Word Choice in GOD'S WORD^®
The theory of closest natural equivalence and the factors that affect the readability of a text made word choice an important part of the work of the translation team that produced GOD'S WORD^®. The team chose words that were natural in context and that were as easily understood as possible without losing accuracy and faithfulness to the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible.

However, producing a consistent and accurate translation is more than making a translation decision on a word-by-word basis from Genesis to Revelation. Translators have to take into account how each Hebrew or Greek word relates to other Hebrew or Greek words. That is, they need to understand the words as part of the Hebrew and Greek language systems. As part of a system, words are related in meaning to one another, and those relationships are not only complex, but also unique to each language. This requires translators to match the complex relationships among words in Greek and Hebrew to the equally complex relationships among words in English.

One of the ways the translators of GOD'S WORD^® did this was by grouping words according to the components of meaning they share with one another. Words that share a component of meaning are said to be in the same semantic field.

For instance, a native speaker of English can easily name a number of words in the semantic field for color: red, orange, green, blue, pink, white, black, violet, purple, gray, etc. These words relate to each other in specific ways. Some of them are thought of as part of a spectrum of colors. Some are opposites (black, white). Others are synonyms or nearly synonymous (violet, purple).

Translators face the challenge of choosing the right word for each word that signifies color in Hebrew or Greek. While English speakers may use violet and purple interchangeably at times, at other times violet signifies a difference in shade from purple. Another language does not necessarily differentiate colors the same way English does. A translator may not be able to equate violet with one word and purple with another word. The other language may divide the semantic field for color differently. If that is the case, a word in the other language may be translated purple in some cases and violet in other cases.

This phenomenon of semantic fields is repeated for every concept a language can express. A translator needs to understand how the source language divides meaning in a semantic field and how the target language divides that same meaning. In addition, words can have meaning in more than one semantic field. For example, the English word ford can indicate a shallow place to cross a river, a brand of automobile, or a last name.

translations can be misleading if translators do not understand the relationships between words in a semantic field in both the source language and the target language. In addition, translations can be misleading if the translators do not recognize that a word in the source language is used in more than one semantic field and that the target language uses different expressions in each semantic field.

For this reason the translation team of GOD'S WORD^® compiled lists of words in semantic fields as they studied the relationships between words in Hebrew or Greek. One example is the semantic field for utensils used by the priests in worship:

• 'grtl knife
• hpwr bowl
• y' shovel
• kywr basin
• kly utensil, thing, accessory, furnishing
• kp dish
• mzlgh fork
• mzmqt snuffer
• mzrq bowl
• mhlp knife
• mhth incense burner
• mlqhym tongs
• mnqyt bowl
• mnry lamp stand
• mqtrt incense burner
• syr pot
• syry pot
• sp dish
• sry pot
• q'rh plate
• qsh pitcher
• qswh pitcher

In another case the translators of God's Word were careful to note when the words 'mh, 'bd, and sphh were used in different semantic fields. Most often 'mh and sphh mean female servant or slave, and 'bd means male servant or slave. However, these words are also used in polite, formal address to a superior. A speaker may refer to herself as 'mtk or sphtk when speaking to a superior, as Abigail does when speaking to David in 1 Samuel 25:28. She says, "Please forgive my offense." If an English translation would read "Please forgive your servant," most English readers will think that Abigail was talking to David about someone else, not about herself.

Normally, speakers can only refer to themselves with the pronouns I, me, we, or us in English, no matter how formal the situation. (Politeness is indicated in other ways in English. Trying to force your servant into a translation to indicate politeness results in an unnatural and confusing sentence.)

In this case the translation team for GOD'S WORD^® recognized that these three Hebrew words function in more than one semantic field. GOD'S WORD^® does not force a word from one semantic field into another semantic field where it does not belong. Instead, GOD'S WORD^® uses the correct words for each English semantic field, even though the Hebrew or Greek languages may use the same word in both semantic fields.

Eliminating Theological Jargon
Another challenge faced by the translators of GOD'S WORD^® was finding words that accurately communicate the meaning of important theological concepts in the Bible. Many of these concepts have traditionally been translated by words that no longer communicate to most English speakers. While these words continue to be used by theologians and even by many Christians, the meanings that speakers assign to them in everyday use do not match the meanings of the Hebrew or Greek words they are intended to translate. The words have become jargon--words with specialized meanings often poorly understood by non-specialists.

To determine how English speakers understand a few key theological terms, God's Word to the Nations Bible Society undertook a survey of lay people who attend Bible classes at their church. Of five theological terms tested, no term was understood correctly by a majority of the respondents. That is, a majority of the respondents did not give a definition which matched the primary meaning of the underlying Greek word. Some of the definitions that respondents gave were correct meanings for the English word, but not for the Greek word it was supposed to translate.

One example is the word covenant. The survey produced these results:

• other 17%
• don't know 15%
• agreement 28%
• promise/pledge 40%

In secular Greek diaqhkh meant last will and testament. Its primary New Testament meaning is derived from this secular meaning. Most often the New Testament writers used diaqhkh to mean "a unilateral pledge or promise." The English word covenant can mean an agreement, a mutually acceptable arrangement, often arrived at through bargaining. However, the Greek word diaqhkh cannot. One Greek dictionary clearly states, "In the 'covenants' of God it was God alone who set the conditions; hence, covenant can be used to translate diaqhkh only when this is kept in mind."[Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Second Ed. Tr. William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, Ed. F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker. (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1979). p. 183. The comment in Bauer is intended only to describe the meaning of diaqhkh and not its Hebrew counterpart bryt, which can mean either agreement or promise, depending on context.]

If a majority of readers do not understand the correct meaning of the Greek word diaqhkh when they read the English word covenant, other words must be used to translate it. GOD'S WORD^® uses the words promise and pledge.

The situation is even more complicated because many translations use covenant to translate the Hebrew word bryt in the Old Testament. bryt can mean promise or agreement, depending on context. Therefore, a reader's good assumption when reading the Old Testament use of covenant becomes a bad assumption when reading the New Testament.

The survey results for covenant (forty percent gave acceptable answers) were better than for the other words included in the Bible Society's survey. For instance, only ten percent of the respondents gave a correct meaning for the Greek word dikaiow when asked to define justify. For this reason, the translators of GOD'S WORD^® avoid using words like covenant, justify, righteous, grace and others that have become theological jargon and do not correctly communicate the meaning of the Hebrew or Greek words they are translating. In some cases a footnote in GOD'S WORD^® offers the traditional theological terms for those who are familiar with them.

Gender References
The Scriptures contain many passages that apply to people in general. However, the traditional use of words such as man to mean "people in general" can no longer be assumed to communicate the Bible's meaning accurately to all readers. For instance, Psalm 1:1 is traditionally translated, "Blessed is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked...." For many who currently speak English, this translation reads as if Psalm 1 is speaking about blessings males receive. However, the psalm is intended to apply to any person. Therefore, GOD'S WORD^® translates the first psalm, "Blessed is the person who does not follow the advice of the wicked...."

This concern is not a recent phenomenon. Almost five hundred years ago, Martin Luther expressed the same concern as he translated Psalm 1 into German. [Jaroslav Pelikan, ed. Luther's Works. Vol. 14 (St. Louis: Concordia, 1958), p. 288.]Even the Scriptures themselves give indications that some words should at times be understood as gender-neutral. For example, in 2 Chronicles 28:10 bny ysr'l (traditionally sons of Israel) is defined as 'bdym (male slaves) and sphwt (female slaves).

Due to developments in the English language in the last few decades, the concern for appropriate use of gender-neutral language requires translators to avoid producing translations that are read as inappropriately excluding some persons. For this reason, GOD'S WORD^® avoids using words like man and the pronoun he if the Hebrew or Greek is speaking about people regardless of gender.

In some places gender-neutral language cannot be used because English has no uniquely gender-neutral third person singular pronoun. For instance, Psalm 1:3 in GOD'S WORD^® reads:

He is like a tree planted beside streams--
a tree that produces fruit in season
and whose leaves do not wither.
He succeeds in everything he does.

For this reason, GOD'S WORD^® occasionally uses the pronoun he to refer to a single person, male or female. The translation team felt that retaining some singular pronouns was more important than a slavish loyalty to gender neutrality.

In addition, GOD'S WORD^® does not change gender references inappropriately. For example, when Gamaliel addresses the Jewish council in Acts 5:35, he begins andrej Isranlitai ... ("men, Israelites"). Some modern translations have translated this in a gender-neutral way. However, all the members of the Jewish council were men. GOD'S WORD^® recognizes this and translates the phrase as men of Israel.