Biblish

Biblish is a word that means the type of English you find in literal Bible translations. When it comes to translating the Bible there are two different philosophies or approaches used: formal equivalence or dynamic equivalence (also called functional equivalence). Formal equivalence translates as close to the original Greek or Hebrew as possible, preserving the word order found in the source text. Dynamic equivalence is aimed at translating the thoughts of the original, included in this is clearing up idioms that are foreign to the modern reader. Most conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists prefer the formal equivalence approach because of the doctrine of verbal plenary inspiration, this claims that every word of the original autographs is inspired by God. Because of this we should never tamper with the text handed to us. It sounds good but there is a simple flaw found at the heart of this line of reasoning: the original Biblical languages are not English and therefore do not have the same word order as English. If we really respect the Scriptures then we would translate it in the best possible manner so that the people who read and hear it can understand and relate to its message.