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Go to the source! Discover what the Bible says about …
These pages are designed to aid study or investigation for Christian discipleship through individual Bible study, Cell groups, Home groups, or meeting one to one. The questions could be used alone allowing each person to use their own Bible.
Introduction
Which Bible is right for me? Choices can be so daunting that it can put one off even trying. There are all sorts of translations of the Bible, especially in English. So there is the opportunity to choose one that suits your circumstances and needs. But don’t worry there is help at hand, including a web site to let you try out versions, and they have a shop to sell you one.
Help Zone
- Why all the versions? - Different styles of translating from the original.
- The range of translation - From communicating thoughts to literal. Word for word.
- Abbreviations - The names of the versions are often abbreviated to a few letters.
- Try On-Line - A link and suggested passages to use for comparison.
- Personal choices - For your information.
- Church use - If you are reading with people, it can help to have the same version.
The Bible was written in Greek (the New Testament), and Hebrew and Aramaic (the Old Testament). Any English Bible is a translation from these ancient languages. When a Bible is called a version, it is merely a different translation. The versions are not different Bibles, they all say the same thing, with a different style of translation.
When translating between languages there is a tension between getting across the precise wording and getting across the heart. There is no correct place to sit on this range, rather the best place depends on what purpose you have in reading.
- A literal translation for reading analytically focusing on specific words.
- Good if you want to get as close to the original as possible.
- Literal translations can lose the heart in focusing on detail.
- Literal translations keep some of the structure of the original language sometimes making awkward reading: ex [and answering them he said “I tell you ...” instead of simply “Jesus answered ...” ]
- Examples - New American Standard, English Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, King James Version and New King James.
- A ‘rigorous translation’ allows for accurate English grammar, while largely translating each original word with an English word.
- There is a good balance of being analytical and readable. Most words are translated directly from the original.
- There is good readability and understanding of the whole.
- Example The New International Version. This is probably the most popular English version. (New Living Translation (used in these pages) and God’s Word are similar but sit some where between rigorous and dynamic equivalent).
- A dynamic equivalent takes a sentence or two and gets across the meaning.
- A dynamic equivalent will take the original thought and translate into English. There will be interpretation and expansion to make the English clearer.
- It would be unwise in a translation of this type to look at individual words too analytically. Its strength is that a sentence will get across a thought.
- Examples - New Century Version, Good News.
- A paraphrase takes the underlying meaning and writes it in ones own words. This can have a contemporary feel to it getting across the passion of the text.
- Here one trusts the translator to have a good sense of the text and of the way God works in order to give a clear understanding in English of what the original author meant in Hebrew or Greek.
- The challenge at this level is that with ambiguity, the translator will have to choose between the possibilities. It could be the original meaning spreads across a broad idea, and the translator has to choose a narrower meaning.
- You need to be aware that subtle nuances are more likely to come from the translator than the original.
- Examples - The Message, The Book, Living Bible.
Many of the versions have a three or four word title - E.G. English Standard Version. These are commonly abbreviated to their initial letters - ESV. Here are some examples
- Authorised Version AV (The same as the KJV)
- American Standard Bible ASB
- English Standard Version ESV
- God’s Word GW
- Good News (also called Today’s English Version) TEV
- Jerusalem Bible JB
- Living Bible LB
- New American Standard Bible NASB
- New Century Version NCV (Used extensively in this site)
- New International Version NIV
- New Living Translation NLT
- The Message Mess, or MSG
Try reading passages from different Bibles using: www.biblegateway.com
Try comparing these passages in various versions:
- John 3 (A narrative passage)
- Romans 3 (A teaching passage)
- Psalm 45 (A poetic passage)
Generally I use the NIV. For the majority of the site I have used the simpler NLT, this helps me because it goes an extra stage of translation so I don’t need to explain complicated words. I like the Message for a contemporary sound. I use the NASB and ESV as reference if I am concerned about precise wording.
It is a good idea if your church uses a specific Bible to use that one, at least in the church context for keeping things simple. It can be confusing reading one translation in your hand while someone else is reading a different translation out loud. There are also some churches who have a very strong feeling about which translation to use. Sometimes going in community impacts our personal choices.
Page appears in Beginnings titled -Choose Bible
BIBLE VERSIONS
