Introducing: "A Bible Translation Project"
Jefferson Vann
I battled two internal objections when considering whether I would join the group of Advent Christian Voices contributors. My first objection was that I don’t have the time to invest in yet another blog. I already have a personal blog (for sermons and such) and a separate devotional blog (for daily devotions). I also write regularly for Afterlife website: a theological website featuring conditionalist doctrine. So, although I wanted to join the ACV team, I was seriously considering saying no.
I also took a good look at the articles being featured by ACV, and I asked myself whether I honestly had anything unique and significant to contribute. I’m not one of these people who always has to say something. I prefer to have something to say.
I think I have struggled past those two objections, and I’m ready to give this new blog a try. Let me tell you a story about a Bible translation project I am involved in.
The Lord had launched me into blogging with the intention of eventually creating books. Thus, one of my first blogs was an Advent Christian Systematic Theology, each post being a chapter in what eventually became a Kindle e-book with the same title. Once I published the book, I took down that blog, but moved its posts to my personal blog site jeffersonvann.com.
About the same time, I was also blogging my devotions, which was basically a commentary on the whole Bible, ESV version. I finished that project in November 2013, and the text to those posts also became a huge Kindle e-book, entitled Another Bible Commentary.
Then, I got myself in a little trouble, because I prayed to God. I asked him what he wanted me to do for my devotions, now that I have finished commenting on the whole Bible. I was not ready for his answer. He said “translate.”
While in seminary, I had been forced to translate each text I was studying from the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. It was not easy – in fact, it was one of the hardest things I ever did in seminary. But it was a way of getting at the truth in the text, and I had to admit, I learned from it.
But the Lord was challenging me to eat the whole elephant. How does one eat a whole elephant? One bite at a time. I took a small section each day, translated each text as carefully as I could, and cross-referenced my translation with other texts in the Bible containing the same words and phrases. My goal is to translate the entire Old and New Testaments before I die.
How far along am I? Well, that depends. I have completed the initial translation on Genesis, Matthew, Exodus, Romans, Isaiah, Mark, Ecclesiastes, 1 Corinthians, Leviticus, Luke, Hosea, 2 Corinthians, Numbers, John, Psalms (Books 1-3), Galatians, Joel, Ephesians, Deuteronomy, Acts, Jeremiah, Philippians, Colossians, Joshua, 1 Thessalonians, Lamentations, 2 Thessalonians, Judges, 1 Timothy, Ruth and 2 Timothy. That is 30 and 3/5 books out of 66.
So, I’m getting there. But what would really help is having some other eyes to look at my work, ask questions, and give advice. That is where you come in. If you decide to bless me by reading this blog, would you consider being even more of a blessing by becoming a member of my informal translation committee?
This translation is for personal discipling and Christian growth alone. I don’t intend it for commercial use. The text for each section will be posted along with a short devotional thought on my Devotions blog. But I want it to express the intention of the original authors of Scripture as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. This experience has been very rewarding for me, and I am inviting you to share in the blessing. Would you prayerfully consider it? You don’t have to sign your name anywhere, and I am not asking for money. What I would like is a comment or question every now and then – just to keep me on my toes.
Piney Grove Advent Christian Church
Rev. Jefferson Vann is pastor at Piney Grove Advent Christian Church in Delco NC, USA. He also writes and is the managing editor of Afterlife.co.nz, a website devoted to Conditional Immortality based in New Zealand.
He and his wife Penny served as missionaries with ACGC. They spent 13 years as professors at Oro Bible College in the Philippines, and 3 1/2 years as pastors in New Zealand.
They are the parents of three adult daughters, and have eight grandchildren.
Jefferson graduated Berkshire Christian College in 1983 with a BA in Theology; seminary at Columbia Graduate School of World Missions (Columbia International University) in 1996 with an M.Div. in Missions and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in 2006 with a Th.M. in Biblical Theology.