Which of the hundreds of versions of the Bible is the true and correct one?

Answer 1

you have to first read and study and then except Christ as your personal Savior and the don't just read but study the bible, God"s word is ture he is not a person that he would lie

Answer 2

The original documents that comprise the Bible have all rotted away. All we have is copies. And they are not in English. Bibles that are not written in Greek and Hebrew are erroneous because they are translations. The syntax, idioms and even word definitions of one language can never be perfectly translated into another.

Among the Bibles that ARE in Hebrew and Greek, there are differences. The Masoretic Text, the basis of most Hebrew Bibles, is a compilation from the 10th Century CE, vouchsafed to be accurate but without irrefutable proof. The Septuagint (Greek, translated about 250 BCE) supports it pretty well, as do the Dead Sea Scrolls (from the time of Christ), but there are some differences.

The oldest Greek texts are the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus, dating from the 4th and 5th Centuries, but they weren't recovered until the 19th Century. In the meantime, during the 16th Century, a guy named Erasmus had assembled a Greek text from pieces of several 10th Century Greek Bibles. The result was called the Textus Receptus ("Received Text"), or the "Majority" text because there were more 10th Century Bibles still lying around than 5th Century ones. The TR is the source for the KJV.

The older texts don't have several of the verses that conveniently support some central doctrines (such as the Divine Trinity). Which versions are the right ones? Were the later texts embellished or were the older ones defective? There are dogmatic "experts" on both sides of the debate.

The people who translate Bibles are sincere in their wish to convey the true meaning of every verse they translate, but they are human and they do have biases. Read a variety of translations. Learn which renderings come from which sources. If you're up to it, learn some Greek and Hebrew and get an interlinear translation or two. The Bible is as accurate as it can be under the circumstances. Just take it as a whole, don't get hung up on miniscule doctrinal distinctions.

Answer 3

Because most people can not know the original ancient Hebrew and Greek languages of the Bible, it has to be translated for most people to be able to read it. Because the English language is also changing every couple generations, a translation made a couple hundred years ago is going to be difficult to read. Plus as more ancient manuscripts of the Bible and other literature are found, our understanding of the meaning of some of the original words has improved. So there is a need from time to time to update the translation (or version - both words mean the same thing) of the Bible.

If you take the time to compare the Bibles in most bookstores, you will see that many of them contain the same text. But they have different notes, commentaries, features and study aids added to them. They are the same translation, just with different extras. (Like a DVD of just a movie, and the double DVD with extras both have the same movie. The double set just has extras added).

Different versions of the Bible have also been produced for different usage. For example, the American Bible Society has a version designed for people who use English as their second language. So it is translated with the smallest and simpliest vocabular possible. The sentences are kept short also. It is designed as a "reading" Bible to help people understand the basics, not as a study Bible.

There are others like the New American Standard. It is the most literal and accurate word for word translation possible. It takes no liberities with text. However, because there are differences between English grammar and Greek/Hebrew grammar, it can sometimes be difficult to read. You have to stop and turn the words around and things before the English makes senese. Excellent for indepth study, but not good for just reading.

Others like the New International Version try to find a balance between being word for word literal and being understandable. So occassional they will rearrange the wording, or use three or four words to translate one Greek word and so on to help with the understanding.

Then there are the funs ones...the paraphrases. These are not Bible translations. Rather the authors retell the Bible in their own words. It is not an attempt to translate the scriptures word for word, but idea for idea. They will use modern expresses, and word picture more releveant to today's society and culture. They are not intended for any kind of serious Bible study, but are closer to a commentaries on the scriptures. They can be fun to read to see what ideas and meaning the authors find in the Bible stories.

If you actually take four or five Bible translations and compare them side by side (and you can buy Bibles just like that - with four to six versions together) you will see that the difference is rarely a difference in meaning, but a difference in style.

So which of the "hundreds" of version of the Bible (there are actually only about 30-40 English versions currently in print) is the true and correct one? The original one written in the original language. But since most people can not read that one, they have to go with a translation. As someone who can read the original languages, and has been studying the originals and the translations for over 50 years, I can assure you that the major translation on the market today are accurate and reliable translations. So Find one that has a style you like and start reading.

Answer 4

No words can ever be absolutely true. No version of the Bible can be absolutely true. The inspired writings of all spiritual leaders are always only sign posts to the absolute. That is why there is so much controversy over the meaning of the written word when dealing with religious or spiritual teachings. Absolute truth is always and only transmitted from within each being out into the world. How you interpret the truth you have come to know is never the only correct interpretation. What words or phrases you choose to try to communicate it will never come close to the reality of the sacred.

Answer 5

The versions were all translated from the orignal (or as some people belive, copies of the orignal) text of the Bible. They're all correct, but it just depends on which one makes more sense to you. King James version is very old kind of language with a lot of thous and stuff, and The Message version is written in todays language. So, the different versions are all correct and true, it just depends on which one is best for you. Sometimes you have to lay them all out in front of you and decide.

Answer 6

If you can't read it in the original language, use translations that are direct from the source. For example, the King James Version is twice removed for the new testament and thrice for the old. What this means is that the KJV was translated from Latin. The Latin bible was translated from the Greek, the source language of the NT and a translation of the OT from the original Hebrew.

Some of the newer translation are direct from the source and tend to be more accurate. But remember, any translation has an element of commentary and bias.

Answer 7

"The Unauthorised Version: The Truth and Fiction in the Bible" by Robin Lane Fox is a very interesting book on how the Bible was put together. It does not dispute the Bible as a religious source, however it does despute some fundamental ideas about the Bible.

Answer 8

Good question I've wondered that too. the Bible in general is true, but read the same verse in different Bibles then you'll get two completely different, meanings. From My understanding though the King James Version is the most accurate for English.

Answer 9

None of them. All are man's translations from Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. We have none of the original manuscripts, but copies.

Fortunately, the copies we have are very close in time to the originals, we have many copies, and thus can prove their reliability.

And most English versions have done a reliable job translating the Hebrew and Greek into English. The best, in my opinion, are the NASB and NIV.

Answer 10

There is no possible way to answer this question without a heated debate. As a Catholic, I believe that the Catholic Bible is the true, correct, divinely inspired one. I won't elaborate.

Sorry, but this question is going to have to be answered by a more thorough historical search on your part than by going to "Yahoo Answers"

Answer 11

There is no 'correct' one - I mean really, if Micheal Crichton wrote a different version of Jurassic Park, which one would be the 'correct' one?

Fictional books do not have 'correct' versions - they're all false in the face of reality.