Written by Pastor Emanuel Rodriguez
President of the RVG Bible Society
(The photo is of the Spanish translation of the King James Bible translated by Bernard McVey.)
Every now and then, Dr. Humberto Gomez, and those who helped him with the Reina Valera Gomez Bible revision, are accused of translating the words “Holy Ghost” as “Fantasma Santo” in the first edition. THIS IS A LIE! The RVG has NEVER had the words “Fantasma Santo” in it; not in the first edition (2004), nor any editions since then. The RVG has always simply said "Espiritu Santo", which is the correct translation.
There was a Spanish Bible translation that translated “Holy Ghost” as “Fantasma Santo”. A U.S. American named Bernard McVey did an extremely literal word-for-word translation of the King James Bible into Spanish back in the 1990s. His translation was not received well.
McVey’s translation was especially rejected by native Spanish speakers because they considered “Fantasma Santo” to be a blasphemous rendering. To the native Spanish speaker a “fantasma” is something demonic.
I assume that McVey’s intention to provide God’s words to the Spanish speaking world was noble. However, his noble intention was hindered by a flawed and extreme perspective of word-for-word translating. With all due respect to Mr. McVey, although most words will have a literal translation available from one language to another, it is a typical “gringo mistake” to fail to realize that there will be some literal word-for-word renderings that won’t work and are therefore unacceptable to the target audience. In such cases, some exceptions will have to be made in a way that is faithful to the purity of the text but also sensible linguistically. This is where the participation of those who know the language intimately is important and no one will have a more intimate comprehension of the language than a native who was born with that language.
Dr. Humberto Gomez is a native Spanish speaker. Many of his collaborators also have Spanish as their first language. They understand the nuances of Spanish words in a way that only those who have spoken Spanish all of their lives will fully comprehend. They would NEVER translate “Holy Ghost” as “Fantasma Santo”. Never! To accuse him and his collaborators of making this typical “gringo mistake” is an ugly insult.
To disagree with someone is one thing. To intentionally insult them is another.
Some deliberately repeat this insulting lie in a malicious attempt to discredit the hard work and noble intentions of Dr. Gomez and his collaborators. Rather than keeping things on an intellectual level, they have allowed their disagreement to descend into the dark realm of pride where things devolve from argument into downright sinfulness. This is what happens when someone’s position is weak intellectually. They must resort to lower tactics. Some may call it “hitting below the belt”. Frankly, they are liars. Lying is sin and sin will have its consequences. We will let God handle the liars while we focus on advancing the truth.
Others repeat this lie out of innocence. They make an honest mistake. They were either misled by misinformation or they confused the work of Dr. Gomez with that of McVey’s. Either way, to repeat such misinformation is irresponsible, especially for preachers. Nobody is perfect. We are all guilty of misspeaking at times. Since preachers talk a lot, we occasionally misspeak unintentionally. However, since our job as preachers is to speak the truth, we must develop the habit of verifying things. We should also develop the habit of correcting things publicly if we care more about the truth prevailing than our egos.
When lies like this spread, even when it is an honest mistake, damage is done. It is very frustrating to watch people dismiss your hard work over false accusations. The controversy surrounding the Spanish Bible is already challenging enough to navigate without having to make it worse by repeating lies and spreading misinformation. Some of us are working very hard to advance the cause for a pure Bible in Spanish. If you care about Bible purity, please help us out by not irresponsibly repeating misinformation that you have not verified.
Proverbs 14:25 “A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful witness speaketh lies.”
Proverbs 10:18 "He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool."
Proverbs 14:15 “The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.”
1 Thessalonians 5:21 “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
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