Who would imagine that simply re-translating the Bible into different versions could start a war? But it has. And the war continues as more and more persons are coming to realize the real issues at stake, the doctrinal purity under question and the implication for our view of the Jewish nation, and the Jews as the biblical chosen that God has ordained them.

Perhaps one of the fundamental misunderstandings of the discussion, is what is being translated. In 1611, the first versions of the AV, Authorized Version or King James Bible came out based upon the Greek text collations of Erasmus, with translations by Tyndale, his followers, and the AV committee. Other Bibles based upon the same texts; for Greek, the Textus Receptus (Received Text) and for the Hebrew, the Ben Chayim, were the Geneva Bible, the Spanish Bible and the translations of Martin Luther . (Luther's anti-semitism was well-known toward the end of his life, but the issues here are of accuracy of the texts for translation.) In short, for several hundred years, the translated text stayed basically the same in English.

The issue then, is not only accuracy and style of translation, it is most importantly what texts are being translated, for the hundreds of new "translations" are not translations of the original texts, but newer and far less complete texts. Few know this, but this is the heart of the issue, and basic bible doctrines are indeed affected that may subsequently affect Christian perceptions of the Jew in Scripture. To be discussed are: