What version of the Bible do you use?  Many different translations are available these days, but do you know the difference between what you are reading and what someone else is reading?  My hope is that a little explanation will help you to understand the different ways a version of the Bible is made.

Before we get into the different versions, you need to know one over-arching fact: every version of the Bible that is read in English is a translation.  With that being said, no version will be able to do as good a job as the original language in which each book was written (Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic.  Not Latin).  Since most people are not scholars in these dead languages, we are bound to reading something that has been translated.

There are really two different ways in which the Scriptures are translated.  Most versions have several pages dedicated to explain this at the front of the book.  These are typically the pages that are ignored and overlooked.  I encourage you to take the time and read this part of the Bible so that you better know what you are reading.

The first way in which a Bible is translated is literally, or word-for-word.  The goal of this method is to take, for instance, the Greek wording and write out the translation as close to the way it was originally written.  Sometimes the original sentences do not make sense in English.  And example can be explained by word order.  Word order does not function the same in Greek as it does English.  The translator tries to make the most sense out of it while maintaining the original structure as closely as possible.  A good example is found in Matthew 5:8.  The Greek has the word order as follows, “They the God they will see.”  After learning about the language, you can see that the best translation would be, “They will see God.”  So at times word-for-word can difficult to make sense of.  PROBLEM: Not everything will make sense.  We are bound to figure out what the Scriptures mean by our own accord.

The other way in which people translate is thought-for-thought.  The main goal in this method is to see what the original meaning was in Scripture and translate the thought to modern English.  Usually the same words are used as the original text, but other times words are added to make better sense of what is being said.  PROBLEM: Since the translation is thought-for-thought, we are only able to see what the translator thinks is the correct viewing of the Scripture.  In some cases, the translator could be in error.

Which way is better?  That is really up to you.  The best way is to learn one of the original languages and do the translating.  But since most people do not have the resources, time, or motivation to accomplish such a daunting task, you really need to decide which option will work best for you.

Enough of the explaining, lets see what the different versions have to offer.  I hope this helps you to understand what is going on behind the scenes of your Bible.  Let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to help out.

KJV - King James Version
“The Authorized Version”
Who authorized this version?  Not God, but King James… of England.  There were many English versions of the Bible around the turn of the century (back in the 1600’s), but none were done well enough to become the official version for the Church of England.  The work was done in 1611, and has been used ever since.  Many older copies of the Scriptures have been discovered since the KJV was written, so this is not looked as the most accurate of translations.

NKJV - New King James Version
Translation method: word-for-word
Though the wording is sometimes hard to understand, this is actually one of the best word-for-word translations.  The English is reminiscent of Old English, which adds character to this version.  It is much like the KJV, only it uses more and earlier manuscripts that have been found since the 17th century.

NASB - New American Standard
Translation method: word-for-word
The same technique is used in the NASB as the NKJV, only the English used is closer to what we speak today.  This is one of the better versions to use when studying Scripture because it avoids using words that have been lost in the Old English, while maintaining as close of word-for-word translation as possible.

ESV - English Standard Version
Translation method: Essentially literal
What does this method mean?  The translator of the ESV try to stay as literal as possible while having literacy excellence.  It is more along the lines of a word-for-word translation, though it would not be considered as literal as the NASB or NKJV.  Personally, this is my favorite translation to use because I find it to be both enjoyable to read and and an accurate representation of the original text.

NIV - New International Version
Translation method: thought-for-thought
Possibly the most widely used version of today is the NIV.  People enjoy it because of its’ ease of read, as well as the popularity.  When people come together to study Scripture, they typically enjoy having the same version to read together, so more and more people give-in to the masses.  Is that a bad thing?  Not necessarily.  The NIV is one of the better thought-for-thought versions available.

NLV - New Living Version
Translation method: thought-for-thought
Other than the Message, this is possibly the largest diversion of the original text.  If you are an NLV user, I would strongly suggest its use only as free-read and not as a study tool.  At times the translators change the original meaning to fit their theological slant, which is dangerous and potentially harmful.  Be careful with this version, and if you are studying use an NASB or NKJV along side with it.

The Message
Translation method: thought-for-thought
Reading through the Message almost feels like you are reading a story.  There is a lot added here to bring the meaning out.  Just this morning I read part of Job where it makes reference to drinking a cup of coffee, something that was not around until the 9th century AD.  The Message is a good version to free read, but like the NLV, not the best version to use while studying.