Which Bible offers the most accurate english translations?

Question

I've noticed that different denominations complain that other denominations have a less accurate translation.

I'd love to see some passionate people tell me why one particular translation is the best, & why! Thanks!

Answer 1

Listed from "word-for-word" to "thought-to-thought".

NASB New American Standard Bible (1971; update 1995)

AMP Amplified Bible (1965)

ESV English Standard Version (2001)

RSV Revised Standard Version (1952)

KJV King James Version (1611; significantly revised 1769)

NKJV New King James Version (1982)

HCSB Holman Christian Standard Version (2004)

NRSV New Revised Standard Version (1989)

NAB New American Bible (Catholic, 1970, 1986 (NT), 1991 (Psalms)

NJB New Jerusalem Bible (Catholic, 1986; revision of 1966 Jerusalem Bible)

NIV New International Version (1984)

TNIV Today’s New International Version (NT 2001, OT 2005)

NCV New Century Version

NLT1 New Living Translation (1st ed. 1996; 2nd ed. 2004)

NIrV New International reader’s Version

GNT Good News Translation (also Good News Bible)

CEV Contemporary English Version

Living Living Bible (1950). Paraphrase by Ken Taylor. Liberal treatment of ‘blood.’

Message The Message by Eugene Peterson (1991-2000s)

Answer 2

Well, thats because when new versions are released and/or edited/revised, the "authors" put their own insight into it and include their opinion instead of giving a straightforward interpretation. When the Bible was revealed 2000 years ago, almost instantly people were writing their own interpretations and opinions instead of the truth. Also, for the sake of converting more people to Christianity, priests, popes, bishops, etc. changed the Bible to better win converts, including quotes that they know the convertee will want to hear. Conversion in Christianity is a main and constant goal; however the religion is being spread through lies because the Bible has changed so much. Verses were (and still are) revised to make them sound more appealing, changed to discontinue controversy over them, and some were even removed altogether because they revealed truths that the Churches could not bear for the world to find out and thus lose converts and Christians that way. The changing of the Bible corrupts it, and if Christianity was the true and correct religion, it would be perfect. A corrupt book is not perfect, which instantly flaws Christianity and labels it as not being the correct, true religion (it was actually the correct, true religion until it was adulterated by man almost immediately after it was introduced).

Here you are looking for the "best" translation. Do you want verses that will tell you what you want to hear or do you want verses (translation) of the truth? If you choose the first one, that would be taking the easy way out. If you choose the second, good luck!

Answer 3

A word about the New World Translation and its use of the name "Jehovah".

It is accurate in translating "Jehovah" about 7000 times in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament).

It is the LEAST accurate of just about all the translations when it comes to the Greek Scriptures (New Testament) because it IGNORES the actual Bible in more than 200 places . It translates 'Lord' and "God' with "Jehovah' which is blatantly inaccurate. Their justification is that it MIGHT have said "YHWH" originally. With logic like that, a translator can translate anything he wants, regardless of what the Bible manuscripts actually say. Obviously, the translators were not unbiased, or they would have translated the Greek Scriptures with the same care as the Hebrew Scriptures. The problem with translating "Lord" as "Jehovah" is that in some cases, the "Lord" in question is likely NOT Jehovah, but Jesus. But if you read the NWT you read "Jehovah" and don't even know that it was actually talking about Jesus instead.

You might like the New International Version.

Answer 4

Matters what constitutes the idea of "accurate". Like if you translate something word for word is that the most accurate translation? Most likely not, as anyone of you who speaks more than one language knows.

For me the best translation is that which translates the meaning most accurately.

Actually most of the popular translations are not far off from one another.

See also The Bible Translation Debate
http://www.bcbsr.com/topics/tld.html

Answer 5

The Douay Rheims Bible, is a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English.


The Latin Vulgate's Old Testament is the first Latin version translated directly from the Hebrew Tanakh rather than from the Greek Septuagint.

The Septuagint is the oldest of several ancient translations of the Hebrew Bible into Greek.

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The New American Bible is another translation, The original languages were translated into English by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine

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I have heard good comments on the Jerusalem Bible but have not read it yet.


In 1943 Pope Pius XII issued an encyclical letter, Divino Afflante Spiritu, which encouraged Catholics to translate the Scriptures from the original Hebrew and Greek, rather than from Jerome's Latin Vulgate. As a result, a number of Dominicans and other scholars at the École Biblique in Jerusalem translated the scriptures into French. The product of these efforts was published as La Bible de Jérusalem in 1961.
This French translation served as the basis for an English translation in 1966, the Jerusalem Bible.

Answer 6

I don't believe that any of them that are true translations, not paraphrases, etc., are any "better" than any other, but it depends on your particular definition of "better".

For the closest to the original Greek, it would be the New American Standard Bible.
For the easiest reading in 21st Century American language, probably the New Living Translation.
For a middle of the road, easy to understand translation , the New International Version.
To not tick off many people, the King James Version. ( sorry, I just had to) ;-)

Answer 7

The King James Version was translated from the most reliable manuscripts. These manuscripts did not contradict each other.

Some of the more modern translations such as NIV, used a different manuscript that in some areas did not agree with each other. Only about 95% of these manuscripts are reliable.

I would also be very careful with translations that are copyrighted. In order to copyright a work, you have to change quite a bit of the text from the original in order to receive said copyright. If it is changed too much, is it reliable?

See source for a brief discussion on the translations and examples of errors and changes in some of the newer translations.

Two of the most reliable are the King James Version (1611) and the New King James Version.

Answer 8

New American Standard Bible is considered by nearly all evangelical Christian scholars and translators today, to be the most accurate, word-for-word translation of the original Greek and Hebrew scriptures into the modern English language that has ever been produced. It remains the most popular version among theologians, professors, scholars, and seminary students today.

The New World Translation is the ultimate example of a religious group altering the Bible in order to promote a particular sect. Here are some examples:

John 1:1 (NKJV), "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1 (NWT), "In (the) beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god." This change was made because Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that Jesus is God. Rather, Jehovah's witnesses believe Jesus is a created being, the highest of the angels.

Hebrews 1:8 (NIV), "But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever…" Hebrews 1:8 (NWT), "God is your throne forever…" Again, a clear reference to Jesus as God is twisted.

Genesis 1:2 (KJV), "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Genesis 1:2 (NWT), "Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there was darkness upon the surface of [the] watery deep; and God's active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters."

The Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that the Holy Spirit is a person or is God, rather they believe Him to be a figure of God's power.

The New World Translation is not a translation of the Bible. It is an intentional perversion of the Bible in order to promote the false doctrines of the Jehovah's Witnesses. The names of the "translators" of the New World Translation have been for the most part kept secret. It has been revealed that those responsible for the New World Translation had no knowledge of Hebrew and Greek and no experience in the field of Bible translation. The New World Translation is nothing but the attempt of the Jehovah's Witnesses to make the Bible agree with their false doctrines.

Answer 9

The New World Translation is the easiest overall.

The KJV is good for poetic language. DyV, Vulgate Version, American Standard....oh there is about 40 that we use. Most have the same words, though some differ in one or two words depending on the time written and language where translated. I have most on computer programs. Saves a lot of space.

For everyday ease though I still prefer the NWT as it follows closely the old transcripts and puts everything in modern english. I have enough trouble with Paul's writing. You can sure tell he was a lawyer even back then.

Answer 10

King James had around 80-90 scholars translate the bible from Greek and Hebrew the best they could . They did a very good job and the English grammar was English at it's best. When the dead sea scrolls were found ,the KJV matched word for word . The niv and others remove or change over 6,000 words .Thinking it's easier to read but , it changes the meaning .