What is the difference between formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence Bible translations?

Whosoever Will, The Weight of a Single Letter: There are two ways to translate. You can render the words, or you can render what a committee believes the words meant. The first is called formal equivalence. The second is called dynamic equivalence, and it is the reigning philosophy behind most Bibles printed in the last sixty years. It sounds harmless. It is not. Once you grant that a translator may deliver the thought instead of the word, you have placed a man between the reader and the text, and he is doing your interpreting before you ever see the sentence.

Verified. Every scripture quotation on this page has been checked word-for-word against the King James text. Last reviewed 2026-10-18.

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What is the difference between formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence Bible translations? → wsb.bible/answers/what-is-the-difference-between-formal-equivalence-and-dynamic

This answer is the short form. The argument is made at length in The Weight of a Single Letter: The Philosophy Underneath the Problem.

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