“In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that they will not hear me, saith the Lord.” – 1 Corinthians 14:21
IS THE BIBLE INSPIRED ONLY in the original languages in which it was written? Many self-styled “scholars” would have you to believe so. They would have you to believe that countless, crucial truths are lost in the gulfs separating one language from another, that no English translation can completely convey the preciseness of the original rendering, that only if men undertake the painstaking task of learning the tongues in which the Bible was written can they hope to truly understand what it says. That the word of God gives numerous examples of one language being translated into another – including references to the Old Testament Hebrew and Aramaic translated into the New Testament Greek, such as in Matthew 1:23, Hebrews 8:5, and John 15:25 – while being given by inspiration of God, is not enough to satisfy the men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith, who deny that a translation can be just as inspired as the original. Little wonder, since they seek to supplant the King James Bible as the final authority to which men must appeal.
Jesus said that man “shall not live by water and bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). How can this be done if his words are no longer inspired? What would be the bother of inspiring the Bible in the first place, if it was not to remain inspired, and preserved, unto each generation? Why would God produce a book for mankind, knowing in his omniscience that the languages in which that word was originally written would eventually cease to be spoken at all? Do you who believe that the Bible is only inspired in the original languages actually think that Jehovah would be so short-sighted as to put his words in languages that would no longer be spoken in a short time?
Rest assured, dear reader. The same God who could create the universe by the word of his mouth, and could raise Jesus our Lord from the dead, is not incapable of likewise preserving his words for humanity. A failure to do so on his part would be tantamount to a lie, for he has promised to preserve his words unto every generation (Psalm 12:7). Moreover, it would nullify the entirety of the holy writ, for God cannot lie (Romans 3:4, Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2), and if this is false, how could anything else from the holy scriptures be believed?
Moreover, God promised to preserve his words – not his thoughts, not his ideas, not the languages in which those words were originally written – but the words themselves. While it is true that translations of regular literature struggle to maintain the spirit and tone of the original, the word of God is not regular literature. It is quick, powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). It “liveth and abideth forever” (1 Peter 1:23). It cannot be confined within the limits of language the way that regular literature can, for with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). Verily, the word of God is not bound (2 Timothy 2:9).
However important it is to know that the holy scriptures are inspired in whatever language they are translated, this knowledge does a man no good if he has never been born again. Are you saved, dear reader? If not, I humbly request that you click here: https://www.thelordisgracious.com/how-to-go-to-heaven/. You have the word of God, and the gospel of Jesus Christ, available in your own tongue. Pray do not make the mistake of rejecting the free gift of eternal life.