Bible Translations

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

We are doing Genesis in my Bible study this year, and since the book of Genesis is literally falling out of my Bible (this could be a good thing), I decided it was time to get a new one.

My first thought was to get another New International Version (NIV), since that is what I have been using for many years and have become familiar with, but then I decided to do a little research and found out some interesting things. (Thanks, Melissa, for getting me started.)

There is one school of thought which believes that the King James Version (KJV) is the only accurate English translation. It was taken from the "original" Greek and Hebrew. Apparently the manuscripts used for modern translations have been changed significantly through the years. Of course the very earliest copies have been lost, but the older they are, the less chance there is for human error.

Another issue is how those languages are translated into English. I have partially read a book called The Word of God in English, by Leland Ryken, which uses phrases like "dynamic equivalence," "functional equivalence," and "formal equivalence," to describe different methods of translation. I don’t necessarily recommend this book unless you like to wade through a lot of big words (in which case you might as well read the KJV), but what it amounts to is that things can be translated either literally, or the translator may try to guess what the Author meant (as opposed to actually said), translating ideas instead of words. The NIV is an example of this. Some translators also change words to what have become their modern meanings, depriving us of cultural and historical information.

So the question to ask is, how far does a translation differ from what God actually said? Obviously, if you are reading the Bible, you are seeking the true word of God, so you would want a translation that is as accurate as possible, but most people also want something that is easy to read and understand.

So, with all of this to consider, I decided to go with the English Standard Version (ESV), which my church has been using for a while now. It is supposedly a literal translation taken from early texts of Hebrew and Greek, translated word for word into modern English. I certainly don’t claim this is the only answer, and my NIV will now go on the shelf with my KJV, NASB, RSV and Living Bible to use as a reference tool when I don’t understand something.

I have to believe that God will get His message to us one way or the other, for He is far more powerful than any human translator, but whatever translation you use, I always recommend praying for Him to reveal His truth to you before you begin reading.

Cool Thing To Know: Biblegateway.com is a great tool for Bible study. It can be used as a concordance or to look up a passage (and has every translation I have ever heard of). I have also printed off chapters when I am doing studies that involve marking up my Bible and mark that up instead.