How Publishers Change the Bible with Prof. Sam Perry

In this video Professor Samuel Perry and I discuss the big business of Bible translations and how translation teams and publishers can change the Bible in subtle and not-so-subtle ways! We discuss how the ESV changed section headers to make a passage in Ephesians 5 more complementarian. We talk about the crazy world of study Bibles and how they can influence readers towards certain biases. Finally Sam shares his thoughts on what he thinks people should look for in a translation.
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0:00 Intro
1:00 Adding headings
4:21 What is Priming?
7:40 The Study Bible Market
16:33 The Bible market
18:10 Sales dictate translations
26:00 Changing the text is an ancient practice
29:10 Exporting US Bibles overseas
30:55 What Sam looks for in a translation
38:46 Final thoughts

[@joshuaboanerges3776]

You deserve to grow your channel even further. I hope that there will be even more people who see and subscribe to your channel.

[@TabletsAndTemples]

Thank you! Every share helps

[@pappapiccolino9572]

Great stuff Lachie and Sam. Short, sharp, punchy, no mincing words. As I move through my layman's study of the Bible, religion and early Christianity, I can only reasonably conclude that the "Biblical project", far from being univocal, involving a "plain reading of the text." etc, is in fact the most pluralistic cultural endeavour in history.

[@TabletsAndTemples]

I'm glad you liked it! And yes indeed the idea that the Bible is univocal doesn't hold up to much scrutiny.

[@BAjr525]

Just to preface, I am an egalitarian Pentecostal. Having said that, in response to section headings, the ESV isn’t the only, nor by any means the first, to put a section heading before Ephesians 5:22. NASB and NKJV are only a couple that also included it there, and the more recent update to the NRSV has moved the heading from before verse 21 to before verse 22. Even the NIV had it before verse 22 prior to the 2011 update. The reason it is being placed before verse 22 is simply because a subject ends with verse 21 and a new subject begins at verse 22.

[@UsefulCharts]

Great interview.

[@TabletsAndTemples]

Thanks Matt! Glad you liked it.

[@dennism206]

Great interview! Thank you.

[@TabletsAndTemples]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for watching.

[@mustachemac5229]

Wow. I really learned a lot from the interview. Professor Perry is extremely knowledgeable and down to earth. My mother bought me a GNB when I was child and that has been my go to Bible for its less literal "word for word" translation and more paraphrasing interpretation. Plus I find it extremely easy to read and understand though I find other people don't care for this type of translation. Thank you so much Lachlan for providing us with this video and increasing the scope of all our knowledge. A+++

[@TabletsAndTemples]

My pleasure Mac! Yeah I think like Sam said, most translation decisions are made with good intentions. It just helps to be aware of the types of things that can be done to influence readers.

[@jakesgardening2622]

There are SO MANY ads! It’s hard to watch.

[@TabletsAndTemples]

thanks for the feedback. I always just let KZbin automatically place ads. But I also don't usually upload 40 minute videos. I've gone in and removed some of the ad breaks. However, it will differ from user to user

[@tuckerchisholm1005]

So would he recommend having no sections within chapters? And having no headings? Furthermore the chapters and verses are later additions to the Bible’s that one could argue are debatable or arbitrary. So are the placement of commas. So would he advocate having just one endless block of text with no punctuation? Or should we add headings and titles that fit his personal message and desires?

[@TabletsAndTemples]

Hey there, as Sam mentions several times (e.g., 28:37) in the video, most of the time these things are added with good intentions. But there are times when they are added to guide readers towards certain biases and while we can never escape this, it's important to be informed as to how those processes and decisions work. There's also a section at the end where Sam shares some tips on how to evaluate translations.

[@dok9024]

It would be helpful if bibles came with the biases of the translator. That’s what I like about the KJV even if it’s not the most accurate at times. We have a better understanding of their bias free of modern theological influence.

[@glenconverse1327]

Exactly what I said in my comment. THE KJV would be free of. any bias.

[@RayMack-xz7xg]

The KJV was biased against the Puritans (and some others).

[@EllinasParamythas]

How very limited of an understanding.

[@timfoster5043]

The "laptop view" is cheesy, and cheapens your overall presentation. fyi As a bit of nerd trivia, the HCSB and NET have the "God loved the world like this:" for John 3:16.

[@timwilkins2008]

Aesthetically speaking, it doesn’t matter. It is content that counts.

[@glenconverse1327]

So I would think that the only Bible that would be free of bias today would be the KJV.

[@TabletsAndTemples]

There's countless examples of bias in the KJV. They also didn't use/didn't have access to the best and most reliable manuscripts.

[@Michael-bt6ht]

Which is most reliable for old and New Testament?

[@TabletsAndTemples]

No translation is perfect but scholars prefer the NRSV because they had the top scholars in their fields work on the translation, they used a diverse committee from various faith backgrounds, men and women so it's less open to bias towards a particular theological persuasion. I think it's impossible to escape bias, but it's important to just be aware of how bias is introduced into a translation/study bible.