell, what do the Germans say in such a situation?‘ . . . Let him drop the Hebrew words and express the meaning freely in the best German he knows.”
We have prayerfully followed the same model, seeking to understand the essence of the text and express and reproduce its meaning in the best English we know. We have worked to remain faithful to the original biblical languages by preserving their meaning while conveying God’s original message in a way that modern readers can understand, resulting in an entirely new, fresh, Datemyage diskuze fiery translation of God’s Word. This translation represents an attempt to translate the original tone of God’s Word, and not just the linguistics, so that every English speaker can clearly and naturally encounter the heart of God through his message of truth and love.
Many wonderful versions of the Bible grace our bookshelves, bookstores, software programs, and even apps on our phones. In fact, 88 percent of households own an average of nearly five Bibles! So why add one more?
About every hundred years or so, the vocabulary of people undergoes a dramatic change. In this era of modern technology, we find an even more rapid shift. Therefore, it is important to keep translations of the Bible in step with changes in the English language. That’s where The Passion Translation comes in.
God refuses to meet us only in an intellectual way. God also wants to meet us at a heart level, so we must let the words go heart deep-which is what the translators are trying to do with this project. That’s why The Passion Translation is an important addition to peoples‘ devotional and spiritual life with Christ.