Does it matter what version of the Bible you read? My school says the KJV because other Bibles omit key words

Question

What do you think?

Answer 1

actually the NRSV bible seems closest to the original languages and meaning imparted by those languages. the school is probably just partial to the KJV

Answer 2

What school do you attend?

The KJV was written a long time ago with a version of English that we do not even fully understand today.

Also the KJV, And I love the poetry of it and am very familiar with it, is based on only one set of scrolls that had been discovered of the original bible texts called the Vulgate.

Newer versions like the NIV or New American Standard use the oldest scrolls that we have today, they were discovered in Qumran in the 1940's. It also uses other texts that have been discovered since the Vulgate and compares them for accuracy. They also used an Ecumenical group of Biblical Scholars to help insure the accuracy.

All in all the KJV is nice but highly inaccurate.

Many here are not clear on the difference between a paraphrase, which is a editing of the english text to make it more enjoyable, and a translation, which is a rendering in English as close as humanly possible the meaning of the original writing. The NIV, RSV, KJV, The NKJV, The TNIV, the New Jerusalem Bible, and the New American Standard version are all translations

The Message and the Living Bible are nice and easy to read but they are paraphrases.

Answer 3

KJV is a good version, but for most people a more modern text is probably better. The language has changed in 400 years and there are many phrases in the KJV that a reader without special knowledge of the linguistic changes might not understand.

Accuracy isn't a big problem in most modern translations. There aren't any phrases which are included in the KJV but excluded from other texts. Some versions, such as that published by the Watchtower Society (Jehovah's Witnesses) include very doubtful translations of key passages intended to support the doctrines of the publishers.

The Revised Standard Version, which is based on King James but updates some phrases to reflect modern English, is my personal favorite. YMMV.

Answer 4

I think it does, but not to such a narrow extent that the KJV-onlyists claim (i.e., the KJV is the only version authorized by God, which is an odd claim when even the KJV translators never made such a claim). I think it is better to rely on a good literal translation over a paraphrase (such as the NIV) because in paraphrase versions, it's far too easy and common for the religious views of the paraphrasers to make their way into the text. Not that I have any problem with someone using a paraphrase bible as a secondary bible to help gain understanding of difficult passages, only that it shouldn't be one's primary bible. http://www.kconline.com/paul/litv/litv_ind.htm#gen39_1 provides some good examples as to why I prefer the Literal Translation of the Holy Bible.

Answer 5

The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. Modern Language, translated from the original languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

Most important: It restores God's name Jehovah to the almost 7,000 places where the KJV and others removed it. The replace it with LORD or GOD - All uppercase letters - so you can see where it was. In the KJV, they forget to to remove from 4 passages:

Exodus 6:3;
Psalm 83:18;
Isaiah 12:2;
Isaiah 26:4.

You can read the NWT at the link below:

Answer 6

I know the problem. It is not the Bible though, it is your own time management or/and attitude toward the word of God. I have been there and done that. Now my favorite version is Archaeological NIV Study Bible. BUT, to help you to get started, what about if you start form the Message Bible. Go to the library and rent it on CD if you do not want to buy one. That is not the best version, but it is written on contemporary language. Some people call it even "street language" . I TRULY enjoy that version.

Answer 7

Well I think that it is a moot point. When I went to Christian School they told me KJV only too. But later I learned that the KJV was translated in 1600, imperfectly, and that the many translations have obscured what the original texts meant anyway. And then, did the apostles write down everything Jesus said accurately? So now, I think Jesus was a Divine prophet but who knows what the Bible says.

Answer 8

Well, other versions do leave out specific words. The KJV is the original English version. When you read the other versions, just make sure you have the KJV to look at to be sure of its meaning. OK.

Answer 9

I use the New King James or the NIV..I like that they are easy to understand and I have yet to find a difference between them and the KJV that would change the meaning of the bible.

Answer 10

Nope not really, some versions are more understandable. As long as it isn't the re-written Bible I think the Latter Day Saint's or the Mormons have a book like that!

Answer 11

I use the KJV and the Orthodox Study Bible.