why are there so many versions of the bible?

Question

I would like to hear answers from the religious in here. athiests/agnosticists are welcome too...

Answer 1

The Old Testament was written in Aramaic, a form of Hebrew and the New in Greek, both major languages of their day. Well, here came the Romans and they spoke Latin. They wanted their people, at least the priests, to be able to read it. We have many of our English versions translated from that version and others from the original Greek. We have passed a few centuries since then and King James and others decided the Bible should be understood by people, not just priests or the educated. We think of King James as being the fancy, elegant version, but that was simply how people spoke in those days.

Today, we get confused by the thees, thous, and saiths, so we have translations which make more sense to us. The other main difference has to do with denominational favorites and cultural preference. What books were considered sacred by the Catholic church were not necessarily so to all Jews or Protestants (those who protested the Catholic rules). That part of the Catholic Old Testament is called the Apocrypha, and it contains books of poetry and stories written before the time of Christ. However, it is not to be confused with the Gnostic books, written over 200 years after the death of Christ and his original followers. Those books were never considered to be canon (sacred), but are good fodder for fiction like the da Vinci Code. On those texts, Catholics and Protestants agree heartily.

Answer 2

Because everyone keeps changing it to suit there own ideas Of what God is.
All religion is man made it all makes the same claim that it comes from God. This claim is partially true but people can never stand to leave Gods word alone. This is because god’s word is consistent and does not mesh well with their personal preconceptions and bigoted ideas. So they make little changes here and there injecting their thoughts into the mix tainting the word with nonsense. For this reason you should not put much faith in these ideas about god that come from others. This is the reason why there are so many versions of the bible. If God wants to tell you something He is perfectly capable of telling you directly.

Maybe you should stop reading what other people say about God and ask him to tell you what he wants you to do directly. Stop reading; clear you mind and listen. When you pray get you’re talking over as soon as possible and listen. He is trying to talk to you but your mind is full of nonsense from the bible and other sources. Don’t be surprised if what you hear does not sound much like what you have been told about God. You will be hearing Gods message minus the nonsense.

In your bible study have you ever heard of the small still voice? You can't hear it if your mind is otherwise occupied with other people’s silly ideas about God. Just try it you will be surprised

Answer 3

Every time a new version comes out, it is copyrighted and someone makes money on royalties. You can't make money on royalties on someone else's work or on a work that is already in the public domain.

One thing you might find interesting about copyright law, in order for a work to be considered copyrightable and get royalties, it has to contain a substantial amount of new material. Minor changes are not enough.

The only English Bible that is not under copyright and never was is the King James Bible. God's word cannot be copyrighted. That means you can copy it or transmit it or preach it in any quantity or use it in songs, and you don't have to pay anyone any royalties or ask permission. If you use more than 500 words of the NIV you have to ask Rupert Murdock for permission.

Answer 4

The King James was translated over 7 years, by 51 men, working in diffrent shifts, to keep it from being corrupted, from the original greek and hebrew, not the secondary Latin. It was translated to give everyone a chance to read it, not just the Cathiloc church, who monopolized the Latin Vulgate version. It was translated ONLY from the original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts, meaning it was only translated ONE time, not the many people want you to believe.

The English versions you find, are written to be easier to read, for personal prefrence. The tranlation has not changed, it has just been modernized.

No, this is not a cut and paste. This is research I have done

Answer 5

There is only one version of the Bible. The Bible interpreted by St. Jerome several hundred years ago. Unfortunately, with different Protestant branches breaking off from the Catholic Church, they have all written new "bibles" and changed words from the Bible and taken out important books altogether in order to better support their heresy. These other versions (the KJV, NSRV) are all books of heresy and are not Bibles because they were butchered. Catholic missionaries would burn these books when they found them because they said it would be better for converts to read no Bible than these books of lies.

Answer 6

Define "version"
Define "Bible"

Do you mean:
* Why are there so many manuscripts of the New Testament that are differnet from each other?
* Why are there so many manuscripts of the Tanakh/LXX that are different from each other?
* Why does the Aramaic differ from the Greek, or Hebrew texts?
* Why are there so many different translations of either/both of those texts in English, or other target language?
* Why does the Bible for Jews / Anglicans / Catholic Christians / Orthodox Christians / Protestant Christians / Coptic Christians contain different books, and passages within those books?
* All of the above?
* None of the above?

##########
Answering them in order:

* Why are there so many manuscripts of the New Testament that are different from each other?

Greek texts: Mainly these are due to copyist errors, or additions. As a text was copied, a sentence that might have been a gloss becomes part of the "original" text. Less common, but not unknown, is for a verse to be omitted, or repeated by accident.
As texts were copied from a central source, for the use of the text spread out from that location. [This is why texts are described as being "Alexandrian", "Cesearean", "Byzantian", "or "Antiochian".]

Aramaic Text. For Aramaic supremacists, one of the proofs is that when a word in Aramaic can be translated two or more ways, the textual varients of the Greek will reflect that differnece in words. Each of the "families" of Greek texts can be traced to the choice of words used to translate a specific Aramaic word.

* Why are there so many manuscripts of the Tanakh/LXX that are different from each other?

The LXX was a translation done before the Tanakh became a closed canon. The evidence indicates that as a way to differentiate Jews from Christians, the council decreed that specific books that were most commonly read by Greek speaking Jews, be excluded from their canon. To minimize textual corruption of the Hebrew, a series of checks were inseerted into the text. If a scroll failed those checks, it was discarded in a manner that prevented it from being used. There were no such checks for the LXX. [Several codices show corrections made by either the original scribe, or a later scribe.]

* Why does the Aramaic differ from the Greek, or Hebrew texts?

For the Peshitta, one Aramaic word can mean between one and six different concepts in Greek. Hence the difficulty in knowing which concept is meant.

The targums were paraphrases. This means that the text was rendered in a way that the people would understand it. It may, but does not have to correspond with the 'exact' meaning in Hebrew. [For example, "pale blue" versus "aquamarine"..]

* Why are there so many different translations of either/both of those texts in English, or other target language?

## Translation from the text that the individual thinks is the "original" EG:
@@@ Aramaic Supremacist use teh Peshitta;
@@@ The Greek "majority" text is favoured by those who think that "majority rules";

## To target a specific population group; EG:
@@@ _The Way_ was geared towards the Hippy Movement of the sixties;
@@@ _The New Jerusalem Bible_ was geared towards those who wished to see the results of Catholic scholarship;

## To convey the appropriate degree of "formal equivalence" or "dynamic equivalence", or a simple paraphrase. In plain English, do you translate the expression "out of sight, out of mind" as "Invisible, insane", or "Gone, and thus forgotten"? EG:
@@@ The Jay Green Literal Translation of the Bible;
@@@ The New International Version of the Bible;
@@@ The Message;

* Why does the Bible for Jews / Anglicans / Catholic Christians / Orthodox Christians / Protestant Christians / Coptic Christians contain different books, and passages within those books?

This has to do with the books that they consider to be canonical / prootocanonical / deuterocanonical /apocryphal . Most people find a list of which group considers which books to be what, long, and boring. In brief, in relates to:
1) Their theology, and where in teh scriptures they find justification for it. If you believe in praying for the dead, then scriptural justifiction for that prctice demands the inclusion of Tobit.
2) Their initial premises for what the theologically "correct" position is. Protestant Christianity rejects the deuterocanonical books of the Holy Roman Ctholic and Apostolic Church, because it believes that that organization was immoral, adn that the Jews were moral.
[If you really want a list of which group considers which book to be what, email me.]

* All of the above?
The above should answer everything.

* None of the above?
That being the case, then you need to rewrite yoru question more precisely.

Answer 7

Back in the day rulers would have the bible re-translated or re-written just to make it fit what was going on politically in their country - King James did that and he changed alot! We'll never know if the men who translated or re-wrote were inspired more by god or by greed. If it really matters to you, I suggest finding the oldest form and translating it from the Greek and Hebrew yourself. Cut all the middle-men out.

Answer 8

You know how some classic books have the original old english versions, the new versions in language we use today, and even young adult books that are even more watered down and eat to understand?

its bsically the same idea.

Answer 9

Why are there so many of the Koran? Why are there two different versions of the Battle of Waterloo? There are only two manuscripts of this event from the times, and yet they are contradictory in some parts.

Answer 10

Because someone found something in the Real Version King James they did not like so they wrote what would suit them and people follow them instead of Jesus. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.