This is a repost of a blog written in August 2020

The very first Bible that was given to me was The Good News Bible.  Over the years I’ve come across the King James Version, the New King James Version and probably a few other versions.

 

Did I ever think about what all the different versions were about? Nope… Did I care? Nope… BUT 🙂 I have just discovered that there are different types of the Bible.  What the? I mean if learning the Bible wasn’t hard enough, now there are different versions!!!!! 🙂

 

Ok, so in all seriousness, God only wrote one Bible, the different versions are actually differing translations of that Bible.  The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the New Testament was written in Greek.  If we could all read Hebrew and Greek then there would be no need to have different versions.

 

God created the differences in language at the Tower of Babel, so he must have known that his inspired word would cope with being translated into different languages.

 

The first English translation was done from 1320-1384 by John Wycliffe and the translation was based upon the Latin Vulgate. The King James Version that I mentioned above was first translated in 1611 and is the most popular Bible for English-speaking people.

 

Most Church’s have a common version for their primary use because it:

1. fosters unity

2. facilitates memorisation

3. assists quotation and recall

4. aids doctrinal discussion, preaching and teaching.

 

 

There are two groups of manuscripts the English translations are based on, now for me this didn’t make sense, but I feel that I need to share it with you so you get the whole picture 🙂

 

 

Naturally, the versions of the Bible that are based on the Majority Text are the preferred translations over the Minority Text.  We also need to remember that translations are not inspired by God (see my blog The Bible is the Word of God), only the original documents (called the ‘autographs’) are the inspired word of God.

 

In addition to the two groups mentioned above, there are three methods of translations – as a side note, I found this really really interesting 🙂

 

Literal Translation (word for word) – the translators attempt to use the closest  equivalent word or phrase in English

 

This translation may be harder to read, but they are the best translations as they the closest equivalent word to the original inspired words of God.

 

Dynamic Equivalent (meaning for meaning) – The translators attempt to express in English the meaning of the original, rather than using the exact words.

 

These translations are easier to read, however they sometimes omit subtle clues to the meaning of the passage.

 

Paraphrase (thought for thought) – The translators try to express the thought or lesson behind the words.

 

I really like these translations as they can help us to understand the thought behind the passage, but we need to remember that they are only the translators opinion and therefore are better to be used as a helpful study guide, not as your main bible.

 

All the translations convey the same message, but the best version for us to use is one that is based on the Majority Text that is also a literal translation, so basically the King James Version or the New King James Version.

 

The Bible App that I use on my phone/tablet/computer can change to whatever version I want to use at the time and I love swapping between the versions so I can see what each different versions say. See my recourses page to read about the app.

 

The ones I use the most are:

 

KJV – King James Version

NKJV – New King James Version

NIV – New International Version

AMP – Amplified Bible

 

Here are some examples of the different versions:

 

Literal Translations – Word for Word

 

KJV – King James Version

NKJV – New King James Version

RSV – Revised Standard Version

NASB – New American Standard

AMP – Amplified Bible

ESV – English Standard Version

 

Dynamic Equivalent – Meaning for Meaning

 

NIV – New International Version

REB – Revised English Bible

GNB – Good News Bible

 

Paraphrase – Thought for Thought

 

TLB – The Living Bible

 

So, now you are either really confused or really excited like I was when I learnt this 🙂