Tens of millions of people are using the bible app to make gods word a part of their daily lives. However, while jesus most likely spoke aramaic, most of the new testament was originally written in greek. Learn about the different types of bibles to select the one that fits your beliefs. Newmark in rudi hartono states that translation is rendering the meaning of a.
Bible plans help you engage with gods word every day, a little at a time. Part of the new testament was written in greek, part in hebrewaramaic and later translated to greek. A comparison of over 30 english translations of the bible by gary kukis updated november 2, 20071 this is not a work which requires you to begin reading on page 1 and continue on to page2 and then page 3. Among english translations the roots o thif s philosophy are deep. That simply tells you the types of translations there are. Every effort is made to retain both the word order and sentence structure of the original hebrew or greek. In fact, multiple versions of the bible can actually be an aid in understanding the message of the bible.
Njab comparison chart of bible translations showing. A quick overview of bible translations learn religions. The translator tries to find the nearest equivalent words and to place them in as close a corresponding order to the original text as possible. The old testament was written primarily in hebrew with small parts in aramaic. Jan 27, 2017 socalled wordforword translations have the advantage of showing the reader the specific word choice and phraseology of the biblical authors. The esv bible is a relatively new bible translation that combines wordforword.
Comparison of bible translations i believe that the bible is the holy word of god. Its best to think of the different translations of the bible along a spectrum from literal translation thats wordforword, formal equivalence to concept translation thats more thoughtforthought dynamic equivalence. Therefore, a translation was needed into the latin, and that was done by st. The common english bible is a translation of the scriptures intended to be a comfortable reading level for over half of all english readers. Giveaway three types of bible translations and how to.
Download the free app and access your bookmarks, notes, and reading plans from anywhere. You will often hear people tout one version of the bible over another as superior, more readable. Bible versions and types word for word literal, thought. Comparison chart of english bible translations showing style or type of translation and readibility or grade level. The kjv is the oldest of the four and continues to be the favorite of many. English bible translation has been common among christians, particularly since the 16thcentury reformation, producing dozens of modern translations and versions in english but equivalent translation efforts have been less widespread among jews. There are also many other versions of the bible to choose from in english and other languages. King james i of england launched this translation for englishspeaking protestants in 1604. There are many different types of bibles, however, each of which may have multiple translations. Dozens of english translations of the bible have been published throughout the history of the church.
English version of the polyglott bible evpb 1858, the english portion of an early bible having translations into several languages geneva bible tgb 1560, the popular version just prior to the translation of the king james version, includes the apocrypha. Some have additional material for devotion or study. Nida states that translation consist of reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalence of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style1. Bible translations incorporating modern textual criticism usually begin with the masoretic text, but also take into account possible variants from all available ancient versions. The only way to scrape away their personal dogma is to read the bible in the origial hebrew or greek.
Written at an elementaryschool reading level, the cev is readable and understandable for the modern reader. The chart below provides a sidebyside comparison of some of the most popular translations youll find in our stores. It was originally published in 1976 and revised in 1992. Socalled wordforword translations have the advantage of showing the reader the specific word choice and phraseology of the biblical authors. The gnt also known as todays english version or the good news bible was one of the first meaningbased or functional equivalent translations of the bible into english. Even though all bibles tell the same stories of the adventures of the jews as gods chosen people, some bibles. Holy bible spanish spanish reina valera translation pdf important note. Aug 25, 2015 this method takes only the ideas from the original text, and is not bound by specific words and phrases. Four bible translation types and some criteria to distinguish them 3 3. Some of the common types or translations of the bible include the king james version, new king james version, new american standard bible, good news translation, common english bible and new international version. Jan 26, 2011 there are three main types of bible translations. First of all, theres always going to be a need for new translations. The four most popular formal equivalency translations in english are the king james version kjv, the new king james version nkjv, the new american standard bible nasb, and the english standard version esv. This method takes only the ideas from the original text, and is not bound by specific words and phrases.
Forms and functions find, read and cite all the research you. Bible translations are available as textbooks the preacher may use in accomplishing this task. Are you looking for a bible but the overwhelm of all the choices is leaving you confused. Testaments in contrast to asvs use of jehovah in the old testament alone. This is partially due to the fact that english became a major spoken language among jews only in the era since the holocaust.
The discovery of older manuscripts which belong to the alexandrian texttype, including the. It is known as the authorized version of 1611 because. We have provided a chart to provide information on some of the most common translations. The four translation types proposed and compared 5. However, bible translation scholars have paid no attention to these translations. Translation the definition of translation there are some definitions of translation. Since then, the bible has been translated into many more languages. The gnt presents the message of the bible in a level of english that is common to most of the englishspeaking world. The differences in translations vary in reading levels and in style. A comparison of over 30 english translations of the bible. And the development and compounding of such errors into various regional copying traditions can.
The first english translation done by associates of john wycliffe was a. There are more than 50 english bible translations in circulation by some estimates. Included when possible are dates and the source languages and, for incomplete translations, what portion of the text has been translated. Examples of paraphrases include the living bible by kenneth taylor and the message by eugene peterson. Jun 25, 2018 this is one of the most complex translations, and involves birth certificate translations and marriage certificate translations, translating contracts, agreements, treaties, memorandums, wills, and so on. The bible was originally written in hebrew, aramaic, and greek and has been translated into english. English bible translations also have a rich and varied history of more than a millennium. We wont brag about something we dont have a right to brag about. It was completed in 1885 and newly edited by the american revision committee in 1901. Free guide please take one digging deeper how do you plan. Bible translations in a spectrum from thought for thought, to word for word and paraphrase. A good translator needs to understand the various underlying contexts of the documents and that of the two regions or countries for which the. Ancient translations of the bible translation background the latin vulgate even as rome conquered much of the known world, they held onto the greek culture and the greek language. Holy bible versions and types this page compares different bible translation types word for word, thought for thought, paraphrase, translations niv, king james, nasb, nrsv, living bible, the promise, the message, amplified bible, etc.
To this end, bible translations break down into three groups, each representing a particular method. In most cases, different translations reflect an agenda by different translators to sell their dogma. The holman christian standard bible hcsb uses a translation philosophy called optimal equivalence. It has a majestic style and it used precise translation rather than paraphrasing. Approximately 50 of the best bible scholars and linguists of his day spent seven years on the translation, which was a revision of the bishops bible of 1568. The common english bible is a translation of the scriptures intended to be a comfortable reading level for over half of all english. Nov 21, 2018 click to download the top 10 bible translations pdf.
Bible glosses byzantine texttype english translations of the bible gospel. Jun 05, 2012 translations are done according to certain theories or approaches to doing translations and they actually meet different kinds of needs. It attempts to substitute more traditional biblical terminology with more natural wording. Many would say the new international version niv or even the new american standard bibile nasb is the word of god. The bestknown bible in this category is the new international version niv, and was the first modern translation to truly overtake the kjv as the englishspeaking bible king. The american standard version, also known as the standard american edition, revised version, is a revised version of the kjv. It follows the hebrew or greek as closely as possible. The received text of the christian new testament is in koine greek, a and nearly all translations are based upon the greek text. Translated according to the hebrew and greek, and conferred with the best translations in diverse languages, with most profitable annotations upon all the hard places, and other things of great importance, as may appear in the epistle to the reader. We will only brag about the work that god has sent us to do, and you are part of that work. Quite likely, you may want to skip over much of this and. I want to get a sense of the complexities of the passage and what translators have wrestled with to create their translations. And the development and compounding of such errors into various regional copying traditions can for the most part be traced and identified.
Over 2,051 versions in 1,402 languages the bible that. When i began i kept running into the words text types, but had limited knowledge as to what that meant. Throughout this post i provide a bible translation comparison of the top 10 most accurate bible translations so you can compare them all and make the best choice for you. Oct 07, 2018 in most cases, different translations reflect an agenda by different translators to sell their dogma.
Youll find that as the accuracy of the translation increases wordforword. How ever, the re is one v ery consiste nt tr anslat ion av ailable. For example, the life application bible which i heartily recommend, by the way can be found using the niv, nkjv, or nlt translations. What distinctive kinds of bible translations are there. Formal equivalence a word for word rendering of the original language into whatever language the reader needs, i. I wanted to know where we got the bible translations we have available to us today, and if there was a right one or a wrong one. This chart attempts to show the degree to which a translation conforms to the original languages and the source and pedigree of the given translation. The bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of hebrew, aramaic and greek. If youve ever wondered about different bible translations, and which version is the best, then join the club. Classifying some of the adjustments to distinguish between translation types 4. These versions are true to the biblical author if they authentically render the intended meaning.
Apr 30, 2012 translation the definition of translation there are some definitions of translation. Greek was like english in those days, so it made sense to write letters to gentiles in the greek lan. The latin vulgate translation was dominant in western christianity through the middle ages. A translation of optimal equivalence we want the process of choosing the right bible translation to be as easy as possible. However, while jesus most likely spoke aramaic, most of the new testament was originally written in. Every effort is made to retain both the word order. Compiled list of all english translations of scripture or. However, after awhile, more and more people in the roman empire began to speak latin. Four bible translation types and some criteria to distinguish. Here is a list of different types of bibles, with a brief description and a link to more of the same type of bible. A users guide to bible translations escorts you through the history of bible versions in english from wycliffe and tyndale to the english standard version and todays new international version, with explanatory glances at the original hebrew and greek manuscripts and brief introductions to translation theories along the way.
However, bible translation scholars have paid no attention to these translations in any of the books on english bible translations e. Translations are done according to certain theories or approaches to doing translations and they actually meet different kinds of needs. Many would say the new international version niv or even the new american standard bibile nasb is the. It is therefore evident that the fe method, which gives priority to translating the words and grammatical forms of scripture into their nearest english equivalents. Also notes if apocrypha is available or if using gender neutral language. Material found in the online christian library theological virtual ntslibrary does not necessarily represent the views of any specific organization or person outside of the ntslibrary. Njab comparison chart of bible translations showing style. A translation that focuses on formal equivalence will be most helpful. There are two primary reasons for the different english bible versions. A wordforword translation attempts to translate each hebrew or greek word into a corresponding english word. Bible translations and manuscripts page 4 of 50 text types or families and bible translations these types of variations do exist. The bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of hebrew. Over 2,051 versions in 1,402 languages the bible that goes. Bible versions and translations online bible study tools.