On Bible Translations

Tonight, I happen to be blogging because a child has kept me up, so you get the short version now. Maybe I'll develop this later. In his book The Word of God in English, Leland Ryken makes a compelling case for "essentially literal" translations of the Bible. One point (among many) is his argument that translation and interpretation are two different activities which need to be kept distinct. Therefore, he argues that dynamic equivalent versions of the Bible are harmful because they add interpretive elements to the text. He agrees that interpretation needs to happen, but he asserts that this is the job of an expositor (like, say, a pastor), not a translator. This sparked a thought. Exposition and interpretation of the Scriptures happens in a communal context, as the saints of God work together to understand the text that they have been given. Could the rise of dynamic equivalent translations be, in part, a result of the decline of the interpretive community of the Church? If I'm all alone as a Christian (either in reality or de facto), then how can I understand the Bible? Maybe I can pay Zondervan to do it for me.... It's a half-formed thought, I know, but it's late, so that's what you get. So there.