What is the most accurate translation of bible?

Question

I prefer "The New Jerusalem Bible" but I'm sure there are newer, better translations. But then nobody has the original manuscripts, so... how do they make new translations? What are their sources?

Answer 1

There is no accurate translation of the bible.....it has lost total accuracy through hundreds of years of man changing things round to suite himself.

Answer 2

I too like the Jerusalem Bible for readability and presentation; its a great read. The New Revised Standard Version seems to incorporate all the latest corrections. Just about every version tells how it was written and what steps were taken to ensure authenticity. In all cases, they refer to going back to the original Greek and Ancient Hebrew texts. I think the best version is any you should pick up and then when you see something that you want to explore, then check out a second or third text for comparison. I avoid the Modern Language versions (e.g. Good News Bible) as too much of an interpretation. Some bibles are translations and some are transliterations - if you want accuracy, go to a translation like NSRV, NKJV or the Jerusalem Bible.

King James (the original 1611 version) is full of poor translations that hav since identified and corrected. The classic, and I forget the verse, is where it says "Women should not speak in church" whereas the actual words used would be better translated "Women should not gossip in church"; quite a difference that I believe most 20th century versions correct although the passage is still used as support for not ordaining women in some denominations.

Answer 3

That's a matter of opinion.

Personally, I like the New World Translation for overall accuracy, for the Old Testament.

The New Testament, overall, also gets high marks from me EXCEPT for the 200+ instances which are rendered as "Jehovah" where "lord" or "god" occurs in the original language manuscripts. It's ironic that a Bible that in most instances, is very diligent to be accurate, just totally ignores what the Greek says, in these 200 places. It's unfortunate because it obscures the fact that otherwise, it is a pretty good translation.

Whatever version you use, you should try to find an interlinear Bible that simply translates the words from Hebrew or Greek into English, and then compare to the translation you use.

Answer 4

There is no newer and better translation. But there are better translations. The Jerusalem Bible is designed for east reading, not technical accuracy. The Vulgate is by far the most accurate translation ever made, but it is in Latin. Next best is the Douay translation, which was made directly from the Vulgate. The original King James is the least accurate translation still in wide circulation. It has more than 3,500 translation errors. the Revised KJV is better, with many of the errors corrected, but some really absurd errors remain, such as the use of "unicorns" as a translation of the Hebrew phrase "horned beasts", instead of the correct translation, "cattle" or "oxen".

Answer 5

They don't have the originals of the New Testament as in the things written by Paul's amanuensis etc because the materials used deteriorated, but they do have 5000 ancient manuscripts, which is 10 times more than the next most well-manuscripted ancient text, Homer's Odyssey. The earliest complete New Testaments are the Codex Sinaiticus and Code Vaticanus from early 4C.

A literal translation like the New American Standard Bible is probably best. KJV is well-written in literary terms with beautifully balanced sentences and word choice; its English is a bit out-of-date now, and it used a small selection of manuscripts compared with what are used nowadays.

Answer 6

The new Jerusalem bible is one of the best for describing the story, but as a catholic I have always questioned the validity of the translation of the original scriptures, because the original scriptures were written in Greek and Hebrew, and translating these two languages to English leaves the meaning vary vary questionable, and that is why the bible is simply not a believable story by many theologians today, the true answer to all of it will come at our death but no one can come back to verify any of it, you simply believe in it or you don't it's just that simple, truly an answer that cannot be given by any human being.

Answer 7

Old Testament:
In fact, the New World Translation is a scholarly work. In 1989, Professor Benjamin Kedar of Israel said:
"In my linguistic research in connection with the Hebrew Bible and translation, I often refer to the English edition as what is known as the New World Translation. In doing so, I find my feeling repeatedly confirmed that this kind of work reflects an honest endeavor to achieve an understanding of the text that is as accurate as possible. Giving evidence of a broad command of the original language, it renders the original words into a second language understandably without deviating unnecessarily from the specific structure of the Hebrew....Every statement of language allows for a certain latitude in interpreting or translating. So the linguistic solution in any given case may be open to debate. But I have never discovered in the New World Translation any biased intent to read something into the text that it does not contain."

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

(Please note that according to Dr. Jason BeDuhn, only the NWT translated John 1:1 correctly)

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Answer 8

We don't actually know. The originals do not exist. We only have copies that date several hundreds of years after the supposed originals were penned. The most accurate form the copied texts are Hebrew for the OT and greek for the NT. The most accurate translation depends highly on who you talk to. I prefer to ask a jew for any issue regarding the OT. NOTE: There are some serious translation errors in most of the english OT transalations. As for the NT, count the number of churches in your city. That is how many opinions you will get on which translation is better.

Answer 9

There is an online site where there is the Old Hebrew & the Old Greek & then also translated in English & other language on the same page.

I can add these web sites later.

I have a King James & a Strongs Exhaustive of the Hebrew & Greek definitions of every bible word.

Answer 10

why did you mention the "original manuscripts"
is there something about where they are stored ...
The Vatican has thousands of document and most of books (letters) of the new testament..
But thousands are also in other religious museums..
I also know the catholic bible may not be re-printed without some very high priest or cardinal verifying the accuracy..
so from King James on you might as well read the book of Mormon it is the same in general reference
I wonder if you can see it (the bible any) is just a fairy tail book of history and VERY vague..

Answer 11

The Bible in original Greek Or Hebrew