Are there many versions of the Bible?

Or many translations?

. If you cannot read Hebrew or Greek in which the original

manuscripts were written, you'll need a translation from those texts.

In order for your pastor to teach you from the Word of God, he also

must use a translation. In order to live for Christ, you'll need a

translation so you can read what He said, and what's been written

about him.

. The English language has changed dramatically over the years. In

fact, it has changed so much only with great difficulty could you read

any of the Bibles translated a mere 600 years ago! Because the

English language is a living language - constantly changing - there is

a continual need to translate frequently from the original text, as

old words loose their sense of meaning, and new words come into being.

. As new manuscripts are discovered, more understanding and

accuracy is given to the texts we presently have. Since the King

James Version has been translated, there have been 3 very important

discoveries. Since 1611 we have found more evidence that lends to a

more accurate translations, these are:

1. The Codex Sinaiticus (Aleph), discovered in 1844 in the monastery

of St. Catherine in the Sinai peninsula by Tischendorf. This was

written in the 4th century and contained most of the New Testament.

2. The New Testament papyri in 1895, discovered in Egypt, though

fragmented, have proved to be valuable.

3. The Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947 near the Dead Sea,

provided nearly all of the Book of Isaiah, and many portions of the

Old Testament. These are hundreds of years older than previously

known texts, and confirmed much of the Old Testament we already have.

These were also duplicated BEFORE the birth of Jesus Christ.

. Translation techniques, and Biblical Scholarship have

tremendously improved in the last 100 years. We can have a more

precise and accurate translation now - than our forefathers ever

dreamed of! Other languages we previously knew little about, now can

be understood and help us see the greater meaning of certain difficult

words and phrases.

. Today we need an easy-to-read translation - for those of us that

are not linguistic scholars and stumble over those 27 letter words.

Think about it ... since the MESSAGE contained in the Bible is so

important, then we MUST be able to give it to the poorest reader in a

text they can read! This is not re-interpreting the text, it's giving

an accurate rendering from the Hebrew & Greek in a language they can

simply read and benefit from. For this reason alone, we need the BEST

possible translation we can get...consequently, it must be readable.

List of English translations

NAME TRANSLATORS YEAR

Bishops Bible Church of England 1568

Rheims-Douay Bible Roman Catholic 1582-1610

King James Bible Church of England 1611+

Youngs Literal Translation (Robert Young) 1863

English Revised Version Church of England (KJV revised) 1881-85

American Standard Version American Revision Committee 1901

Weymouth's Modern Speech NT.(R. F. Weymouth) 1903+

Twentieth Century Inter-Denominational 1904

Jewish Version of 1917 (OT) 1917

Moffatt's New Translation (James Moffatt) 1924, 1935

Smith-Goodspeed Version (Edgar Goodspeed & HM Powers Smith)1931

Charles B. Williams NT (Charles B. Williams) 1937

Ronald Knox's Catholic Vs. Roman Catholic 1944-50

Revised Standard Version (KJV revised later Catholic) 1946-52

Confraternity Version (Rheims-Douay-Challoner revision) 1948

New World Translation Watchtower Soc.(13% more words) 1950-60

NT in Modern English J.B. Phillips 1958

Berkeley version 1959

Wuest's Expanded NT (Kenneth Wuest) 1961

NT in Plain English (Charles Kingsley Williams) 1963

NT in Language of Today (William F. Beck a Lutheran) 1964

Amplified Bible 1965

Good News American Bible Society 1966

Jerusalem Bible Roman Catholic 1966

New English Bible 1970

New American Standard Lockman Foundation (ASV revision) 1971

Living Bible 1972

New International Version New York Bible Society 1978

. These are the English translations only. There are thousands of

translations in other languages, and still thousands of languages

without the Bible in their own tongue.

. Some of these are word-for-word translations (each word is

translated individually), some of them are paraphrased (someone

'interprets' the meaning of a passage and then translates the passage

into the second language), which is important in knowing which Bible

to study!

. Some are easy to read, some are difficult; some are majestic in

vocabulary, and some are plain and simple. Some are precise in

meaning, and some loosely translated.

. But sadly, some are unfaithful to the Original Text and some have

added or subtracted certain words to reflect their own doctrine. Some

were translated by well known scholars, and some by people who could

not read a sentence from the original manuscripts!

. The King James Version, a word-for-word translation, is an

excellent place to start for study. It holds true doctrinally as well

as giving reverence to the Word of God with its majestic style, it is

still the Standard in the majority of the churches today.

. The New American Standard Version, also a word-for-word

translation, is translated in more modern english, and very accurate

in verb tenses that are difficult to understand in the KJV.

. The New International Version is a paraphrase - but by far the

best of its kind. Paraphrases can convey easily the meaning of

certain texts, and can reflect doctrinal viewpoints of the

translators. The NIV is an excellent paraphrase, easy to read, and a

good supplement to helping understand word-for-word translations.

. It would take too much time to describe the good and bad points

in all the rest of the translations, and anyone who's really a serious

student of the Bible, will sooner or later learn to use word studies,

lexicons, concordances, or even the original languages themselves.

. A concordance is simple to use, and can by comparison give quick

insight into the meaning of a particular word and how it's used.

Youngs Analytical Concordance and The New Strong's are easy to use.

Vines Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words is also

excellent and simple for any one to use.

. With the wealth of Bible knowledge at our disposal, no one has

any excuse not to daily read and study God's Word for themselves.

Many men have already given their lives so that you DON'T have to live

in IGNORANCE of what God has said. You personally are responsible for

reading and studying the Bible - relying on another person is a sorry

excuse for LAZINESS, not to mention the BLESSINGS of having God speak

to you personally through the study of His Word!

Bill Bennett

S.O.N. Milwaukee (414) 281-6497