A comparative analysis of formal shifts in English Bible translations: with a view towards defining and describing paradigms

Abstract

If, as might seem evident to any reader who is familiar with the literature, there truly does exist a real difference between the traditional translations of the Bible, often labeled as formal equivalence, and the modern translations of the Bible, commonly known as functional equivalence, then there should be some objective way to study these two families of translations and verify that there truly is a distinction, as well as describe and define those practices which differentiate the two. This study creates a vertical arrangement of ten different major English translations, comparing their formal features with those of the original Hebrew and Greek texts. The data of this comparison are then represented through numerical scores and then analyzed in further detail. The results of this comparative analysis yield facts which can lead to broad conclusions concerning the treatment of the form of the original in traditional and modern English translations of the Bible.