Paula

We should also be aware of the heavy influence the KJV has had on almost every Bible translation that followed. And we should add that the process by which the KJV was translated was most definitely agenda-driven:

http://www.nomorehoaxes.com/content/view/24/1/
http://www.dtl.org/versions/article/king-james.htm

The “divine right of kings” was heavy on James’s mind, and his deputy in overseeing the translation committee was most zealous to see to it that the king’s wishes were carried out.

Now this is not to say the KJV is a bad translation. For its time it was very good and an admirable piece of English literature. The Gospel is there, and in many places it is more “egalitarian” than modern translations. It has many fine qualities. But this is no excuse to ignore or whitewash its faults, or to underestimate its negative influence on translation for generations to come.

Personally, I don’t have issues with “adding words”, but with adding ideas or extra-Biblical teachings. It’s the thought that counts! We have to take whole sentences and letters in order to try, to the best of our fallible ability, to determine the intent of the writer, and in this there is no way to avoid some form of bias. So having a large number of people working on the same translation has obvious advantages, provided the members come from a variety of prejudicial angles.

But even then we must recognize the universal nature of prejudice against women and in favor of chains of command. These two things run deep in human history and are not easily overcome. An example of this need to keep women behind men is seen here:

http://englishbibles.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html
Scroll down to Junia, the apostle: part 17. Here is an excerpt:

No, Epp is fascinated by how it came about that something which is evidently not so, could have been considered so. How on earth did this happen, how did a non-existant name Junias, enter the text and the lexicon (BADG) and why has Junias now been removed without an all-out confession of male bias?! That is what fascinates Epp. Are the men responsible simply going to sweep the male Junias under the carpet? So it seems.

We see in this case that not even a committee can safeguard us against these universal prejudices. But now, with access at least to interlinears and awareness of these problems by more people, there is hope that we can finally free the scriptures from their long imprisonment. The last hurdle, I believe, is to make sure that we can get access to up-to-date dictionaries.