Different versions of the Bible?

Question

I'm quite curious to see what can be said about this. First of all, in what language was the Bible revealed in? And secondly, if the Bible is actually the true words of God, then surely, shouldn't it be NOT changed or altered in anyway?

I'm not talking about translating it into different languages. I'm talking about the actual words of the Bible being changed. How do we know what the true word of God is, when it can be changed/interpreted in different ways, and when there are many variations of it?

Answer 1

The bible is not one work, it is a COLLECTION of works.

Why worry about translation of said works, when people can't agree on which works should be included?

Answer 2

This is quite silly. Sorry if I upset you, but Jehovah God wants us to "read aloud and understand his words." (Rev. 1:3) Interpreting the Bible is only ONE way in which we can do HIS WORK, and it is a SUPREME honor and joy to be allowed to be part of that work. This is why it should be of paramount importance to do it with no prejudice to any religious belief whatsoever and go strictly according to the "closest thing to the original script each time," instead of translating from a translation. You ALWAYS go back to the original source when translating.

The Bible was written in Hebrew for the Old Testament. The New Testament was written in Aramaic and Greek. Both of which Christ spoke. God could not reach his "message" around the world without the help of translations and translators and this is why the best Bibles are translated with the help of a "Board of Translators" that go through the text and choose the MOST LIKELY meaning for the texts involved. This way one person does not get their beliefs inserted into the word of God at the expense of someone else's accuracy.

So, as you see, if done right, the word of God is not being changed, it is simply being translated and the MEANING OF THE TEXT is left INTACT which is what God cares about.

Answer 3

Good question, and you know most Christians would not be able to answer that. Old testiment was written in Hebrew, and the New testiment was written in Greek. As far as the versions are conscerned the most accurate to the scrolls are the KJV (King James version) the hardest to understand. The most literal translation ( and easier to understand) NASB (New American Standard Bible). It is still difficult to understand, but not as difficult as the King James. NASB is still written in the same format, but flows well with updated English. That is really the only reason for the many translations because KJV, and NKJV are very difficult to understand. Unfortunatley when making things easeir to understand some information is not as accurate, but near close because it gives the jist. Some people just can't understand Old English. As far as God it is a whole faith thing Christians believe that anyone who contributed to the Bible was touched, and or lead by God. Hence the word "faith," and it does take faith to believe that the Bible is the truth.

Answer 4

The OT was written in Hebrew and Aramaic. The most correct versions of the OT are translated from the Masoretic texts (you can read about this on Wikipedia), which preserved the text's accuracy, despite numerous copies being made.

The NT is rather tricky. It was originally written in Greek, but contains phrases in Latin and Aramaic, as well. Scholars hotly dispute which Greek version is the most accurate. I lean toward the Textus Receptus (Received Text); however, even Textus Receptus scholars agree certain portions are likely corrupted by errors.

This is what I did to resolve these issues: purchase a "reference edition" of the NKJV (or similar translation) that flags these variances and provides the words or phrases from other texts.

There are some Biblical translations that a serious Bible student should stay away from. The Latin Vulgate translation is a translation from Greek into Latin, then into English. This translation is mostly used by the Catholic Church. Another version to definately stay away from is the New World Translation, used by Jehovah's Witnesses. This translation was performed by unqualified men, one of who admitted under oath in a famous court case that he could neither read, write, speak or translate Greek or Aramaic. Troubling.

Please don't let these controversies keep you from studying your Bible. That's exactly what Satan wants.

I hope this helps.

Answer 5

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the New Testament was written in Greek. So any translation may not be completely accurate as there are some words that do not translate into other languages. One could spend years dissecting the various translations in an attempt to understand more deeply the meaning of the scriptures. We are called to not split hairs over the various translations and to avoid fruitless discussions that lead to dissension but rather to follow the Word of God, love our fellow Man, help our fellow man, encourage our fellow man and Love God with all of our heart mind and soul. We need to keep focused on the big picture and not be like the Pharisees with endless debates and focus on the Law.

Answer 6

Okay, here's the deal......everyone knows that they are the best kind of people right? You, for example, KNOW that you and your family are special. People from your neighbourhood are a little less special. People from your town are a little less special...and so on down the line...your country, your race and of course your religion. People just can't help feeling that they must be special.

Being special...your group is the best source of religion in the whole world...the most likely to be right and so you interpret the Bible in your own special way....you look at the most ancient scriptures that you can find and weigh the words carefully to make them most to YOUR liking. I on the other hand should just agree with you, right? What the hell would make me think that I'm special...I'm not one of you special guys....why can't I see that?

Answer 7

hebrew and greek and yes there are different ways to inturpret it through language but that is the greatest part because this is truth also whatever you can get out of it get it all means pretty much the same thing anyway but like power the word is dunimas and it means explosive and that is also where we get dinamite so what does that mean god have power and its explosive power !

and actualy there is more evidence that sugests that the bible is real than evidence that its not look up creationists they will tell you everything here is a good one for you Dr. Sharp

Answer 8

When we mention Bible versions, what we do not mean are interpretations. We mean translations from one language into another, and/or translating "old language", as King James English into modern English. Interpretation of text is left to scholars known as theologians, who know the original Aramaic, Latin, Greek, etc as well as English, or German, or Spanish, etc. and comment on the meaning of passages of Scripture, in order to make its meaning more clear for those of us who know only our own language. These are known as concordances or Bible commentaries. Reading commentaries of various writers and scholars along with the Bible that you understand, along with sincere desire to understand (it helps to pray for guidance and wisdom first), and you can get the real meaning of Scripture.

Answer 9

different parts of the bible come from different people from different regions. these parts were written in different languages.

i dont remember anyone ever saying that the bible is "the true wods of God" (the Qu'ran, the Islamic Holybook, is supose to be), but i dont remember ever hearing that the Bible is.

part of the problem comes from translation. one word could have several different meanings (which way did they mean centuries ago?) and some languages there are words that do not translate into a word in another language. in situations like these, some guesswork and paraphrasing needs to come into play. but then that brings about doubt in others and hence our question here.

Answer 10

That runs into free will. We can believe the Bible to be inspired by God and protected through the centuries by the Holy Spirit, or not.
The variations should all point to the same things- Jesus is the Lord, God loves us-

Answer 11

the first part of the bible was given originally in Hebrew.

as for changes if you actually took a course in Masoric variations of Biblical texts you would know the answer your self.

variations comes from 4,000 years of coping error. The fact is we are all human and even when we do our best errors often creep in to a text that in several hundred thousand words long.