STATEMENTONMISSINGVERSESINBIBLE TRANSLATION Dear Friends of the
Bible Society,
Thepastfewdays,thesocialmediahasbeenfloodedwithapostwarningevery
BibleuserabouthowsomeBiblepublishersabroadhavedeliberatelyomitted
certainpassagesfromtheBible.AlthoughthetrendingpostsingledoutEnglish
translationsthatwerenotpublishedbythe Philippine Bible Society
(PBS), we, the
PBSleadership,deemitaservicetotheBible-readingcommunitiesand
individualsin the Philippines to giveour comments on the issue.
Firstofall,PBSbelievesthattheBibleisthewrittenWordofGod.Becausethe
Bible is the Word of God, PBS is committed to translate and
transmit faithfully the
verysameBiblethatthebiblicalwritersinscribedontheirmanuscripts.PBS
exists to serve the Scripture requirements of the churches in the
Philippines.
ThisfidelitytotheWordofGodastransmittedfromthetimeoftheearly
ChristiansisguidedbyourdeeploveforGodandHisWord.However, since the
originalbiblicalmanuscriptsnolongerexist,thesafestwaytoensurethe
transmissionpurityoftheBibleistocarefullyandcriticallystudysurviving
biblicalmanuscripts.Thesebiblicalmanuscriptsnownumbertothousands.(In
theNewTestamentalonethereare7,584survivingmanuscriptsasofNovember
2013).Inthisregard,PBSreliesheavilyontheresultsofscholarlylaborfrom
individualsandinstitutionsthathavedevotedtheirentirelivesinmakingsurethat
thebesttextualbasesformoderntranslationsarefoundedonthemostreliable
manuscriptattestation.(Thesespecialistscholarsarecalledtextualcriticsand
their field as textual criticism).
Accordingly,whenPBSundertakestranslationprojects,weusethelatesteditions
of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (for the Old Testament) and
the United Bible SocietiesGreekNewTestament(fortheNew Testament) as
textual bases for our
projects.Thesetwocriticaleditionshavethebroadestscholarlysupporttodate.Anditisimportanttopoint
out that the bases for textual decisionsare the Hebrew andGreek
texts, not Englishtranslations.
IthappensthatsomeversesoftheBiblearenotincludedinthemaintextofthe
Bible,butareonlymentionedinthefootnote.Someofthesepassagesinclude
Matt 17.21, 23.14, Mark 9.44, 9.46, Luke 17.36, 23.17, John 5.4 and
Acts 8.37.In
thesaidverses,thereisabroadconcurrenceamongtextualscholarstoreflectin
themaintextthereadingssupportedbythemost reliable manuscripts, and
to print
thesedisputedpassagesatthemargins,oralsointhemaintextbutmarkedwith
some symbols (for instance, a bracket [ ]) to indicate thatthe
passageis disputed. Theinclusion or exclusion of a verse/s or
portions of a verse in the main text are a
majordecisionofthetranslationteam,guidedbythestandardpublishingpolicies
andprinciplesoftheorganization,aswellasbythelonghistoryofBible
publishingandproduction.Relegatingaversetoafootnoteisamajor
considerationbecausetheBibleusersalwaysexpect a Bible with complete
verses.Itisnecessary,therefore,toapplysoundprinciplesintextualcriticismtoassure
Bible users that their Bibles are reliable.
SuchcareandexpertiseisachievedinthemajorEnglishtranslationsthatinclude
thesupposedlymissingversesinthefootnoteratherthaninthemaintext.PBS
followsthesamepublishingconvention.However,itmustbeemphasized that
the
intentionofPBSinadoptingthispracticeisnottoaltertheWordofGodbutto
ensurethatthecopyoftheBibleweoffertotheChurchreflect snothingbutthe
best scholarshipthere is at the moment.
TheMagandangBalitaBiblia(MBB),whichispublishedbythePhilippineBible
Society,includesthesaidversesinthemaintextbuttheyareenclosedinsquare
bracketsandarementionedinthefootnote.TheuseofbracketstellstheBible
user thatthe verses are not foundin the ancient andmost reliable
manuscripts.
ItisourhopethatwewillcontinuetovaluetheBible,theWordofGod,forour
dailyspiritualnourishment.Shouldyouhavefurtherquestionsorcomments,
pleasedonothesitatetoinformus.Wepraythat the Bible will continue to
make
animpactinthelivesofourpeople,sothatthePhilippineswillremainunderthe
guidinglight of God andHis Word.TheLord be praised! PhilippineBible
Society Boardof Trustees andManagement
