Which Bible Translation Should I Choose?
So many bible translations, so little time... Where do we begin in sorting through which bible translation(s) to choose? There are over 100 million bibles sold or distributed each year, many of them in a variety of different translations. Most of these bibles are incredibly similar in style and substance, but there are some which have taken great liberties with the original texts. Now, one of the blessings that we enjoy in the United States is the ability to freely worship God and read the Bible. More than that, we are not just restricted to our homes and our churches for worship as our Constitution protects the free exercise of religion, meaning that we can read the Scriptures in public and private. Our faith is not merely a private faith, but a public one. This is part of the background that allows us to have so many bibles available to us, as well as the numerous translations. But with these different versions of the Scriptures comes the daunting task of answering the question—“Which translation do I read for myself?” Do I start with something like The Message, which was written in basic common English and is more of a paraphrase than an actual translation, or do we go with the something like the old classic of the King James version? What goes into a Bible translation and how should that guide our own selections?
Questions to ask when choosing a translation
What matters more in a translation- words or concepts?
The first question we must ask when trying to select a translation is, “Do the words themselves matter more or do the concepts that they are trying to teach matter more?” I don’t think you’ll find any person that will say the words themselves don’t matter at all, nor anyone that will say the concepts don’t matter at all. The question is, how much weight do we give to either position. But before we continue, did Jesus have anything to say on this matter? When we look throughout the ministry of Jesus, we see multiple occasions where Jesus cites from the OT literature, and each time we see it, we see that Jesus cites the text word for word. Jesus never gives a paraphrase of the text of Scripture, however, He cites the text directly. But before we continue, as if the word-for-word is the automatic “winner,” of the debate, let’s look at Jesus’ own words specifically when citing Scripture to answer the question, “What is the greatest commandment?” Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Well, is this 100% accurate? I guess that depends on what we mean by “accurate.” If we mean, “Did Jesus cite the direct text as the words themselves are found on the page,” then, Jesus was not accurate. But, if we mean, “Did Jesus cite the passage while giving the fullest meaning of the original text?” Then, yes. But before people on the side of having a more thought-for-thought (what is often called a Dynamic equivalence) as opposed to a word-for-word (often called a literal or formal equivalence) shout “victory!” we have to remember that Jesus did utilize the words themselves but only expanded out where necessary to grasp the fullest meaning.
How much weight should we give to both word-for-word and thought-for thought styles?
The next question we have to ask is, since both word-for-word and thought-for-thought must be included in our translation styles, how much weight do we give to either. Again, we look to the words of Jesus and the Apostles. Every time we see Jesus and the Apostle’s quoted directly from Scripture hundreds of times (over 300 times directly, this doesn’t count allusions or vague citations) and they quoted the texts word for word. There were at various points that expansions were given to layout the fullest meaning, but for the most part, the direct words were utilized. One thing that we have to remember that is often not known by the average Christian is that the Apostles and Christ were not always using the Hebrew text but instead, they used the Greek translation of the Hebrew text called the Septuagint, which teaches us two things. The first it says that translations are ok to use, we don’t all need to know the original language (but it can be helpful) whereas in Islam they teach the only correct version of the Qur’an is in Arabic, Christianity denies this. Secondly, it shows that while translations are ok, they must be strict in their translation processes as the historical translation of the Hebrew text was with various committees and is essentially word-for-word, though there are some variations.
What does “inspired” look like and mean?
Finally, the last question we must ask is, when we speak about the “inspiration,” of Scripture, are we talking about the words themselves or are we talking about the concepts being inspired or “from God?” A simple study of Jesus’ view of Scripture would demonstrate that the words themselves were inspired, but moving the study wider and seeing how God’s word is to be handled throughout the entire Scripture, demonstrates this point as well. God’s actual words were to be handled as Scripture, not just the concept behind the words. We see this in God’s writing the 10 Commandments with his own finger, as well as various other points throughout the Law. We also see this in Eve’s misquoting God’s word to Satan in the Garden, and Jesus’ response to Satan during His own temptation. The words themselves matter, and thus the weight should side with the words over the concepts.
Recommendations
What we conclude here is that while both word-for-word and thought-for-thought styles are necessary for any given translation, the weight must be a bit heavier on the word-for-word side. With that said, I can only give some recommendations on good translations with a more formal dynamic (word-for-word) translation. However, I am not going to sit here and tell you which translation is “the best,” or “the only true translation” as some claim. Instead, these are solid, reliable translations that will serve you well in the desire to better understand God’s word rightly.
These translations would be:
New American Standard (NASB)
English Standard (ESV)
King James (KJV)
New King James (NKJV)
New English Translation (NET)
Christian Standard (CSB)
These translations all fit within the parameters of allowing both a formal equivalence as well as a dynamic equivalence while having more weight on the formal equivalence aspect. So I leave it to you, reader, to find a Scripture translation in this group to choose from as your main text whether if you are a church minister trying to decide for your entire church or an individual believer. But also remember, you don’t have to choose just one either, you can choose any number of these. Finally, remember, if you don’t understand something, that is not a reason to toss out the text, rather, it is a reason for you to go to your church elders (pastors) and ask them to explain the text to you, for this is why Christ gave them to the church, to equip us for ministry (Eph 4:11-12).
