Bibles

[Wintersmith]

I freelance as a translator so I know how difficult translation can be and how meaning can be altered slightly or left to be easily misunderstood. That's the nature of translation.

Which is the best one? I don't know. I have a lot of studying left to do before being able to be close to answering that question, but what I do is read a version (whichever one), and whenever I feel like I don't understand or feel awkward about a verse, I'll go to a different translation to compare. Many times I even look up the original hebrew or greek (using articles, and the like, written by people who actually speak the languages) and I slowly piece together an overall picture. Of course, it would take a very long time to do this with each and every verse.

 

[Major]

How do you know what the right bible is to read? There are so many to choose from. I have heard that the King James bible is the only one you should read. Yet, everyone has a different opinion. How do you know you are reading the right bible when I do not know Latin, Greek or Hebrew to read any type of original text?

Is the Jewish bible a good bible? Why do Catholics have to have their own bible, which does not line up with the Word of God, in my opinion..... etc.

Not trying to cause any issues. I am simply wanting to understand this. I was reading online a few moments ago and i realized that the online bible I was reading has a ton of bibles / translations to choose from. It just made me stop and ask this question.

I have said that I use the ESV now, but Actually, If your purpose in reading the Bible is just to be religious, then any version that you like will work, but if you want to serve Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and you want to make sure you go to Heaven when you die, and you want to make sure that those you lead to Christ go to Heaven, then use a translation that is not copyrighted,

That means that it can be freely copied and distributed, is translated from a complete Greek New Testament, and is faithful to the individual words of God, such as the King James Version (KJV). The KJV, while it does not have modern English, has been tested and proven for many years and to my knowledge it is maybe the only none copywrited version.

 

[Pastor Gary]

Major - Have you ever looked at the New Living Translation, by Tyndale Publishing? Several colleagues and I evaluated it in 2006 and it is almost completely identical to the KJV, but in modern English and written in a way that has not changed word meanings or concepts. The NLT is a good daily reader, but if anyone has a question about a verse, simply find the same verse in a KJV and use a Strong's Concordance from Nelson Publishing (pre-1991 are best) to research the original wording. Works quite well.

 

[RDJ]

I have said that I use the ESV now, but Actually, If your purpose in reading the Bible is just to be religious, then any version that you like will work, but if you want to serve Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and you want to make sure you go to Heaven when you die, and you want to make sure that those you lead to Christ go to Heaven, then use a translation that is not copyrighted,

That means that it can be freely copied and distributed, is translated from a complete Greek New Testament, and is faithful to the individual words of God, such as the King James Version (KJV). The KJV, while it does not have modern English, has been tested and proven for many years and to my knowledge it is maybe the only none copywrited version.

You use the ESv?

is your purpose just to be religious?according to your statement this is true because the ESV is copyright.....the ESV ,niv ETC all fall under "DERIVATIVE WORKS"..which means that if a translation is to be copyrighted then it needs to be substantially different to other translations..which means that translators are forced to use words in a particular translation not because its the best word for the verse but because it needs to be different..this why all these english bibles read differently for this reason..its all about money..these bibles are not spirit lead but are driven by money gained through copyrights and therefore cannot give the spritual growth needed to sustain a true seeker of the kingdom of God..

this is just one of many reasons why i dont use any other bible but the KJV

 

[Ravindran]

How do you know what the right bible is to read? There are so many to choose from. I have heard that the King James bible is the only one you should read. Yet, everyone has a different opinion. How do you know you are reading the right bible when I do not know Latin, Greek or Hebrew to read any type of original text?

Is the Jewish bible a good bible? Why do Catholics have to have their own bible, which does not line up with the Word of God, in my opinion..... etc.

Not trying to cause any issues. I am simply wanting to understand this. I was reading online a few moments ago and i realized that the online bible I was reading has a ton of bibles / translations to choose from. It just made me stop and ask this question.

This is a fair question and have been discussed a lot in the past. There are 2 things here. One is on translation and the other on the canon itself. Catholics have a different canon compared to Protestant canon.
If we are just talking about translations, frankly I don't think it would make any difference to your spiritual life. If you are doing very deep Bible Study, then you have to anyway look at all the translations and even original Hebrew/Greek. Personally I have been using ESV and NLT. I have heard good things from well established Bible scholars. I find NLT to be very easy to understand. I find ESV to be powerful with the vocabulary. KJV is too hard for me to understand.

 

[Major]

You use the ESv?

is your purpose just to be religious?according to your statement this is true because the ESV is copyright.....the ESV ,niv ETC all fall under "DERIVATIVE WORKS"..which means that if a translation is to be copyrighted then it needs to be substantially different to other translations..which means that translators are forced to use words in a particular translation not because its the best word for the verse but because it needs to be different..this why all these english bibles read differently for this reason..its all about money..these bibles are not spirit lead but are driven by money gained through copyrights and therefore cannot give the spritual growth needed to sustain a true seeker of the kingdom of God..

this is just one of many reasons why i dont use any other bible but the KJV

You said...…...
"is your purpose just to be religious?"

Thank you for the question.

Personally the only purpose I have had in the last 40 years or so is spreading the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I do not know how many KJV Bibles I own. I also own at least one of just about every translation you can name. I simply meant that "personaaly" I have found myself using the ESV more than the others.

I grew up and was educated with the KJV and as far as I know it is the only non copyrighted translation, but I have found that the English Standard Version (ESV) is an "essentially literal" translation of the Bible in contemporary English. It was created by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors, and the ESV Bible emphasizes "word-for-word" accuracy, literary excellence, and depth of meaning. Suited for personal reading, public worship.

 

[RDJ]

You said...…...
"is your purpose just to be religious?"

Thank you for the question.

Personally the only purpose I have had in the last 40 years or so is spreading the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I do not know how many KJV Bibles I own. I also own at least one of just about every translation you can name. I simply meant that "personaaly" I have found myself using the ESV more than the others.

I grew up and was educated with the KJV and as far as I know it is the only non copyrighted translation, but I have found that the English Standard Version (ESV) is an "essentially literal" translation of the Bible in contemporary English. It was created by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors, and the ESV Bible emphasizes "word-for-word" accuracy, literary excellence, and depth of meaning. Suited for personal reading, public worship.

Im confused about this statement..these are your words Major.and i qoute..."I have said that I use the ESV now, but Actually, If your purpose in reading the Bible is just to be religious, then any version that you like will work, but if you want to serve Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and you want to make sure you go to Heaven when you die, and you want to make sure that those you lead to Christ go to Heaven, then use a translation that is not copyrighted"

The ESV is copyrighted...according to you, this bible is not good if you are serious about salvation...yet you claim its your favourite..

 

[Major]

Im confused about this statement..these are your words Major.and i qoute..."I have said that I use the ESV now, but Actually, If your purpose in reading the Bible is just to be religious, then any version that you like will work, but if you want to serve Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and you want to make sure you go to Heaven when you die, and you want to make sure that those you lead to Christ go to Heaven, then use a translation that is not copyrighted"

The ESV is copyrighted...according to you, this bible is not good if you are serious about salvation...yet you claim its your favourite..

I could say ooops, I made a mistake but I stand corrected and thank you for pointing that out.

As I have stated, I was raised with and educated from the KJV and although what you said is correct, I have found that the ESV is a good fit for me now at this point in my life. Also, may I say to you that there is wisdom in using several versions for Bible study, since no translation can express everything found in the original languages. We are blessed to have several reliable modern translations that help us understand the Word of God more clearly. If our mission is to clearly communicate the Word of God to a lost world and to God’s people, then we ought to think carefully about our choice of translations to accomplish that purpose.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Saul Mine]

How do you know what the right bible is to read? There are so many to choose from. I have heard that the King James bible is the only one you should read. Yet, everyone has a different opinion. How do you know you are reading the right bible when I do not know Latin, Greek or Hebrew to read any type of original text?

Is the Jewish bible a good bible? Why do Catholics have to have their own bible, which does not line up with the Word of God, in my opinion..... etc.

Not trying to cause any issues. I am simply wanting to understand this. I was reading online a few moments ago and i realized that the online bible I was reading has a ton of bibles / translations to choose from. It just made me stop and ask this question.

You need to remember that the bible was not written in English. That gets in the way all the time. A translation is when you replace each word in the original language with an exact equivalent in the target language. It is possible to translate between Greek and Hebrew, but not English. English requires capital letters at the start of each sentence and other places, and punctuation in certain places. Any such change is someone's opinion, and that changes a translation to a version. For instance every time the text says "pneuma hagion", the interpreter must decide if that means God, so it has to be capitalized, or God's gift to believers, which is not capitalized. That is why all English bibles are called versions.

So it is proper to ask if a passage is correctly translated. We have various study aids and references to answer that question.
You only need five books to study the bible:
1. A King James bible. Other versions are ok, but all the reference materials are keyed to the KJV.
2. An English dictionary.
3. An Interlinear Greek-English Translation Of The New Testament, any brand.
4. An exhaustive concordance. There are several brands, but everybody seems to use Strong's. I like Young's because it is easier to use.
5. A Hebrew lexicon, if you study the old testament.

Here is a sample study. Suppose you are reading and your attention is caught by Colossians 1:17 "And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." The Interlinear New Testament says "consist*ed" which means the word was translated by a different tense or case from the original. You look that word up in the concordance. The root meaning is "place together". It is used twelve times and ten of them are translated "approve" or "commend". Why is this usage translated differently? You check the other verses for context and conclude that this usage should have been translated the same as the others, "commended". Some people object because they use that verse to support the trinity. Well, it does not support it. And that is how you learn to rightly divide the word of truth, as it says in 2 Timothy 2:15.