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Session 3: What translation of the Bible should I use?

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What Bible should I use?

Why so many Bible translations? Well, the Bible was written mainly in Hebrew and Greek and when translating into English, those words may have more than one meaning with a semantic range or perhaps the words used back then have no direct translation now.

Think of the word key. It can mean a metal object to unlock a door, a button on a keyboard, or a musical tone. Translations take the words in context and seek to give a greater understanding of the range of those words by translating them into our languages.

When choosing a translation, you have to consider two primary things: accuracy and readability.  As the accuracy increases, the readability may decrease and vice versa.  The translation you choose will depend on the purpose of your reading.

Accuracy – Readability

Literal translation: 

Staying as close as possible to the original wording, even if some of the meaning, nuance, understanding , and readability is lost.

  • Strictly literal – New American Standard Bible (NASB)

  • Literal – King James Version (KJV), American Standard Version (ASV), New King James Version (NKJV), Revised Standard Version (RSV)

  • Literal with freedom to be idiomatic – New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Thought-for-thought:

Translates the thought or the phrase, as opposed to word-for-word.  The NIV has one of the best combinations of accuracy and readability.

  • New International Version (NIV)

  • New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

  • New Living Translation (NLT)

Dynamic equivalent: 

This translation falls between the literal and the paraphrase.  As opposed to word-for-word translation, it translates thought-for-thought.  It converts certain literacy devices of the biblical languages into their English equivalents.

  • New Living Translation (NLT)

  • Today’s English Version (TEV)

  • Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Paraphrase: 

This attempts to convey the meaning of the text without translating word-for-word.  Sometimes additional comments are included to provide interpretation or clarification.

  • The Living Bible (LB)

  • The Message (MSG)