Which Bible version is the best one for you? The different versions of the Bible are a common topic of modern debate, but it does not need to be so. The key to understanding all the different versions of the Bible is to understand the history the source documents and the translations that have been made throughout the centuries leading up to what is available to all people today. A lack of knowledge in this area can create confusion and make one susceptible to many negative perspectives about this amazing book. It is not a short history lesson, but it is a good one so if you really want to know how to find the best version of the Bible, grab a cup of coffee, and keep reading.
If one wants to read a perfect version of the Bible, they will likely need to learn the ancient languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek allowing them to read the original text. Of course, accessing those texts is difficult, especially the very old ones. The Nash Papyrus, dating to the second century BCE, was the oldest known Hebrew manuscript until the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Some of these scrolls date back to the third century BCE. Even older fragments of biblical text have also been discovered. But, sadly, much of it was lost due to the fragile nature of the available recording materials. So, if you do not read ancient languages, you will have to rely on one of the many modern translations or transliterations that came from those languages to English or whatever language you speak and so you must decide which one to choose. Or do you?
Of the many different translations that exist, why would anyone limit themselves to just one? When I think about this idea of translations my hat goes off to the translators who spent years and years translating ancient languages into something that we could read and understand today. First, they took the time to learn the languages and all the nuances of the grammar. Then they learned how to convert those words and phrases into modern languages. That is not an easy task! I have been learning modern Hebrew for a few years and the more I learn the more I respect their work because the only way we can have the modern translations of these documents is if we go back to those original languages.
This topic of the best Bible version requires any serious researcher to go all the back to when the Bible was first created. So, I hope you are ready for a history lesson. If you just want my recommendation, skip to the end of this article, otherwise here comes the history lesson. I will start with the New Testament first because that one is a little more time-consuming.
The New Testament was first canonized in CE 170. What is meant by the word ‘canonized’ is that a group of leaders determined which book should be a part of the Bible, that’s kind of a very basic description of canonization. So, in CE 170, which was approximately 140 years after Jesus ascended and approximately 70 years after the apostle John, who was the longest-living disciple of Christ, passed away. That is the period of time when many of the New Testament books we have today were written and compiled into a larger work. This is known as the Muratorian canon.
The Muratorian canon included all the New Testament books available today except for Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, and 3 John. It was missing five of the books we have in the Protestant Bible today. There was some early debate on the legitimacy of those letters that were resolved at a later time. I plan to write a separate article about the legitimacy of Scripture, so I will not cover that topic here, but keep an eye out for it in the future. I will address the different councils and canons in that work.
In CE 363, almost 200 years after the Muratorian canon was created, the council of Laodicea met and determined all of the New Testament books we have available today were legitimate with the exception of Revelation. They added the five books that were not included earlier but dropped one off as well. A short time later the Council of Hippo and the Council of Carthage met, in CE 393 and CE 397 respectively, and at that point, all of the 27 books we have today in the Protestant New Testament became accepted as part of the canon. This is an important piece because we cannot begin to consider translations until after we know the sources and what was considered legitimate by the early church.
That is the broad strokes of how the New Testament was formed. For the Old Testament, there is still some debate amongst scholars about when the entirety of what we call, the Old Testament, was accepted in Judaism. The general time frame falls somewhere between 140 BCE and around CE 100. There was some variation of acceptance at that time among different sects and we tend to see wide acceptance around CE 250 for everything we have in the Protestant Old Testament today.
Remember, the Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew with a small portion in Aramaic, and the New Testament was written in Greek. Since Latin and Greek were the predominant languages of the Roman Empire, and Greek was the leading written and spoken language in the Mediterranean region, it makes perfect sense writings meant for mass distribution would be written in Greek. The human writers of the New Testament were not aiming to write to a primarily Jewish audience. They also wanted to reach Gentiles.
Of course, we know that Hebrew was the common language of the ancient Israelites, which is why we see most of the Old Testament written in Hebrew. We also have the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament that was created in the third century BCE. This is the translation of the Old Testament that was more readily available to the early church and likely what was used as a source document when New Testament writers made references to Old Testament Scripture. This is important to understand when studying the New Testament because the references usually do not match up well with modern translations. This is what was available to the early church for several hundred years until the Bible was translated into Latin.
A Latin translation was completed in CE 382 which we call the Latin Vulgate and that was the standard Bible for a long time. It held its prominence for 1,000 years, was the standard for the Catholic church, and stayed that way until people started to think about translating it into English. This is where history becomes more interesting and a little ominous at the same time. John Wycliffe spearheaded the first English Bible translation project in collaboration with other translators with the first finished copies distributed in 1382. It seems logical that one would want to translate the Bible into the language everyone spoke during their time, but his work was not well received by the Catholic Church which officially declared him as a heretic.
There are a few ways we can view this outcome. First, one could show the importance of not allowing mass translations of the Bible because changes, or significant errors, could be made that lead people astray. Another argument is that the Catholic Church of the time wanted to maintain strict control over the Scripture giving them the sole power of interpretation. Both arguments are fair, though Wycliffe’s chief goal was for all people to have access to the Bible so they could study it for themselves. Wycliffe also challenged some of the practices of the church, some of which Martin Luther also challenged a few hundred years later, and this likely cemented the heretic label. These actions did not sway others from taking on similar projects in the future. The Bible would not be kept out of the hands of the population.
Johannes Gutenberg created the Gutenberg press sometime around 1450 and began printing the Gutenberg Bible in 1455. This was the same Latin Vulgate Bible that had existed for more than a thousand years and could now be mass-produced. Gutenberg did not get in trouble like Wycliffe, perhaps because he was not trying to translate the Bible into another language, or maybe because he was not taking a theological position on the practices of the church. Regardless, his work likely influenced later translation and Bible publishing projects.
William Tyndale took up the task of translating and printing the Bible into early modern English, He successfully translated the New Testament and parts of the Old Testament from approximately 1525 to 1534. His work ultimately led to being defrocked by the Catholic church along similar lines as arguments made against Wycliffe. His Lutheran views, which the Catholic church also disagreed with, then became the subject of a government trial where he was convicted and sentenced to death. English laws were later passed making the Tyndale Bible illegal to own or use. But, once again, this did not stop people from wanting to translate the Bible.
It seems the monarchy eventually realized English copies of the Bible were necessary because King Henry VIII authorized the creation of The Great Bible in 1539. The Geneva Bible was later completed in 1560, the Bishop’s Bible was printed in 1568, and the famous King James Version was finished in 1611. We should all be thankful for those who took up the work of translating Bibles, into any language, especially those who put their lives on the line to make the Word of God available to everyone in languages we can understand.
Wycliffe’s Bible was translated from the Latin Vulgate, Tyndale utilized Luther’s German translation along with some now unknown Greek texts, the Great Bible was translated from the Latin Vulgate and some German translations as well as included portions of the Tyndale Bible. The Geneva Bible was the first English Bible translated directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. The Bishop’s Bible used the Great Bible and the Geneva Bible as its sources. Each translator took a different approach, but most biblical scholars today would agree that using the oldest available original manuscripts or very early copies is a better method than working with another translation. This was the method for the King James Version.
King James I authorized the creation of a new English Bible in 1604 which was translated from Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. It was completed in 1611 and is known as “the authorized version” because it was authorized by King James. The earlier Great Bible was also authorized by a king, but interestingly enough, it is not referred to in the same way. The King James Version became the standard English Bible for close to 270 years. The next few English Bibles were simply updates to the language of the King James Version. These were the English Revised Version in 1885 and the American Standard Version in 1901. The former uses the British style of English and the latter uses the American style of English.
So, over the course of 1900 years, we had 11 English translations of the Bible. I left a few out of this article as it is not relevant for this discussion to know every translation in existence. Since 1901, many modern translations have been created. Some use the original manuscripts, early copies, and Dead Sea Scrolls as their source documents, others use other English translations. This article will not cover each of those except to mention a few as examples as part of the spectrum of translations available today.
We can categorize Bible translations on a spectrum that ranges from word-for-word to thought-for-thought. Some translators attempt to translate using as close to a literal translation as possible which we categorize as word-for-word. The goal of these translations is to provide biblical text that preserves the original cultural nuances and linguistic structure. This can make the text more complex to read, but it also limits the potential for interpretive bias in the process. With thought-for-thought, the text is simplified by attempting to convey the original message without perfectly including the nuances of the original language. One challenge here is that it can introduce interpretive bias because the translator chooses the particular terms to use.
Word-for-word translations are the best ones to use for serious in-depth Bible studies. When one is undertaking theological research, one needs to use a version that is as close to the original meaning as possible. Even outside of theological research, these versions are invaluable for the precision of the text and the depth of meaning carried forward from the original manuscripts. They are also the go-to source for sermon preparation or work in higher education. This does not mean thought-for-thought translations are invaluable. They are great for more casual Bible reading such as daily devotionals, group studies, and evangelistic outreaches. They are also a good starting point for new followers of Christ.
The more well-known word-for-word translations are the King James Version, the American Standard Version, and the New Revised Standard Version. On the other side of the spectrum, the well-known thought-for-thought translations are the New International Version and the New Living Translation. We also have some newer paraphrase versions like The Message and The Passion which try to put the Bible in a more contemporary language that goes beyond the thought-for-thought process to provide a modern version that conveys the essential meaning of the text, sometimes in a more conversational style.
What is a believer to do with all these different versions? The best thing to do is to have a word-for-word translation for your in-depth studies and a thought-for-thought translation to reference when you are not sure what a verse is conveying. Personally, I have close to 40 different translations in my Bible software that I can reference at any time with the New Revised Standard Version as my go-to translation. Those who want to go deeper should dive into the world of commentaries, lexicons, Bible dictionaries, and the many other theological resources available in digital and print formats.
One final note, some Bible translations should not be used by Christians because they have dramatically changed the content or meaning of the text or have inserted heretical theological viewpoints. Steer clear of the Hallelujah Bible, the Mirror Bible, and the Jehovah’s Witness Bible as they fall into this category. Some would say this is also true of the Passion Translation or The Message, but I disagree and think both are good translations for new believers or more casual Bible reading. Never let preference for a particular translation make you think all others are suspect. Dig deep, use different translations to broaden your understanding, and rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you into all revelation.