Been shopping for a Bible lately? Been a bit overwhelmed?
Type “bible” into the Amazon search bar and you’ll get 70,000 hits. That, of course, includes titles such as The Backyard Chicken Keeper’s Bible and The Motorcycle Suspension Bible, but if you narrow your search to “Christian Bible” you’ll still end up with quite a few.
There are men’s Bibles, women’s Bibles, kids’ Bibles, teens’ Bibles, journaling Bibles, Bibles with copious notes from your favorite Bible teacher, and on, and on, and on.
But let’s talk translations.
If you go to BibleGateway.com, type in a New Testament reference, and choose the “in all English translations” option, it will give you, last time I checked, sixty-three.
So if you’re searching for a new Bible, how do you choose? What is the best Bible translation out there?
Maybe we should begin with this question:
Why are there so many?
What we English speakers call the Old Testament was recorded in Hebrew and Aramaic, but then was translated into Greek, then Latin, then English.
Our New Testament was first recorded in ancient Greek, then translated into Latin, and then into English.
That’s a lot of translating.
Different methods of translation:
By the time the Bible was translated into English, the Greek language had evolved significantly, and biblical Hebrew and Latin were dead. People who had never known the languages of the original texts were trying to discern what the writers meant.
And guess what? Not everyone agreed.
And the multiplying of translations began.
There are two major methodologies for translating the original languages into English:
Word-for-word, meaning as literal as possible, and
Thought-for-thought, which is more dynamic.
Word-for-word translations strive to translate each Hebrew or Greek word into the English word with the closest meaning.
Familiar translations considered to be word-for-word translations are the NASB and the KJV.
Interlinear Bibles are the strictest word-for-word translations. They usually have the words of the original language on one line with the English word that is closest in meaning directly below it.
Interlinears are meant for study, not for reading. The string of English words running below the Greek or Hebrew characters above them can make reading difficult.
Thought-for-thought translations try to reproduce the original text using more modern language to communicate its meaning. Two popular thought-for-thought translations are the NIV and the NLT.
So let’s compare a word-for-word translation with a thought-for-thought translation.
NKJV is word-for-word; NIV is thought-for-thought:
“Why in all things it behooved him to be made like to his brothers, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. ~ Hebrews 2:17–18 (NKJV)“For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. ~ Hebrews 2:17–18 (NIV)
Both express the same thought but the thought is expressed in very different vocabulary: the NKJV with more poetic prose and the NIV in understandable text.
Each methodology has its strengths and weaknesses, and most translations fall somewhere on a spectrum.
Here’s a handy chart:
Bible Translation Guide, courtesy of God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society, Orange Park, FL 32067
In addition to the wide spectrum of Bible translations are Bible paraphrases, retellings of translations which strive to maintain the meaning of the original texts while presenting a product that is as easy to understand as possible.
To do this successfully, the translators may have to appeal to their own understanding of what the writer meant rather than stick to a strict translation of the original text.
Perhaps the most well-known paraphrase is The Message, written by pastor and theologian Eugene Peterson.
Which type is a more accurate translation of the original texts?
Word-for-word would seem to be the obvious answer, but not so fast. Translation from one language to another is not a simple matter of word substitution.
1. Different languages structure sentences differently. Here is an example of a strict word-for-word translation of the Greek words of John 3:16:
“For so loved God the world, that his Son, the only begotten, he gave, that everyone who is believing on him may not perish, but may life unto the age.”
Anyone who knows John 3:16 from an English translation can deduce its meaning from this strictly word-for-word translation, but imagine if you were reading it for the first time!
2. There may have been no English word to match. Or there may have been many! In either case, the translators had to choose the English word they felt best communicated the original thought.
Here’s a good example:
Let Your tender mercies come speedily to meet us… (Psalm 79:8) (NKJV)
The Hebrew word for “tender mercies” is racham. Five English translations translate racham five different ways: “tender mercies,” “compassion,” “mercy,” “pity,” and “help.” Each carries its own nuance.
What did the Hebrew writer of the Psalm mean by racham? A translator had to make that decision. And guess what? Not all agreed.
In this case, the five choices didn’t stray too far from each other, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes the choices lead to controversy. And more Bible translations.
3. Each language has unique idioms and figures of speech. Figures of speech and idioms are developed from real-life experiences, from the world around us, and from, well, who knows where.
If I say someone “kicked the bucket,” will the Chinese exchange student staying with me have any idea what I mean? Even I don’t know where that awful expression came from. Do you?
So how can we possibly understand all the strange idioms we see in the Scriptures? They were drawn from everyday experiences in a completely foreign culture some 2,000 to 3,000 years before the Bible was translated into English.
Understandably, some eighth-century Englishman may have missed it a few times.
No Bible translation will be perfect.
As with all things man attempts, no Bible translation will be perfect. The Bible translations sold in bookstores and on reputable websites were put together by respected theologians working together to bring the greatest meaning and relevance from the ancient Scriptures to us.
Bible translators attempt to balance reliability with readability and accuracy with understandability to produce the most theologically sound rendering of God’s word.
A more relevant question is, “What will I use my Bible for?”
If you are simply looking for a Bible to read, go to BibleGateway.com or another site that offers multiple translations and read a few. Maybe choose some from the diagram above.
Which do you most enjoy reading? That’s the one!
Still not sure? Can I make a suggestion? The New Living Translation, a thought-for-thought translation, is my favorite. It’s based on solid research yet reads easily. I read it for personal edification as well as use it as a tool alongside other translations when I study.
When you want to dive deeper
Take advantage of all the wonderful free resources available online. When studying a passage or a topic, don’t settle for one translation; choose a few. Thanks to great sites like BibleGateway.com, BibleStudyTools.com, and Logos.com, we can read multiple translations without stuffing our shelves or emptying our pocketbooks.
While I love all the wonderful resources available online, for me, there’s still nothing like a real paper and print book. If you want to invest in another translation for your study library, I suggest you get one on the opposite end of the spectrum from the one you have.
If the one you have is thought-for-thought, get a word-for-word translation. You’ll see things you haven’t seen before and gain a deeper understanding. If the notes and commentary are scholarly rather than sectarian, they won’t differ much between translations.
But if they do disagree, don’t be discouraged. Don’t give in to confusion! Instead, get curious! Consider it an opportunity to discover more. Consider it an invitation to pray.
Remember, the Bible is not an answer book or an instruction manual — it’s a collection of sacred writings prepared and preserved for our meditation before God, our edification, and our study within a community.