Ah why should we worry about what translation? I am not too concerned about it except that I want to learn it and to be reading and studying the
history of how these different translations came to be. Is one better than the other? Yes in my opinion there are better ones and there are some that
are completely misleading and wrong. One example being the NWT, and there is a good thread on that one here:
Jehovah's Witness's (NWT) Flawed??
This one is especially worrisome to me as many follow it and are being taught non-scriptural lies. This is my opinion and I would like to see them
do some study and search for the truth on their own. That is what I am on , its a search for the truth...
Originally posted by madnessinmysoulwell, there is also the simple matter of the lines that have been inserted into the bible over the
centuries.
Here is a great example, in the modern versions some lines have been left out and we must ask why?
One of the best examples is this:
1 John 5 (from the NetBible, but the NIV and most modern versions translate it this way)
5:6 Jesus Christ is the one who came by water and blood – not by the water only, but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who
testifies, because25 the Spirit is the truth.
5:7 For26 there are three that testify,27
5:8 the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three are in agreement.
The KJV 1 John 5
1 John 5:7:
[7] For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
[8] And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
So why was this left out? I wondered until I studied the Bible and its history. Lets see what the NetBible has to say:
26tn
A second causal ὅτι (Joti) clause (after the one at the end of the preceding verse) is somewhat awkward, especially since the reasons offered in
each are somewhat different. The content of the second ὅτι clause (the one in question here) goes somewhat beyond the content of the first. The
first ὅτι clause, the one at the end of 5:6, stated the reason why the Spirit is the witness: because the Spirit is the truth. The second ὅτι
clause, here, states that there are three witnesses, of which the Spirit is one. It is probably best, therefore, to understand this second ὅτι as
indicating a somewhat looser connection than the first, not strictly causal but inferential in sense (the English translation “for” captures this
inferential sense). See BDF §456.1 for a discussion of this ‘looser’ use of ὅτι.
And now a long but VERY interesting explanation
27tc
Before τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὸ αἷμα (to pneuma kai to [udwr kai to |aima), the Textus Receptus (TR) reads ἐν
τῷ οὐρανῷ, ὁ πατήρ, ὁ λόγος, καὶ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, καὶ οὗτοι οἱ τρεῖς ἕν εἰσι.
5:8 καὶ τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες ἐν τῇ γῇ (“in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and
these three are one. 5:8 And there are three that testify on earth”). This reading, the infamous Comma Johanneum, has been known in the
English-speaking world through the King James translation. However, the evidence – both external and internal – is decidedly against its
authenticity. For a detailed discussion, see TCGNT 647-49. Our discussion will briefly address the external evidence. This longer reading is found
only in nine late mss, four of which have the words in a marginal note. Most of these mss (221 2318 [18th century] [2473 [dated 1634]] and [with minor
variations] 61 88 429 629 636 918) originate from the 16th century; the earliest ms, codex 221 (10th century) includes the reading in a marginal note,
added sometime after the original composition. The oldest ms with the Comma in its text is from the 14th century (629), but the wording here departs
from all the other mss in several places. The next oldest mss on behalf of the Comma, 88 (12th century) 429 (14th) 636 (15th), also have the reading
only as a marginal note (v.l.). The remaining mss are from the 16th to 18th centuries. Thus, there is no sure evidence of this reading in any Greek ms
until the 14th century (629), and that ms deviates from all others in its wording; the wording that matches what is found in the TR was apparently
composed after Erasmus’ Greek NT was published in 1516. Indeed, the Comma appears in no Greek witness of any kind (either ms, patristic, or Greek
translation of some other version) until a.d. 1215 (in a Greek translation of the Acts of the Lateran Council, a work originally written in Latin).
This is all the more significant since many a Greek Father would have loved such a reading, for it so succinctly affirms the doctrine of the Trinity.
The reading seems to have arisen in a 4th century Latin homily in which the text was allegorized to refer to members of the Trinity. From there, it
made its way into copies of the Latin Vulgate, the text used by the Roman Catholic Church. The Trinitarian formula (known as the Comma Johanneum) made
its way into the third edition of Erasmus’ Greek NT (1522) because of pressure from the Catholic Church. After his first edition appeared, there
arose such a furor over the absence of the Comma that Erasmus needed to defend himself. He argued that he did not put in the Comma because he found no
Greek mss that included it. Once one was produced (codex 61, written in ca. 1520), Erasmus apparently felt obliged to include the reading. He became
aware of this ms sometime between May of 1520 and September of 1521. In his annotations to his third edition he does not protest the rendering now in
his text, as though it were made to order; but he does defend himself from the charge of indolence, noting that he had taken care to find whatever mss
he could for the production of his text. In the final analysis, Erasmus probably altered the text because of politico-theologico-economic concerns: He
did not want his reputation ruined, nor his Novum Instrumentum to go unsold. Modern advocates of the TR and KJV generally argue for the inclusion of
the Comma Johanneum on the basis of heretical motivation by scribes who did not include it. But these same scribes elsewhere include thoroughly
orthodox readings – even in places where the TR/Byzantine mss lack them. Further, these advocates argue theologically from the position of divine
preservation: Since this verse is in the TR, it must be original. (Of course, this approach is circular, presupposing as it does that the TR = the
original text.) In reality, the issue is history, not heresy: How can one argue that the Comma Johanneum goes back to the original text yet does not
appear until the 14th century in any Greek mss (and that form is significantly different from what is printed in the TR; the wording of the TR is not
found in any Greek mss until the 16th century)? Such a stance does not do justice to the gospel: Faith must be rooted in history. Significantly, the
German translation of Luther was based on Erasmus’ second edition (1519) and lacked the Comma. But the KJV translators, basing their work
principally on Theodore Beza’s 10th edition of the Greek NT (1598), a work which itself was fundamentally based on Erasmus’ third and later
editions (and Stephanus’ editions), popularized the Comma for the English-speaking world. Thus, the Comma Johanneum has been a battleground for
English-speaking Christians more than for others.
NetBible
So as you can see this only came into the written word much later than any of the older manuscripts suggest.
Even the TNIV has some good notes and I do NOT like this version but I do own a copy..
1 John 5:8
Late manuscripts of the Vulgate testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. 8And there are three that
testify on earth: the (not found in any Greek manuscript before the fourteenth century)
NOTE: Footnotes are very similar to NIV, NASB, HCSB etc
HCSB
6 Jesus Christ—He is the One who came by water and blood; not by water only, but by water and by blood. And the Spirit is the One who testifies,
because the Spirit is the truth.
7 For there are three that testify:[2] Other mss (the Lat Vg and a few late Gk mss) read testify in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit,
and these three are One. 8 And there are three who bear witness on earth:
8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and these three are in agreement.
[2]Other mss (the Lat Vg and a few late Gk mss) read testify in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are One. 8 And
there are three who bear witness on earth
HCSB
But now we get the the TR and the KJV, a favorite and truly great translation. We must take into account that all the old manuscripts were not
available to the KJV translators.
“The KJV New Testament (and all editions since Tyndale) was compiled primarily from the Byzantine family of manuscripts (AD 500 – 1000) frequently
referred to as the Textus Receptus. But many of the newer translations were produced using a composite of later discoveries of other manuscripts and
fragments dating from an earlier period. Among such are The ‘Alexandrian Family’ manuscripts (AD 200 – 400) which include the three oldest The
Codex Alexandrius, the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus, all which were major contributors to most Bible versions after the King James
version.”
LINK