Over the years there have been numerous translations and versions of the Bible. There's KJV, NIV, ESV, NLT, WBS and so on and so on. Personally, I myself love the King James Version best since it is known as being the most accurate and closest to the Dead Sea Scrolls' writings.
But I understand not everybody reads the KJV and that evokes some questions from me... if you don't mind. What version of the Bible do you read? And why? Do you think it's straight from the actual Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek Septuagint of the scrolls? Or do you think a lot of versions nowadays are watered down, modern translations, fitting for our society?
I see a lot of people don't post in this forum, but come on, guys. Help a friend out. ;P I'm very curious to know your opinions and such. Thanks in advance!
Translations of the Bible
4 posts in this topic.
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KJV all the way, for me. I think a lot of peoples' arguments are that versions like the NIV or ESV are easier to read for kids. But the thing about that is, you really don't know when to draw the line. When you start leaving out really important parts in the Bible and twisting them just because we live in this modernized society is where I believe things go wrong.
I believe a lot of versions are very watered down. I mean, if you compare some of them to the old-fashioned KJV, the differences are so large, it's frightening!
And then people kind of look sideways at Christianity, I think, thinking "how can what you believe even be true when there are so many different versions of your truth"? -
My pastor explained this a couple year ago, so I hope I remember everything correctly. He said that the KJV was the first English version, so people assume it's the most accurate, but that's not necessarily true. He talked about the difficulties of translating, and how there isn't always a word for a word when you cross languages. He had a chart that shows the three styles of translation, and where each version was on the scale.
There's the word-for-word translaton- which, again, isn't always the most accurate (in Spanish, people would say "Casa Blanca"- House White, as opposed to our White House.) Often other languages have words that don't exist in English, so you could translate them in multiple ways- there's not just one correct way.
Then there's thought-for-thought, where they adjust the words to communicate the idea behind them, rather than the words themselves. (If you translate the phrase "Out of sight, out of mind" using the first method, you come up with "invisible insanity"- so sometimes the second method leads to greater accuracy.)
And the third method, which is paraphrasing- probably the most controversial, but it can be useful. These tend to read more like a study bible- they sometimes throw in extra context so you have a better understanding of what's going on, since we're reading about a different culture and everything, and may not realize everything the people of the day were understanding when Jesus spoke.
The KJV was translated by a king- he got saved, and then ordered his scribes to make English translations of the bible so all the people could read it. This has had an effect on the tone of that version- he didn't translate, but he was the editor. Again, there are countless ways of translating the same phrase from one language to another- his version ended up emphasizing the majesty of God as a king, since that was what he understood. While we know God is the King of kings, there are other important aspects of His nature that may have been glossed over. Also, the meaning of some English words have changes over time, so we've lost even that meaning.
If you're worried about accuracy- sine that version came out, we've found even older transcriptions of the original Greek and Hebrew bibles, and been able to translate from those, resulting in a greater resemblance to the very originals.
Personally, I use a variety of translations when reading. I'll read a few verses, then compare with other versions, because I know none of them is completely accurate, and I want to get a broader perspective than one version can give me. I primarily use the NKJV, only because someone gave it to me and it's the only paper bible I own.
I think this was the chart he used, if you're interested-
http://www.marcalanschelske.com/wp-cont ... ations.jpg -
Snazzy>>> Yes, yes! I totally agree with that! Once people start becoming accustomed to this "watered down" version, more Bibles are made conforming to that image and in the end, we got a completely ruined "Christian" society. : (
RoseandThorn>>> thanks for the chart, that's very interesting. I know the KJV isn't perfect, the translators made quite a few errors and actually, redid the actual translation of Matthew 28:19 to fit their beliefs. They were extremely biased, however I do think they did the best job they could. And most words they did add, a lot of KJV Bibles put in parentheses or brackets or even italics, which I appreciate. I don't know if you've heard of Strongs dictionary or concordance? (I know they don't just use it for KJV) It takes every word of the Bible and gives you the Greek or Hebrew definition for the actual word. I like it because then you can kind of see what is actually being said - its very enlightening.
And yes, it probably is best to read a variety of translations sometimes. It helps me some days and gives you more of a broader look at what's being said.
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