Question:
Which is inspired: the original Hebrew and Greek of the Old and New Testaments, their English translation, or both?
Answer:
The formation of written scripture began during Moses’ era. Inspired revelations were compiled into an inspired text, a process that continued over a span of sixteen hundred years—from Moses, who documented creation and the law, to John, who recorded the profound truths of the Gospel.
While the Bible attributes its authorship to God, it was penned by human hands, reflecting the distinctive styles of various authors. The revealed truths are all “given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16), but they are articulated in human language. The Infinite One, through His Holy Spirit, has illuminated the minds and hearts of His messengers, providing dreams, visions, symbols, and figures to those to whom truth has been revealed, who then expressed these ideas in human terms. The Ten Commandments were directly spoken by God and inscribed by His own hand; they are divine in origin. Conversely, the Bible combines God-given truths expressed through human language—a fusion of the divine and the human.
God chose to share His truths with the world through human means, qualifying and enabling individuals through His Holy Spirit to fulfill this mission. He directed their minds on what to express and write. Although the treasure of His message is entrusted to fragile human vessels, it remains of divine origin. The testimony, while communicated imperfectly through human language, is nonetheless God’s testimony.
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God [literally ‘God-breathed’] …” (2 Timothy 3:16). “The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.” (2 Samuel 23:2). “Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake …” (Acts 1:16). “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth …” (1 Corinthians 2:13). God guided each of the sacred authors to convey His thoughts in their language. It is these thoughts that are inspired, rather than the language used to communicate them. Translations are typically the best efforts of humans to express the meaning of the original intentions and words.
