Bruce Manning Metzger (1914-2007) was for many years a professor of New Testament Language and Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary. According to the brief biographical sketch on the back cover of the volume under review, he was an expert in ancient biblical manuscripts and as such was a member of three major Bible translation projects and the chairman of the NRSV translation committee. These credentials afforded Metzger the authority to write this short, interesting overview of the major ancient versions of the Bible and of some of the lesser-known – perhaps even exotic – translations that span several centuries.

In my opinion, what makes this volume an interesting read are the histories behind the translations, especially with regard to those individual efforts to translate the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek in an attempt to get at the root [roots, if working with the Old Testament Hebrew, the lexicon of which is built on ‘triliteral radicals’ (3-letter consonant clusters); a pun of sorts] of the real meaning of the text instead of relying on a ‘sanctioned’ rendition. Acknowledging the tension that necessarily exists between translation and interpretation, i.e., “[a]ll translations of the Bible are necessarily interpretive to some extent,” Metzger quotes the second century A.D. Rabbi Judah, “He who translates a biblical verse literally is a liar, but he who elaborates on it is a blasphemer.” (p. 24) This is, of course, an extreme statement, but does make the point to this writer that the exegesis and exposition of any biblical text must be done meticulously and prayerfully.

Concerning commissioned translations, Metzger argues that no translation will ever satisfy everyone. From his further discussion on this point, my takeaway is, in the more recent Bible translation projects, a certain audience as the intended readership is established, then the project is initiated and executed in that direction. Thus, there are the paraphrased versions such as the Living Bible, etc. In this context, Metzger quotes none other than Jerome, known as the author of the Latin Vulgate, when he was asked to consider revising the existing Latin text of the Bible:

“…Is there anyone learned or unlearned, who, when he takes the volume in his hands and perceives that what he reads does not suit his settled tastes, will not break out immediately into violent language and call me a forger and profane person for having the audacity to add anything to the ancient books, or to make any changes or corrections in them?” (p. 32)

Jerome’s fear turned out to be prophetic, but not as he had anticipated. The time came when the Latin text was purported to be more authoritative than the actual original languages in which the Old and New Testaments were written – Hebrew and Greek, respectively. Men who had their “settled tastes” declared such men as John Wycliffe and William Tyndale, who translated the Scriptures into English – whether from Latin (Wycliffe) or from Hebrew and Greek (Tyndale) – to be heretics, the punishment for which was to be burned at the stake, which Tyndale suffered. Wycliffe’s body was exhumed and then burned!

Another feature of the content of this volume that can be appreciated by the reader is the examples Metzger describes in his capacity as an expert in textual criticism where a given translation has excelled or has missed the mark. He mentions several times the trend toward inclusive language, as long as such renderings of the original do not disturb the integrity of the underlying meaning of the text. In the Postscript, he discusses briefly some of the problems that translators face such as “differences of wording among manuscripts, the meaning of words, adding modern punctuation, [and] grammatical problems.” (p. 186)

Paraphrasing Metzger’s remark that a version had opted not to translate certain material because of its level of difficulty, which I will apply to the overall issue of biblical translation (exegesis) and interpretation (exposition), the difficulties involved “is no reason why at least an attempt … should not be made.” (p. 134)

I highly recommend this small, easily-readable volume as an introductory primer aimed at giving a brief history of, as well as the insights of, a recognized expert on the various translations of the Word of God.