Dr. Couch, there is a new edition of the New American Bible (NAB) that was co-edited by Catholics. Should we be afraid of this version?
ANSWER: I don't think so, but remember, that is why men of the “old school” like myself, took years and years of Hebrew and Greek so that we could be the “watchers” of the translations and call out an alarm if we see the translators messing with the text. This has rarely happened because translators know that there are language scholars looking over their shoulders.
Two changes are mentioned in the report about the new edition of this Bible. One is that they changed the word “holocaust” in Leviticus 6:23 to “burnt offering.” They did this because of the association of the word holocaust with the killing of the 6 million Jews in World War II. That terrible event is called “the holocaust.” But actually, the word “holocaust” is the better word.
The NAS Bible properly translates the Hebrew “burned entirely” which is the best translation of the word. The Rabbis in the Greek translation of the OT, in the Septuagint (LXX), used the word “holocaustosai” or “holocaust.” Or, “burnt entirely” thus “burnt offering.” To leave the word in the English “holocaust” would have been fine.
Then in Isaiah 7:14 they translated the Hebrew word Almah “young woman” instead of virgin as it is in most versions. Actually, “young woman” is the better translation. Technically speaking, the word Bethulah is the closest word for virgin in Hebrew. However, the Rabbis who translated the Greek Septuagint (written about 300+ BC) felt that the word had a strong connotation for “virgin” and translated the word from the Greek “parthenos” or “virgin.”
In other words, the Rabbis felt that this was the intention of Isaiah in this verse, to flag the fact that the Messiah's mother would be a virgin and by a miracle give birth to the Son of God. The word Almah has many connotations to it. It implies (1) a young woman of marriageable age, (2) a teenager, (3) a veiled one unmarried girl, who indeed (4) was technically a virgin.
Dr. Luke also pointed out in his Gospel that Mary was a virgin. He writes that the angel Gabriel came to a “virgin (parthenos) engaged to Joseph” (Luke 1:27). And Mary confessed that she “knew not a man” (v. 34). The English says that she uttered the words “since I am a virgin.” But this is a free translation from the Greek text that actually reads “since a man I know not.” [For a complete treatment on this see my commentary on Luke in the 21st Century Commentary Set.]
We don't want to be paranoid but we do want to be cautious. Error can slip into your churches very easily. This is why we need men who can check these changes out and give an okay on what is happening to us theologically.
—Dr. Mal Couch (3/11)
