Which is the best Bible Translation?

Question

Question for Christians (only those who believe Christ is God eternal so no Mormons of JW's).

Which do you consider the best Bible translation and why?

Thanks

Answer 1

The King James Version, New King James Version, and New American Standard Bible are all excellent word for word translations.



Bibles like the NIV are good "dynamic equivalent" translations meaning they are "idea for idea" translations.

Answer 2

Here is exceprts from a fascinating book by author Jason David BeDuhn an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at No. Arizona University in Flagstaff. He did a comparison of 9 different bible translations as follows:



King James Version (KJV)

Amplified Bible (AB)

Living Bible (LB)

New American Bible (NAB)

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

New International Version (NIV)

New World Translation (NW)

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Today's English Version (TEV)



Here is a few things he had to say:



Examples of translation of the Greek word "proskuneo", used 58 times in the New Testament. The word is translated various ways as worship, do obeisance, fall down ononess knees, bow before. Scriptures discussed include Matt. 18:26; Rev. 3:9; Mark 15:18,19; Matt. 2:1,28,11; Matt. 14:33; Matt. 28:9



In our exploration of this issue, we can see how theological bias has been the determining context for the choices made by all of the translations except the NAB & NW...Translators seem to feel the need to add to the New Testament support for the idea that Jesus was recognized to be God.



Regarding Matt. 28:16,17, where all versions except the NW use "worship" where the NW uses "did obeisance:" "Here all translations except the NW have recourse to "worship"...a rendering which makes no sense in this context...This contradiction seems to be missed by all the translators except those who prepared the NW."



In most of his writings the New World Translation comes out the best. You can Google his book. His writings are unbias as far as a particular religion and slanting it towards that.

Answer 3

Well, that depends on your purpose. This is a step-by-step guide

http://www.BibleSelector.com



but here are my "top picks"...in each category, listed in order of preference



<<< general accuracy and reliability >>>

* New Jerusalem Bible

* Revised English Bible

* New Revised Standard Version (particularly for "liberal" Christians)

* Holman Christian Standard Bible (particularly for conservative Protestants)

* New International Version (particularly for conservative evangelical Christians)



<<< original language word study >>>

* New American Standard Bible (for 66-book Bibles)

* Revised Standard Version (for more inclusive Bibles)



<<< very easy-to-read >>>

* Contemporary English Version (a Bible for 5th graders and above)

* Good News Translation (for Roman Catholics and for adults who dislike reading the Bible)

* New International Reader's Version (a Bible for 3rd to 4th graders)





If you want more details regarding why I chose these particular versions, please e-mail me here or from the web site. Here are pages that "list" some of the pros and cons of many of these versions, but the first link will explain *how* each of these things are a pro or con:

http://www.bibleselector.com/literalness.html

http://www.bibleselector.com/reading_level.html

http://www.bibleselector.com/inclusive.html

http://www.bible-reviews.com/charts_accuracy.html





Jim

Answer 4

New World Translation published by Jehovah's Witnesses is the most accurate Bible ever published.

Answer 5

I'd say you should use the KJV, but they have also taken certain liberties when translating the Word, so I recommend getting some computer software with KJV Strong's Concordance. That way you can check what the original Greek/Hebrew said alongside KJV translation.



Xiphos and Bibletime are good free programs, and blueletterbible.com is a good website for strong's. Logos isn't free, but it's quite advanced. I also use some other software, but I'm not quite sure what it's called.

Answer 6

King James Version or the New Standard Edition....



http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2013&version=KJV

Answer 7

I believe the Kings James Version is.

Answer 8

1611 King James Version Bible w/references by E.W. Bullinger(stay out of the appendices for lack of accuracy, or at least until you can decipher the truth better with the other book I reccomend which is "The Strongest Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible" by Zondervan so you can go back to the original manuscripts for meaning, unless you have a couple of years to study Ancient Hebrew and Greek for yourself and be your own concordance like I did, but Strong's is the most acurate concordance out of all of the references, and there is no bias in either book(as long as you stay out of Bullinger's appendices which is where all critics discredit ALL of his work instead of the broken parts in His appendices).

Answer 9

I would have to go with one that is based on the majority text. KJV, AV, NKVJ, KVJ2000, Jay Green etc.

There are some sources of information like that of Wilbur Pickering who in his _Identity of the Greek New Testament Text_ points to the validity of the majority text.

Answer 10

It is not a problem of translation dear, it is a problem of versions that are different from each other: Pray tell me, does Bernabas' Bible differ from King James version in terms of translation or they are totally different? Does the Catholic Bible(73 books) have the same number of books like the protestant bible (66 books)? Why there are whole verses or paragraphs added or deleted in each new version?

Answer 11

In English, I really like the New American Standard Bible (NASB). It's widely held to be a very accurate translation, and it's in clear modern language.

Answer 12

The first man to translate the bible from the most reliable Greek texts was William Tyndale. His "Ploughboy Edition" is actually the best New Testament translation.



The Geneva Bible is pretty good, it's what I read now because it has the entire Jewish scripture (including Apocrypha).



The King James was translated by, basically men appointed by the English government, so the Apocrypha is gone, and it's watered down with eloquent and poetic words that diminish the real meaning. In other words, there was an agenda to remove things that they didn't want people to know was part of God's word.



Don't rely on any texts rendered from the Alexandrian manuscripts, or the Westcot & Hort blather.

Answer 13

I teach the Bible in a college. If you are buying your first Bible, would recommend the New Living Translation (NLT). This translation is easy to read, so you will be understand what you are reading without much difficulty. Once you are comfortable with what the Bible says, you can go deeper by getting a more literal translation, such as the New King James Version (NKJV). Take care.

Answer 14

I like the New Living Translation but you can see all the different Christian translations at the website below. Just type in (for example) Genesis 1:1 and it will pull up all the different translations of that particular verse.

Answer 15

That would depend upon the language you understand.



English is better for those who understand English.



Spanish is better for those who understand Spanish. You get the idea.



Get what you can understand. It won't help if you cannot read it.

Answer 16

Learn hebrew and septuagint greek, any translation is a corruption of the full intended message.

Answer 17

The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. Published by Jehovah's Witnesses.

Answer 18

KJV