Choosing A Bible Translation 101

Note: After you read the article how about entering your comments and let other readers know what translation you use and why?

Choosing a Bible translation for personal use is as easy as picking out a box of breakfast cereal at the supermarket. Wait a minute! That’s not easy. Have you been to the supermarket lately? An entire aisle is dedicated to cereals. Why? It is because they are one of the highest cost items, and profit makers, per ounce in the entire store.

When I started eating cereal again and had to choose one, I almost had a panic attack. There were probably 50-60 boxes to choose from, maybe more! And, if I wanted to stay on my Sugar Busters diet I had to check the labels for sugar content. What a chore. Forget it!  Just give me my Wheaties and I’m outta here.

Choosing a Bible is no easy task either. There are so many choices. Sometimes I long for the good old days when you only had to decide between the King James and the Revised Standard. I must be getting old.

Just to be fair, let me acknowledge that some Christians will maintain that there are no valid translations other than the King James. They won’t like this article. However, my purpose here is not to enter into that argument. There are books on that topic.

But, for the sake of those who are unfamiliar with the argument[1] let me just say that it is a fact, as proponents claim, that the modern translations will have fewer passages than the King James or New King James Bibles. Why? Because modern translations are based on more recently discovered texts whereas the King James is based on the textus receptus [2]that does contain many more passages. The question is which set of texts is correct? That’s the rub and you will have to decide for yourself.

Today, if you don’t want any fancy stuff, just a straight translation, you have over 75 or more to choose from.[3] If you want a study Bible then you have another choice to make from probably three-dozen offerings. From my investigation study Bibles usually only come in the most popular translations such as the King James, New King James, New American Standard, New International, The Living Translation, and increasingly the English Standard Version.

Therefore, when you go to pick out your next Bible you should set aside about six hours. Be sure to take a sack lunch, a change of clothes, and aspirin. You will get a headache.

Maybe I can help lessen your pain and shorten your hunt. We can ask ourselves a few questions and eliminate a lot of choices. Here are the questions:

1.      Do I want a literal (word-for-word) translation or do I want a dynamic (thought-for-thought) translation?

2.      Do I want a translation produced by one person or by a committee?

3.      Do I want just a translation or do I want a study version?

a.       If I do want a study version do I want it to be written from the perspective of one person and have a single theological bias, which they all will? Or, do I want one written through the efforts of a committee or group which will have more safeguards against personal bias built into the process in most cases? There are also a few study Bibles that are fairly neutral and simply provide information or references to aid you in your own independent study.

Let’s go through the process and choose a Bible. You can go online or buy a book that will neatly separate the many versions by their approach, literal or dynamic. Once you wade through these you can eliminate more by deciding whether you want a one-person translation such as Eugene Peterson’s The Message, James Moffat’s translation of the Bible, Darby’s translation, or a committee version such as the New American Standard, New King James, or the English Standard version.

Before we get to the study Bibles, you should finally whittle down your choices by reading the method of translation or translation philosophy that is usually located in the front of each translation. You can then decide if you are comfortable with the approach. There is a wealth of knowledge in these sections and can help with deepening your overall knowledge about modern translations.

At this point, you have chosen a particular translation that meets your personal criteria. If you have chosen a popular version as I mentioned earlier, and want a study Bible, then there are a good number of study Bibles available to choose from.

You will have now have to decide, again, whether you want a group effort or an individual effort. On the individual side you have study Bibles by those such as John McArthur, Jimmy Swaggart, C.I. Scoffield, Dr. Henry Blackaby, The Hebrew Greek Study Bible (Zodiastes) and Finnis Dake. On the group effort side you have the Life Application Bible, Open Bible, Reformation Study Bible, Nelson’s Study Bible, and many more.

If you want a study Bible that is as neutral as possible in theology and offers great study tools, charts, notes, etc., I recommend the Thompson Chain Bible. For Bible study it is excellent. It offers an incredible amount of information including charts, maps, archeological, historical, and biographical.

If you can accept a purely personal recommendation from a Christian soldier of three decades, I would recommend in your study time you read a literal translation and have two other translations to give you further perspective. For the literal translation I choose the New American Standard or English Standard version. For the dynamic I choose The Message or New Living Translation and I also like the Holman Christian Standard that offers a very readable middle of the road translation approach[4]. You can really increase your appreciation of the depth of Scripture by combining several versions in your study.

One thing to remember: There are no perfect translations. The best of them are flawed and biased in some way. I have even found flaws and biases in my favorite literal translation, the New American Standard.[5]

Recently, while preaching, I read some verses from Philippians from both the New American Standard and The Message. Let me close with these verses and let you see how these two translations really come together to enrich our understanding. By the way there is a new parallel edition of the Bible now available in these particular two versions. They work extremely well together.

New American Standard (Phil. 4:6-8)

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

The Message (Phil. 4:6-8)

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Rev. Ralph C. Barker

cruiseone@mindspring.com

By Ralph C. Barker Click here for bio and archived articles