What is the difference between KJV and NIV?

Question

Why must have so many versions of bible? What about other languages? Which version they use/translated from?

Answer 1

Please note what Edwin H. Palmer, Th.D., Executive Secretary for the NIV’s committee wrote:

"We are the victims of 350 years of the King James tradition.

Why did the recently published “New International Version” (NIV) of the Bible fail to use the name of God where it appears about 7,000 times in ancient Bible manuscripts? In response to a person who inquired about this, Edwin H. Palmer, Th.D., Executive Secretary for the NIV’s committee wrote:


“Here is why we did not: You are right that Jehovah is a distinctive name for God and ideally we should have used it. But we put 2 1/4 million dollars into this translation and a sure way of throwing that down the drain is to translate, for example, Psalm 23 as, ‘Yahweh is my shepherd.’ Immediately, we would have translated for nothing. Nobody would have used it. Oh, maybe you and a handful [of] others. But a Christian has to be also wise and practical. We are the victims of 350 years of the King James tradition. It is far better to get two million to read it—that is how many have bought it to date—and to follow the King James, than to have two thousand buy it and have the correct translation of Yahweh. . . . It was a hard decision, and many of our translators agree with you.”

So which bible is more accurate?

New Testament:

While critical of some of its translation choices, BeDuhn called the New World Translation a “remarkably good” translation, “better by far” and “consistently better” than some of the others considered. Overall, concluded BeDuhn, the New World Translation “is one of the most accurate English translations of the New Testament currently available” and “the most accurate of the translations compared.”—Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament.

“Here at last is a comprehensive comparison of nine major translations of the Bible:

King James Version,
New American Standard Bible,
New International Version,
New Revised Standard Version,
New American Bible,
Amplified Bible,
Today's English Version (Good News Bible),
Living Bible,
and the New World Translation.

The book provides a general introduction to the history and methods of Bible translation, and gives background on each of these versions. Then it compares them on key passages of the New Testament to determine their accuracy and identify their bias. Passages looked at include:

John 1:1; John 8:58; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-20; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8; 2 Peter 1:1

Jason BeDuhn
Associate Professor of Religious Studies, and Chair
Department of Humanities, Arts, and Religion
Northern Arizona University

To get a copy of the NWT

www.watchtower.org

Answer 2

The short answer would be that the KJV was translated from the official Byzantine Greek text.

The NIV translators, responding to the 19th century Biblical critics who had argued that the Bible had been altered over the years, went back and made a compilation of pre-Nicenean texts and translated those in order to remove the possiblity of any "editing" by the Roman or Greek churches.

Part of the reason that there are several translations is that there are different theories of translation. A word for word translation from one language to another is not always possible, so most translations (like the NIV) attempt a "dynamic" translation of the "meaning" of the text, since a literal translation often provides nonsence. If you want a more literal translation, try the American Standard Version instead.

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The King James Version (KJV) — Translated in 1611 by 47 scholars using the Byzantine family of manuscripts, Textus Receptus. This remains as a good version of the Bible. It has been the most reliable translation for over three centuries, but its Elizabethan style Old English is difficult for modern readers, especially youth. This is still a good translation for those who can deal with the language.

The New American Standard Bible (NASB) — Translated in 1971 by 58 scholars of the Lockman Foundation, from Kittle’s Biblia Hebraica and Nestle’s Greek New Testament 23rd ed., which include the Alexandrian Family codices. Though academic in tone, it is said to be the most exact English translation available. A very good version.

The Living Bible (TLB) — A paraphrased rendition of the King James Version by Kenneth Taylor in 1971. This is not a genuine translation, but is a type of phrase-by-phrase commentary that was originally intended to help the author’s own children understand the scriptures. It is useful for inspiration and commentary, but for serious Bible study it should only be used in conjunction with a legitimate translation.

The New International Version (NIV) — Over 100 translators completed this work in 1978 which was composed from Kittle’s, Nestle’s and United Bible Society’s texts, which include the Alexandrian Family codices. This is considered an “open” style translation. It is a good, easy to read version.


The New King James Version (NKJV) — 130 translators, commissioned by Thomas Nelson Publishers, produced this version from the Byzantine family (Textus Receptus) in 1982. This is a revision of the King James version, updated to modern English with minor translation corrections and retention of traditional phraseology. This is a very good version.

Answer 3

The King James was translated from manuscripts in 1611, hence the very stilted language. The NIV is a newer version, using more modern English. That's pretty much what the "versions" are, merely updated as language changes.

Answer 4

The KJV was translated in about 1611 by a group of scholars based on the manuscripts that were available at that time.

Since then, other manuscripts have been discovered including the dead sea scrolls. Modern versions such as the NIV, NKJV and NAS are generally based on the best manuscripts that were not available to previous editions.

Also, the language of the KJV is based on 17th century English, hence the thou shalts, thee's, etc...

Answer 5

KJV is the most accurate-- taken from the ""Textus Receptus"
there are 30 archaic words that have to be learned to study that version-- It is In free domain so can not be copyrighted so no printer can make VAST amounts of $$ selling it,

NIV is from older and less valued texts and is copyrighted so promoted for $$ profit, Horte & Westcott did the translations and later it was found they were paid off by the roman church for their work -- it is slanted in that way.

Answer 6

KJV
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KJV
NIV
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NIV