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Different Bible Versions

SquareC

SquareC

Member
Well, I don't even know how to start.....I'm not Christian, but I am curious and would like to know more. I'm an information addict. :)

It seems to me that the most common version of the Bible used is the King James, but in my reading, I've come across implications (and outright statements) that the King James Version is not entirely accurate, that some translations were made more on a political level than a theological one. We have two copies of the Bible in my home, one the King James Version and one a Gideon International. I haven't looked thoroughly enough to see what if any difference there is between the two.

So, my questions are, have you heard anything about inaccuracies in the King James version of the Bible, what version do you use, and why?
 
SquareC

SquareC

Member
Okay then, I'll read those. Thank you.

I'm still curious as to who uses which version and why.....I'd have put up a poll for that if I actually knew what versions are in use....
 
RevOxley_501

RevOxley_501

Well-Known Member
popular versions;

KJV
NKJV
NASB
NIV
Message
NLT
and some more i forgot

and i always liked these:

Darby
Youngs Literal
 
A

angellous_evangellous

Guest
SquareC said:
Okay then, I'll read those. Thank you.

I'm still curious as to who uses which version and why.....I'd have put up a poll for that if I actually knew what versions are in use....
Click to expand...

I use a variety of versions:

The English Standard (ESV) I feel is the best, but sometimes the American Standard is quite good (ASV) - the Old Testament translation is fairly strong, but NT is weaker. The Contemporary English Version (CEV) is very good, particularly the edition of the NT with textual notes by Daniel Wallace.

I like the CEV because it follows a textual theory between two extremes - it does not rely on the majority theory like the KJV nor the oldest verison theory, but approaches each textual problem on its own merit, which I think is good. The NIV text does this somewhat, but the translation is worthless.

I like a semi-literal translation that produces a dynamic equivalent, which is harder to do I think with Hebrew, which is why I like the ASV for Old Testament - it's literal and wooden with little effort to actually bring the Hebrew into modern English, so I feel that I can more closely identify certain elements in the language while reading faster in English.
 
The_Evelyonian

The_Evelyonian

Old-School Member
I use a lot of different versions but my personal favorite is the New Jerusalem Version. I like it because it's easy to understand and has excellent study aids.
 
sojourner

sojourner

Annoyingly Progressive Since 2006
angellous_evangellous said:
I use a variety of versions:

The English Standard (ESV) I feel is the best, but sometimes the American Standard is quite good (ASV) - the Old Testament translation is fairly strong, but NT is weaker. The Contemporary English Version (CEV) is very good, particularly the edition of the NT with textual notes by Daniel Wallace.

I like the CEV because it follows a textual theory between two extremes - it does not rely on the majority theory like the KJV nor the oldest verison theory, but approaches each textual problem on its own merit, which I think is good. The NIV text does this somewhat, but the translation is worthless.

I like a semi-literal translation that produces a dynamic equivalent, which is harder to do I think with Hebrew, which is why I like the ASV for Old Testament - it's literal and wooden with little effort to actually bring the Hebrew into modern English, so I feel that I can more closely identify certain elements in the language while reading faster in English.
Click to expand...
I also like the ESV, but I'm surprised you didn't list the NRSV...
 
A

angellous_evangellous

Guest
sojourner said:
I also like the ESV, but I'm surprised you didn't list the NRSV...
Click to expand...

I also use the NRSV - the Oxford Annotated. Over the years I've found that I despise it but I can't remember why. :p
 
SquareC

SquareC

Member
I think the main reason I'm so curious about this particular topic is that my grandfather was working on a new translation from the Hebrew and Greek when he died. I was fairly young. He had a doctorate in Theology and was a Southern Baptist Minister. I don't remember details, but I remember sitting by him while he debated with himself on different possible meanings of some particular word. He even bounced thoughts off my 10 - 12 year old self because he said I didn't have as many biases as he did. I didn't know what that meant then, I didn't figure that out until a while later.

Are some just the same Bible with modern grammar, or is it different translation choices, too?
 
M

may

Well-Known Member
i read many different translations but my favourite is the NEW WORLD TRANSLATION .as this translation is not clouded by many years of tradition ,and the aim of the translators was to get back to the original meanings of the pure word of God . and it is online as well.Read the Bible Online
 
A

angellous_evangellous

Guest
SquareC said:
Are some just the same Bible with modern grammar, or is it different translation choices, too?
Click to expand...

There are three basic theories that make bible versions different:

1) Textual theory - for the NT alone there are about 25,000 Greek texts to choose from, and another 35k Latin/other and three major theories to choose which one is favorable: oldest text, majority text, and best attested (which considers geographical attestation of a particular reading). I don't know much about the OT textual theory. But every Bible version has a different committee, and if they are translating they have to choose which texts they want to translate, making the translations different.

2) Grammar/Word Definitions in the original language (Hebrew/Greek/Syraic) - grammar and word definitions are constantly in shift, and while the texts that we have were written at a particular point in history and thus preserve the language as it was in the mind of the persons who wrote it, it is nevertheless an ongoing work in scholarship to define words within certain points in time. Because we're still learning what words meant in certain contexts, we need our most current translations to consider what we are still learning.

3) Grammar/Word Definitions in the secondary langauge (Enlgish) - English of course is always changing as well, and our translations need to be updated.
 
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