One of the questions that often comes up for people growing in their faith is, "What translation of the Bible should I read?" Sometimes, it's even phrased a bit more strongly when people ask, "Which translation of the Bible is the best?" In this post, I'd like to offer 3 concepts that I think will help to answer this question.
(Note: Click on any images to see larger versions of the photos.)
Let's start off by noting that many people (read: scholars and lay people) have debated over many years (read: literally hundreds and hundreds of years) about Bible translations, sources, and more. At the end of the day, no blog post with 3 points is going to come close to addressing all the questions around this topic. But here's my attempt at making the Bible translation question accessible.
Point 1: Read the Bible - period.
To be totally candid, I feel a bit skeptical when people ask the 'which Bible translation' question, and the reason is I have rarely found it the case that getting the right/a better translation of the Bible leads to more committed Bible study. There are literally hundreds of versions of the Bible available - different translations, different sizes, different fonts, different kinds of leather covers, different kinds of study notes, Bibles for different life-stages, and the list goes on. But while I do have my preferences as to which translation I read, just read the Bible. If you like the NASB, read the NASB. If you are a King James person, rock on. If you are all about the ESV, then read that one. I find the issue is much less about which translation of the Bible we read and instead I find the issue to be that people are not reading the Bible enough...or at all. So pick a translation and read the Bible. You will find you soul fed because the Bible is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path (Psalm 119:105).
Point 2: Dynamic VS. Formal Equivalence.
Broadly speaking the way the Bible is translated is generally as follows. A group of scholars - experts in various biblical languages and cultures - gather and they look at the ancient documents of, for example, Isaiah. They then work to do 1 of 2 things: they either translate the text into modern language in a way that helps explain the meaning behind the text or passage (dynamic equivalent) or they translate the words as close to the literal word-for-word as they can (formal equivalent). In the image below (from conversis.com) we see how something like the NASB (New American Standard Bible) is a more word-for-word translation, whereas the NIV (New International Version) is more of a thought-for-thought translation. As you move further to the right, you start to get into a paraphrase translation like the NLT (New Living Translation). As a note, The Message is not a translation of the Bible but rather a paraphrase of a previous translation, but that's a discussion for another day.
So what does all this mean? I find when reading the NASB it is a bit "clunkier" than reading the NIV or the ESV (English Standard Version). It (the NASB) is not as smooth and fluid as some of the other popular translations. However, you will find that the words in the NASB are closer to the original words used. This means that when scholars read a word in Greek that means X, the scholars ask, "What is the best and closest literal word in English that matches X?" At this point some will ask, "So how much of a difference does this all make?" To be candid, for most readers, not a lot. If you read the NIV, NKJV (New King James Version), ESV, and NASB side-by-side (which I often do in sermon prep), they are often very similar. When you get back into the Hebrew and Greek, you start to pick up more of the nuances in the languages, but again - see Point 1. The main goal should be to read, understand, and apply the Bible, and using most of the popular translations today will allow you to do so.
Point 3. I recommend something with Study Notes, Maps, etc.
If you are learning to read the Bible and are learning the love the Bible, I encourage you to get a Bible that has study notes, maps, and other helpful tools. I really enjoyed the NIV Study Bible when I was in graduate school. Below you will see the opening to The Book of Daniel. This includes notes on the author, the date of authorship, the authenticity of the writer, the themes, the literary form of the book, and more. I found and find these very helpful. It can be easy to think that because a book is named, for example, Titus that Titus wrote the book. While you can probably figure out that this is not the case by reading the opening of Chapter 1, study notes will tell you the author was Paul, as well as telling you about his intent in writing the book.
Maps are also a helpful tool in that they make the Bible come to life in a beautiful way. When you see how far it is from Egypt to Canaan, you get a sense of the journey. When you see where Paul traveled on his missionary expeditions, and then you realize it was never by plane or car, you grasp his deep commitment to the proclamation of the Gospel.
I've presented 3 concepts to consider when choosing a Bible translation to read. If you want to try a variety of translations, I encourage you to visit BibleGateway as they have a myriad of options for you to use.
Hope this helped. Now go read the Bible.
Blessings,
- tC
