Bible Translations: Part 1

A few general principles on Bible translations.

There is much misunderstanding when it comes to the topic of Bible translation. Many today wonder which one they should use, which one is the best, and why there are differences among the various translations. Others view one translation as the Word of God and the differences in the other versions are corruptions to the Scriptures. Some of these will be obvious, some may be totally new information, but I hope some of the points in this post will bring a little clarity to this issue and challenge you to dive into the very important and interesting study of how we have received the Word of God in our language.

1. The Holy Scriptures were not initially penned in English! A majority of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, while some parts were written in Aramaic. The New Testament: Greek. Therefore, ALL modern translations that we have today are just that: TRANSLATIONS.

2. These original languages contain words which have various meanings much like many English words we use today have different meanings depending on the context in which they are employed. Translators have the task to responsibly take the Hebrew or Greek words, and articulate using our words the reading of the texts.

3. Generally speaking, there are 3 forms or goals of translations depending on the purpose of the translation committee: A. Word for Word (these attempt to give a very literal translation taking the Greek or Hebrew word, and translating it with the specific word in the equivalent new language. These tell you exactly what the original languages said. The issue with these is the loss of meaning behind certain phrases and idioms which would have meant something different when originally written than they mean in the corresponding English words.) B. Thought for Thought (these translations are less literal in an attempt to allow the reader access into greater understanding of what exactly is being said in a particular verse rather than what the words themselves were. This is not to say that these are not literal translations, but they are literal in a different sense. Thought for thought translations help to identify the thought behind the words and phrases used by the biblical writers. Note: You are not getting the translators thoughts, but instead the thoughts backing the text themselves.) C. Paraphrase (these, just as the name suggests, are not as much of translations as they are paraphrases. These would be more like the editors commentary on the text rather than an actual translation of the original documents. Obviously, these are highly biased due to the fact that you are getting whoever wrote (ie. “translated”) this version, you get his or her interpretations of the actual Scriptures. Typically, these types of translations are rejected by scholars in any meaningful work on biblical/theological work due to the potential and usually regular inaccuracies according to the actual original texts. These may be beneficial as devotional reading depending on the author, but should never be compared with or viewed as a proper Bible translation.)

4. It’s important to note that most translations utilize aspects of literal translations and thought for thought. Honest translation committees seek to accurately deliver the original text into our language. And many have produced fine works for our benefit!

5. Examples of Literal translations: NASB (the most literal English translation today.) The ESV, KJV, NKJV all seek to produce a literal translation while employing limited “thought for thought” readings in more obvious areas.

6. Examples of Thought for Thought translations: NIV (which is the most popular translation of our day), CSB, and NLT do a great job in their endeavor to deliver the meaning and thought from the original texts, while using literal translations as often as possible when the exact words carry the exact meanings then and now.

7. Examples of Paraphrases: the Message and the passion translation. I will not say anything more about these because I actually hold a very low view of these due to the fact that some think them to actually be proper translations of Scripture.

8. Another important bit of information to bear in mind is the fact that we do not have ANY original autographs of any of the books or letters penned by the Bible writers. In other words, the original letter Paul wrote to the Romans, or the Galatians, etc. NONE. Zero. We only have copies of copies.

9. That being said, we have close to 6,000 (handwritten) copies dating from the mid to late second century all the way up through the 15th century (when the printing press was invented). Thousands of Christians over those centuries, anxious to have their own copy of a letter, a book, or as much Scripture as they had access to and the resources available to make themselves copies with, sat down with “pen and paper” copying what they had. Some copies were copied better than others, some were preserved better, some were copied by diligent scribes and others by simple laymen. But among the thousands of copies we possess today, there is more than a 98% similarity rate. For all intensive purposes, they all say the same thing!

10. Now, within this vast number of manuscripts exists what are called “variants”. These are different readings at certain places throughout the Bible. Keep in mind, all of these manuscripts are the same except for these very few numbers of variants (less than 2% of the whole Bible). These can be anything from misspelled words to missing sentences or paragraphs; any thing that differs between manuscripts is considered a variant. This is expected with handwritten copies from such a variety of sources and times. This is why you will find certain verses in particular translations differing from one another. But of all the variants, there are only a handful of meaningful variations to be considered, and even among those, not ONE variant takes away from the core of Christianity or the overall biblical data and story.

11. Due to the transmission of the text from the originals, to the copies, to the translation process into our language, these committees gather all the resources we have, all the manuscripts available to us, and they have to do the hard work of faithfully constructing a single whole text which accurately represents the original writings into our language. Their work is invaluable for us Christians who now study Scripture.

Conclusion: Understanding the purpose behind each translation, we all can benefit from studying and reading multiple translations, comparing the way this version translates this passage similar or in a different way than that one. For more literal translations, utilize the NASB, ESV, and the KJV. When you run across a phrase or passage that you are struggling to understand the author’s meaning, consult with more thought for thought translations like the NIV or the CSB for greater insight into the way language was used then to get points across. These are also great for general reading as you will get the point much easier right away. You can be confident when holding any of these fine translations produced by faithful Christian men and women over the centuries who made it their life work to get God’s Word into your hands. And as for the opinions of KJV onlyists..., well, that’s a topic for another day! Hope some of this will be beneficial for you. Lord bless.