Question:
There are dozens of Biblical translations,each claiming to be the"true"translation.Which one is the"true" one?
Gatun
2011-06-16 07:43:49 UTC
If each claims to be the "true" translation, doesn't that mean no translation is valid? They are all bogus.

So try and stay on subject and tell me which one is the really, really "true" translation and why.
31 answers:
Lonesome Polecat
2011-06-16 07:48:16 UTC
I have a friend who is a devote Xian. He teaches ancient Greek and Hebrew at the doctoral level at one of the best theological schools in the world. I asked him if there were any valid translations of the Bible because something is always lost in translation and he said "No, none of the translations are accurate and none will ever be."
Truth
2011-06-16 08:15:46 UTC
Some people claim that the KJV is the only true translation. The JW claim that their New World is the only true translation.



People who know what a translation is don't claim any translation is a true translation. Any translation will loose something in translation. I grew up in Texas. There are things you can say in Spanish, that don't mean the same thing when you translate them word for word into English and visa versa.



There is, however a difference in scholarship. The KJV has good scholarship, but didn't have access to some of the manuscripts that we have now (Dead Sea Scrolls). The American Standard is well respected by people who read Hebrew and Greek. I would say it is probably your best option. There are other translations that also have good scholarship behind them



The NIV, the Message, and any paraphrase are meant to be easy to read and understand. Some scholarship is given up to accommodate that. It is comparable to the difference between Victor Hugo's book (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) and Disney's movie. Disney's movie is fun. It's accessable, but it doesn't delve the depths that the book does. The Message is a good Bible to give your kids, but it doesn't have the depth that other translations have.



The New World Translation is made specifically to promote a specific doctrine.
?
2011-06-16 07:48:43 UTC
Biblical scholars over the past centuries have all agreed that the King James Version is the most accurate translation of the original Hebrew and Greek texts. You must remember that it is not always possible to translate one language perfectly into another because sometimes there is not a word in one to express the exact meaning of a word in the other. Then, study must be made to use the right words to convey the proper meaning. This is how the KJV was written.



These facts are proven by the Dead Sea Scrolls. When they were discovered, a copper scroll was found with the book of Isaiah inscribed in it. It was completely preserved. After study, it was found to be as close of a translation as is possible from Hebrew into English (KJV). Other pieces of the Scrolls that have been able to be reassembled have shown the same result.
?
2011-06-16 07:47:48 UTC
Translations are interpretive. There can be no exact translation because languages have subtle differences in meaning and word meanings change over time as people's use of language changes. The King James translation might have been most accurate 500 years ago and some other version might be most accurate now.

Based on what I have read and the scholarly articles in the introduction, as well as the clearness of the language and footnotes, I think the Oxford Bible is the very best translation available. Even so, many would argue that this translation leaves out the poetry of the OT. It's basically highly subjective.
?
2011-06-16 08:17:58 UTC
Hey what you mean which translation is true that's a wrong question they is no real translation what you mean true translation , For your own info the bible was written in Greek mind you the Idea of translating it to many different translations is not to have THE true translation as you seem to be implying no its the diversity and creativity that people have and the fun that comes with it to unscramble this spiritual ancient book the goal is too make it louder and clearer and simpler and aligning it with the current language in society the true translation is the Greek the original manuscript its just that the Greek language is richer than the english language in words they are some greek words that are difficult to explain in english and that have utterly no translation in english , so plz stop insulting others and embarrassing yourself there by ruining your hard gained reputation thank you .
2011-06-16 08:12:01 UTC
First of all you need to distinguish:



Translations

Editions

Versions



Translations are not based on 'true' and 'not true'. Different translations are equally true, they are translations in different languages.

Editions are made up by people much later where they add things (Jehoavah Witnesses added things so theirs is an edition),

Versions are honest attempts to take the ancient manuscripts and faithfully copy the writings into a new "version".



All versions are equally valid. All translations are equally valid. Editions are not true.



Editions may say they are translations but the additional text they have is not found anywhere else:

Joseph Smith "Translation"

New World "Translation"



Some people argue about which Translations and Versions are most correct, but the issue will never be fully resolved. Sufficiece to say, all of the Translations and Versions work with each other and come to the same fundamental conclusions about Christianity.



Only the editions come up with various sects, cults, and heresies. Avoid the editions. Choose the Translation and Version that works best for you.



Some people say the King James Version is the best. But they base that on their own assumption (they call faith) about it. Even the translators of the King James said in their preface that they respect a better version to come later, but they did their best.
kaganate
2011-06-16 08:11:38 UTC
No clue on "New Testament" translations



With respect to the "Old Testament" (ie: the Hebrew Bible) -

Jews learn the Hebrew Bible in the original, using commentaries to explain the ancient idioms which appear there and case law going back to the time of king David and earlier to understand what the law sections mean.



The best translation of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) is the new JPS (Jewish Publication Society) edition.

Of course, since English is fundamentaly different from Hebrew, even better are the individual books with substantial commentary.

In all cases they started from the original texts and employ scholars who are as comfortible with the culture of three thousand years ago as that of ten years ago.

I was fortunate enough to have one of these scholars as my prophesor at NYU. He was conversant in Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, as well as the three main semetic languages that have been dead for three thousand years (ie: he could read Gilgamesh in the original).



NOTE: The King James is among the worst!

It is translated to English from a Latin translation of a Greek translation.

And the choice of ambiguous words was made taking into heavy consideration the political propaganda needs of King James.
2011-06-16 07:47:40 UTC
Um, no translation claims to be the 'true' translation. As a Christian I have used multiple translations.



All translation is is the bible written in the most common form of English. Because English changes over time it becomes hard to understand an early English translations. Therefore they constantly update the English translations to modern English.



Now, some like only the KJV translation, because it was the first English translation but that is not to say the other translations are false.



And no, they are not 'bogus'. They compared the dead sea scrolls to the translations and proved that the translations are the exact same as they originally were.



EDIT: We are not dodging the question. All the translations are basically the same.



Some personally believe the KJV is the best translation due to the fact that it is the direct translation. Some newer translations are a hint off here and there with some random words but not to the point that it becomes a false translation.
Avotavo
2011-06-16 07:57:39 UTC
Many answers will tell you the biblical translation they believe in is right but I think you should go find the one you think is right. I also believe that even if most of the translations are wrong they must have been inspired by the truth because in order to be"wrong" their must be a "right" and in order to "lie' their must be a "truth".



The true translation is the first translation the Torah is the truth and their is nothing really to translate for all the Torah tells is the history and the laws the jews must carry with them and that includes the born jews and the convert jew which are the same

In my Opinion the Torah is the truth
?
2011-06-16 08:00:08 UTC
I don't think every translation

claims to be 'the true translation' (whatever that means)



new ones come out all the time-

translating from language to language is not an exact science



I just bought my nephew 'The Action Bible' -it's formated like a comic book!



in my humble opinion- the 'best' bible is the one you read and apply to your life



I grew up in the NIV- but now, I love The Message



God can be found in all of them:)



I'm sorry you think they're not worth reading-

you're missing out on a better life

God loves you and He wants you to know Him:)
no1home2day
2011-06-16 07:48:29 UTC
Well, when you start with a false premise, your conclusion will likewise be wrong!



Nobody is claiming that THEIR translation is the only "true" one! That is just another ugly straw man you've torn down! (And in case you weren't aware, the only real value of a straw man is that it exposes the user thereof to be a liar so every one can see it for themselves.)



They are TRANSLATIONS - you get that? Do you understand what the word "TRANSLATION" even means? Go look it up!



Is there one true, right and only way to invite some one to dinner? You can say the same thing many different ways, and they could all mean the very same thing, and they can all be true and right!



This is just so bogus! It isn't the translations that are bogus - your question is bogus!
Old Timer Too
2011-06-16 08:15:49 UTC
Heh. "True", huh? That's what you're looking for?



Seriously, there are a couple of factors to consider:



1 - "truth" and its cousin, "true" are subjective to the individual. In other words, truth is what you perceive to be fact, but often is either:

a - missing information and therefore, not entirely accurate -- even to the point of being a half-truth

b - appears to be something that it is not -- perhaps a straw man imitation of the original.



2 - a translation is only as good as the translators can make it at the time of translation.



Our language is constantly changing and therefore, words that are defined one way often come to be defined another way. A good example is the word, "gay" which originally meant (almost exclusively so), "happy" or "joyful". It was even used as a man or woman's name. Today, the word has lost those meanings and now one thinks only of homosexually-oriented people. While that might be an extreme, another example is "square", which used to refer to honesty and integrity, but deteriorated into a denigrating word for a person with similar characteristics (honest, et al). But even today, that word is no longer part of the common vocabulary.



In other words, there is no one "true" translation. All are subject to the varagies of our language. For that reason, more recent translations, which often reflect trends in our society, having use for only so long. And those which try to be politically correct are often a disaster, rejected almost immediately as being "untrue" to the original language.



Some translations aren't translations at all, but are subjective to the translator and their ideas of what is correct. These are also short lived.



So what makes a translation popular and why, of all translations, has the King James (in its current form) remained so popular over time? First, one must understand that it was _not_ translated by King James (who leaned toward Roman Catholicism), but by 47 Church of England scholars. Like Tyndale's translation and the Geneva Bible, the "Authorized" (King James) Version was translated primarily from Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic texts, although with secondary reference both to the Latin Vulgate, and to more recent scholarly Latin versions; two books of the Apocrypha were translated from a Latin source. Following the example of the Geneva Bible, words implied but not actually in the original source were distinguished by being printed in distinct type (albeit inconsistently), but otherwise the translators explicitly rejected word-for-word equivalence.



Perhaps it is this "translation" of ideas and concepts, using variations of words, that appeals to so many English-speaking peoples.



In obedience to their instructions, the translators provided no marginal interpretation of the text, but in some 8,500 places a marginal note offers an alternative English wording.[105] The majority of these notes offer a more literal rendering of the original (introduced as "Heb", "Chal", "Gr" or "Lat"), but others indicate a variant reading of the source text (introduced by "or"). Some of the annotated variants derive from alternative editions in the original languages, or from variant forms quoted in the fathers. More commonly, though, they indicate a difference between the original language reading and that in the translators' preferred recent Latin versions.



Of critical note, in the old testament the translators render the Tetragrammaton YHWH by "the LORD" (in later editions in small capitals as Lord),[108] or "the LORD God" (for Adonai YHWH, "Lord YHWH"),[109] and in four places by "IEHOVAH" (Exod. 6:3, Psalm 83:18, Isaiah 12:2 and 26:4). Yeah, that's an "I" (eye), and not a "J".



My preference is toward the King James Version, mostly because I was raised Episcopalian (the American Church of England) and am familiar with its language. There are shortcomings, but I also have copies of the Greek (Konine New Testament) and Hebrew (Old Testament) versions and use an interlinear rendering to aid in my understanding of the original text.



But I do not consider any to be a "true" or more accurately, "pure" translation for another reason: We don't have any original text manuscripts, and the copies that are available (including textual fragments) are not consistent, demonstrating copyist and interpretive errors have been introduced over the ages.



TDs expected from people who believe that one translation (usually the KJV) is the "god-honest" uncorrupted "Word of God" and is complete and without error.



Add: Heh. Yes, the evangelical (and fundamentalist) crowd make claims that one version is true and all others are bad translations, but in all honesty, I don't count myself among that group. Neither do a lot of others. And so you don't get the rampant rhetoric, but a more responsible response to your question.



Many (if not most) evangelical fundamentalists consider the "true" translation to be the "King James" version.
?
2011-06-16 07:50:41 UTC
This isn't the case. With the exception of some "KJV only" people on the fringe of Christianity, no one thinks any translation is "the" translation. No body of reputable translators make that claim at all.
?
2011-06-16 07:48:50 UTC
The majority of them are OK, they were just translated by different people who used different synonyms or grammatical structures to say the same thing. Only the JHW have a Bible that is manipulated to suit their doctrines according to experts in languages.
2011-06-16 07:50:31 UTC
Well it works like they are a hebrew text then they have to find the eqivulent english word for eatch one atleast the ones that try acuretly. The new american standard is the most acurate i heard look it up hope i helped godbless
Albert Magnus United-Year of Faith
2011-06-16 07:46:48 UTC
I don't recall reading anywhere in my Bible that this is the "one true translation". There are things that are good and not so good about all translations. All translations are just that translations. You do your best but they are not the original. Unfortunately the original scrolls no longer exist.
?
2011-06-16 07:48:56 UTC
There are dozens of car manufacturers all claiming to make true cars. Which one is the "true" car?

Which ever car suits your particular style. They all get you from point A to point B. They are all true cars. They just have subtle differences in appearance.
joseph8638
2011-06-16 07:50:23 UTC
If you are truly interested in scripture you can use any of the popularly published versions, such as KJV+, NIV or American Standard. Be assured that God is ablet to protect His Word.
quartering25 go jets
2011-06-16 07:51:56 UTC
Love believes all things 1 corinthians 13.
Brian B
2011-06-16 07:50:38 UTC
None of them. The direct account of Jesus life and death was written by people who never met him, or knew him. Its a book of fables. Who cares whether the little piggies house was built out of straw or hay, either way the story is made up.
?
2011-06-16 07:49:05 UTC
It's true that none of the translations are true.
10 Element
2011-06-16 07:48:14 UTC
the translation you would be looking for would be wrong. what you need to do is get a copy of the first bible that was ever made and that would be in the dead language of Latin.



it was the first language that was spoken when the bible first came out and thus makes sense that all other books where translated from that book.
Most Rev. Dr. Doc Holiday, D.D.
2011-06-16 08:03:19 UTC
Deciding on which Bible version is best isn't as simple as we might hope. Different Bibles have different translation styles. But, let's take a look and compare.



The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek. When translating from those languages into English, different styles of translation can be used. Some Bible translators attempt to produce as literal a translation as possible. Others try to carry the meaning from the original into English. However, because the original languages are so different than English, a direct translation sometimes sounds a bit "wooden" and not as smooth as native English might sound. Also, certain phrases in the original language just don’t make sense in the English, so an equivalent phrase is used to carry the meaning.



Translators are aware of these issues, and most try to keep the original intent and the original wording as accurate as possible. So, they try and make it smooth and accurate. For the most part this is easy to do and relatively few passages present any real translating challenge.



Okay, so which Bible translations are the best? Depends on what you are looking for. If you want a more literal translation then go with the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the King James Version (KJV), and the English Standard Version (ESV). A more “flowing” translation is the New International Version (NIV), and even more loose is the Phillips Translation and the Living Bible.



I suggest that you get one of each, a literal-leaning translation as well as a meaning-leaning translation. Between the two of them you'll do fine.



NASB KJV ESV NIV

Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders;

And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

John 1:18 No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

John 8:58 "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"

Rom. 5:18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

Titus 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
?
2011-06-16 08:03:25 UTC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls



KING JAMES
?
2011-06-16 07:48:17 UTC
actually each claim their accomplishments and faults



Hebrew and Greek are available
2011-06-16 07:45:23 UTC
The King James Version is the true version of the Bible. People have been praying about it for centuries and God has directed people time and time again to the King James Version.
2011-06-16 07:52:12 UTC
They're all true under false pretences.
John 3:16
2011-06-16 08:07:31 UTC
We all have different levels of understanding.
2011-06-16 07:47:52 UTC
That's like trying to find a needle in a haystack with no needle. The bible is merely jewish mythology.
RLan
2011-06-16 07:48:13 UTC
Only god knows.
?
2011-06-16 07:46:47 UTC
NONE. They are all nothing more than a catalogue of LIES.


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