“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”

Isaiah 55: 6-7

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NASB 2020: A Perfect Opportunity Wasted

The Lockman Foundation recently released the New American Standard Bible 2020. Since 1960, the NASB has been among the most accurate translations of the Scriptures. It is one of the Bible translations that I use regularly, but out of necessity, I had to start doing my own translating.

There is no perfect translation of the Scriptures. Some translations are better than others, but all of them miss the mark. When I wrote His Name is Yahweh, I used many Bible translations, Strong’s Concordance, a Hebrew-English interlinear Bible, the Aramaic English New Testament, and a host of other sources. With two exceptions, I avoided criticizing any translation of the Bible. Translating from one language to another is difficult. If I had critiqued every verse of Scripture that I referenced, my book would have been too long and too tedious for most readers, and I would have failed to deliver the message that I wanted to communicate. That was not acceptable.

The two exceptions I made had to do with The Stone Edition Tanach, The ArtScroll Series® by Rabbi Nosson Scherman. In his translations of Genesis 4: 26 and Proverbs 30: 4, he purposely violated basic translation protocols to make those verses comply with Halacha, a.k.a., the Oral Law and the traditions of the Jews:

In his translation of Genesis 4: 26, Scherman used an English word that does not comply with the obvious meaning of the passage of Scripture in context. That is a grievous error that a skilled translator would not make unintentionally.
In his translation of Proverbs 30: 4, Scherman inserted the words “[but Moses]” in brackets even though they do not appear in the original text. That is dishonest. According to well-established editorial tradition, inserting words in brackets means that the words do not appear in the original text, but they are implied by the text. In Proverbs 30: 4, nothing having to do with Moses is implied by the text. Problem is, most readers don’t understand that editorial tradition or they are in a hurry so they ignore the brackets. They read the words in brackets as though they belong there. Scherman must know that, so as I said, what he did was fundamentally dishonest. What he did complies with Halacha, though. Purposely mistranslating Scripture to make it consistent with the Oral Law is flagrantly wrong.

Scherman knew what he was doing, and he must have known that it was wrong. In His Name is Yahweh, I explain in detail what I did and why I did it.

NASB 2020 and Yahweh’s Name

In NASB 2020, The Lockman Foundation wasted a perfect opportunity to translate Yahweh’s Name correctly. Yahweh’s Name appears almost 7,000 times in the Old Testament. According to Charles Ryrie, it appears exactly 6,823 times in the Old Testament. It appears all over the New Testament as well, although you have to do some serious studying to know where Yahweh’s Name belongs in the New Testament. I won’t address that issue in detail here, but it is important. Thus, after I address Yahweh’s Name and the title “God”, I will provide one example from the New Testament to show what I mean.

In keeping with the previous editions of the NASB, the translators used the words “LORD” and “GOD” in all capital letters to indicate that Yahweh’s Name belongs there. You can’t be too critical of them for adopting that flawed tradition initially, because it dates back to the original 1611 version of the King James Bible. However, you can fault them for continuing to accept a dangerous tradition for 60 years knowing that it masks the most important message in the Bible:

We have One Elohim, and His Name is Yahweh. Yahweh is our only Savior and our only Redeemer.

In the original text of the Scriptures, that message is crystal clear. The fact that it is not clear in modern English translations of the Bible is shameful. The translators of the NASB 2020 missed a perfect opportunity to right an appalling wrong at a crucial time.

NASB 2020 and the Title “God”

Translating the Hebrew word “Elohim” as “God” is an horrendous editorial tradition. Elohim is a title. It is used when referring to Yahweh and to pagan deities, but the “E” is capitalized when it refers to Yahweh. God is the actual name of a pagan deity. Using it as a substitute for Elohim is wrong and offensive to Yahweh.

I do not know how “God” came to be the generic title we use for Yahweh in English, but how it happened is not of paramount importance. It is reprehensible to continue using that title when we are talking about Yahweh even though we know the truth. We must jettison that tradition.

The words “God” and “god” appear 4,374 times in 3,819 verses in the NASB 2020. That’s a lot of painfully grievous and unnecessary errors. No one should have to tell the translators of NASB 2020 that Yahweh does not appreciate being called by the name of a false deity, and no one should have to explain to them that Yahweh’s Name is critically important. Those truths are undeniable, glaring, and self-evident.

A New Testament Example: Philippians 2: 9-11

Most Christians have heard someone say, “At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow.” That quote comes from Philippians 2: 9-11. The apostle Paul was explaining who the Messiah is. Below are those verses from the NASB:

For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the Name which is above every name, so that at the Name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2: 9-11)

Those verses begin by telling us that God (Elohim) highly exalted the Messiah and bestowed on Him the Name that is above every name. Yahweh is the Name that is above every name. Therefore, Paul is telling us that Yahweh, not Jesus, is the Name to which every knee will bow and that the Messiah is Yahweh.

By the way, the Messiah’s name wasn’t Jesus. It was Yeshua. I am not addressing that problem in this SnyderTalk editorial, even though it is important. I will say this though: The name “Jesus” was made up.

Be that as it may, in Philippians 2: 9-11, Paul is paraphrasing Isaiah 45: 23- 24:

“I [Yahweh] have sworn by Myself. The word has gone out from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me [Yahweh] every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. They will say of Me [Yahweh], ‘Only in Yahweh are righteousness and strength.’ People will come to Him [Yahweh], and all who were angry at Him [Yahweh] will be put to shame.” (Isaiah 45: 23-24)

Philippians 2: 9-11 tells us that every tongue will confess that the Messiah is “Lord”. Since we know that Paul is paraphrasing Isaiah 45: 23-24, we also know that the word “Lord” does not belong there. Using accepted translation protocols, it should have been translated as “LORD” in all capital letters. Therefore, this is how Philippians 2: 9-11 should read:

For this reason also Elohim highly exalted Him [the Messiah], and bestowed on Him the Name which is above every name [Yahweh], so that at the Name of the Messiah [Yahweh] every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that the Messiah is Yahweh, to the glory of Elohim the Father. (Philippians 2: 9-11)

This is the crux of the matter: The Messiah is Yahweh, and Yahweh is our only Savior. That is exactly what Yahweh said in Isaiah 43: 11:

“I, even I, am Yahweh. There is no savior besides Me.” (Isaiah 43: 11)

Conclusion

In the foreword to NASB 2020, The Lockman Foundation presented its “Fourfold Aim”. The first aim is the most important:

“These publications shall be true to the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.”

On the basis of that stated aim alone, I must conclude that The Lockman Foundation failed in its primary mission. The original Hebrew does not refer to Yahweh as “the LORD God”, “the Lord GOD”, “LORD of armies”, or “God”. Below are the correct English translations from those Hebrew Names and titles for Yahweh:

“the LORD” is Yahweh.
“the LORD God” is Yahweh Elohim.
“the Lord GOD” is Adonai Yahweh.
“LORD of armies” and “LORD of hosts” are Yahweh Sabaoth.
“GOD” is Elohim.

It is impossible to justify those tragic translation errors, especially now. Some people argue that Yahweh is simply the Hebrew Name for Elohim. That is not true. In English, my name is Neil. My name is Neil in Hebrew, too. I can write my name in Hebrew, and people in Israel who speak Hebrew can read it and say, “Neil.” Likewise, the pronunciation of Yahweh’s Name is the same in Hebrew and English. The letters are different, but the pronunciation is identical.

There is no good excuse for knowingly translating Yahweh’s Name incorrectly. This is what Yahweh said:

Elohim furthermore said to Moses, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘Yahweh, the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is My Name forever, and this is the Name for all generations to use to call upon Me.” (Exodus 3: 15)

It doesn’t get any clearer than that. The translators at The Lockman Foundation wasted a perfect opportunity to obey Yahweh.

After presenting its aims, The Lockman Foundation referred to “time-honored” traditions dating back the the 1611 version of the King James Bible to which it would adhere. Those “time-honored” traditions violate The Lockman Foundation’s first aim. They literally strip Yahweh’s Name out of the Bible and assign to Him the title “God” which is the name of a pagan deity. That is wrong; it’s an insult to Yahweh; and it prevents most readers of NASB 2020 from knowing the truth.

As I said at the beginning of this editorial, there is no perfect Bible translation. I like the NASB, and I use it along with many other Bible translations. However, I know where Yahweh’s Name and His proper title belong in the Scriptures, so I can read them into the text. Most Bible readers don’t know those things. They haven’t studied the Scriptures in the original languages, and they probably never will. They depend on translators to do their jobs honestly and without regard for fatally flawed, time-honored traditions.

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I am not saying that The Lockman Foundation was just cashing in on a great profit opportunity with NASB 2020, but people who are more cynical than me might jump to that conclusion. I am saying that the translators at The Lockman Foundation have ignored some glaring problems that need to be addressed. They have been ignoring those problems since the original NASB 1960. Sixty years is a long time. It is long enough for The Lockman Foundation to get it right.

Compared with the changes that the translators at The Lockman Foundation should have made in NASB 2020, the changes they did make are so trifling that they are almost irrelevant. Because The Lockman Foundation did not address the issues I presented in this editorial, I will conclude by quoting the Messiah from the New Living Translation:

“Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!” (Matthew 23: 24)

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“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”

John 10: 14-18