Psalm 1:3 (NASB) He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams [fn] of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf [fn] does not wither; And in [fn] whatever he does, he prospers. See that word in italics? Do you know why it’s in italics? I didn’t. I figured it was an emphasis or something. It really means that the word isn’t actually in the Hebrew Bible…. that the word was added later during translation. What the heck?! That’s what I learned yesterday. Apparently this isn’t all that uncommon. In fact, it happens all over the place. In the NIV, in the book of Romans, there’s a word that’s in the Hebrew Bible that is completely left out of our Bible! A word “submit” is also added to that verse where it talks about wives submitting to husbands (that’s a whole other topic, but if you get a chance, and you haven’t already listened to Living the Biblical Worldview, listen to Skip Moen’s talk on the Role of the Ezer). I didn’t know that?! I always assumed that what I read was what was written… but when I looked at the Hebrew translation that the website provides, sure enough, there was no “firmly” anywhere in Hebrew. To be honest, I’m a little skeptical about how they get these long phrases out of one word. For example, from the Hebrew word for “tree” they get “He shall be like a tree.” Um, maybe there’s something that they don’t explain about the words when you look up the definition. Okay, before you start freaking out about the inerrancy of the Bible and all that (kind of like I did), I should probably note that most scholars, including Skip Moen, agree that most of the Bible is relatively accurate in its translation. But there are some places, for one reason or another (some political, some unknown), that words have been added because “that’s what Paul meant” (Really? How do you know?), or removed. I didn’t know that! I’ve also found that you’ll only find these italicized markers in the New American Standard Bible (at least that I’ve noticed so far). In the NIV you get no indication that anything is other than what is written. So, while I firmly believe that God’s word is perfect and is “breathed” by Him into the hearts and minds of the writers, I will read a little more carefully to avoid the bias and politicism of the translators. Man! More and more, I wish I knew Hebrew! How cool would it be to read the Bible in its original language (at least the Old Testament)! And, even if there are little bits and pieces that have been conveniently inserted or removed, God can still use it. He does still use it, and He still accomplishes His purposes despite the many areas of our beliefs that have been twisted by people like Constantine. Our God is still bigger than all that!