Short Review: This is a very good, very readable book on issues in bible translation. There are lots of arguments about how bibles are translated (word for word vs dynamic equivalence, gender, how much interpretation is appropriate, etc.). Dunn ratchets down the rhetoric and concentrates mostly on real life examples of how translation works and lots of examples from actual biblical translations. The end result is that he very convincingly shows that much of the argument is rhetoric not reality. So the translations that claim to be the most literal, use dynamic translations methods frequently. Those that claim to be very accurate about gender often use gender neutral words, etc.

Dunn asserts that this is just the nature of translation, that to translate is to interpret and that all translators must do this. He also bring in his experience as a translator of a small language from Papua New Guinea. A language that has no relationship to either Greek or Hebrew as an example of why so many of the arguments are particular to English translations.

This is a book I highly recommend. It is simple enough that it would make a good discussion group for a small group or study group but through enough that many pastors will get a lot out of it.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/one-bible-many-versions/