The Perfect Commandment. Let´s look into my favorite Romans 12

Today I'm going to show you how when I ranked some Bible translations yesterday, August 24 Manila time, I came up with what I think is The Perfect Commandment. Serendipity at work.

How many versions & translations are there of the Bible? I don’t know. I’ve seen quite a few different adaptations or presentations of the New International Version alone, unbelievable! NIV Study Bible, Ryrie Study Bible, Open Bible Study Bible, Scofield’s Study Bible, Life Application Study Bible, NIV Living Insights Study Bible, NIV Student Bible, Quest Study Bible(amazon.ca). That's called marketing the Bible.

The other month, I discovered a website that has 2 names: ‘Biblos.com’ and ‘Parallel Bible’ – and the URL is something else:http://bible.cc/. It lists these translations:International Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, God’s Word Translation, King James Version, American King James Version, American Standard Version, Basic English Bible, Douay-Rheims Version, Darby Bible, English Revised Version, Webster’s Bible Version, World English Bible, and Young’s Literal Translation. That’s the complete list, 13.

At home we have the New International Version, New American Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible, Christian Community Bible – all 5 of which Biblos doesn’t have. Last year, I discovered BibleGateway.com, which has many more translations, but it too doesn’t have the last 4 versions (all Roman Catholic). Unlike Biblos, BibleGateway does not present the verses in parallel view. To each his own. I am Roman Catholic.

I’m writing this to compare the Bible versions very simply, using only one verse. So we go to my favorite book, chapter and verses; that would be Romans 12, all 21 verses of it. I believe it was the source of the very popular ‘Desiderata’ and I have written about this and published it in theAmerican Chronicle (‘The Bible Is Dead!’ November 2006, americanchronicle.com). Since it’s my favorite verse, let’s now take up Romans 12: 2 in parallel, limiting to 10 the versions to compare. I believe Romans 12: 2 expresses the whole of Romans 12 if not the whole of St Paul’s letter to the Romans. In any case, Romans 12: 2 is good enough for me, as you will see.

ASV. ‘And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, and ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.’ American Standard Version

CCB. ‘Don’t let yourselves be shaped by the world where you live, but rather by the will of God: what is good, what pleases, what is perfect.’ Christian Community Bible

ISV. ‘Do not be conformed to this world, but continually be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God’s will is – what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.’ International Standard Version

JB. ‘Do not model yourselves on the behaviour of the world around you, but let your behaviour change, modeled by your new mind. This is the only way to discover the will of God and know what is good, what it is that God wants, what is the perfect thing to do.’ Jerusalem Bible

KJV. ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’ King James Version

NAB. ‘Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.’ New American Bible

NASB. ‘And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.’ New American Standard Bible

NIV. ‘Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.’ New International Version

NKJV. ‘And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God.’ New King James Version

NRSV. ‘Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.’ New Revised Standard Version

As a writer and believer, and after having had my share of off-and-on Bible studies in both the Protestant and Roman Catholic molds, the versions of the CCB, ISV, NAB, NASB, and NRSV are much more clear to me. They do not merely describe what is God’s will; they tell me plainly: It is God’s will for me that I will do what is good, what is pleasing, what is perfect.

The most popular Bible version of all, the NIV, doesn’t quite make it to my standard, as it says, ‘Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.’ I have had high regards for the NIV after all the good words written and spoken about it. Now I’m quite disappointed; NIV is an uneven, inelegant translation; it doesn’t have to repeat the word ‘will’ at all. It seems they did not try hard enough for a more powerful translation.

As translated in those various ways above, the way I see it, Romans 12: 2 is a play of words, a double entendre. This I think is what many of the versions miss. Thus, as do the ASV and KJV, the NIV version merely describes God’s will, and excludes what God wills us to do to follow God’s will.

Note also the repeated conjunction and in several versions; that is to say, the Will of God = A + B + C, where A is something desirable and B is something satisfactory and C is something ideal or pure. The Will of God is a trinity in itself; it is not either/or but all of the above. (In this sense, the angels in my photograph may as well represent the Will of God.)

So:

My #1 translation is that of the NRSV –‘Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.’ All the translations have the word ‘perfect,’ so that takes care of the C word. In the NRSV, I think the words ‘discern’ and ‘good’ and ‘acceptable’ reflect most the spirit of the original.

My #2 translation is that the NAB – ‘Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.’ They both use the word ‘discern.’ The only difference between #1 and #2 is the choice of the B word: ‘acceptable’ or ‘pleasing’ – and I think ‘acceptable’ is more down-to-earth.

My #3 translation is that of the ISV – ‘Do not be conformed to this world, but continually be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God’s will is – what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.’ I like the alliteration: proper, pleasing, perfect. However, I think to ‘discern’ is the better choice of word than to ‘determine’ what God’s will is.

My #4 translation is that of the NASB – ‘And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.’ This is almost exactly like the NRSV, except I do not approve the word ‘prove’ – I do not think that God is telling us to prove God’s will.

And:

My #10 translation is that of the NIV – ‘Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.’ This is a poor translation, and I’m referring to the style as well as the substance. And: What, a mere mortal like me to ‘test and approve’ God’s will? I wouldn’t dare! ‘Let this cup pass, if you please. But your will, not mine.’

Now then, I think I have found The Perfect Commandment for me, and it is this:

Do what is proper and pleasing and perfect.