steve crisp's blog

bibles, bibles everywhere

 abuse

Since the inception of GOLO, and particularly yesterday, there have been references to the various English translations of the Bible used today. While most people probably use either the King James Version (KJV) or the New International Version (NIV), there are most certainly others available from which to read and study.

However, in those discussions, I have seen some errors creep in as to the legitimacy of certain of the texts, their origin, and their accuracy of translation to the earliest manuscripts we possess of the Old and New Testaments. I have even seen references to versions that do not even exist such as the KJV NIV; that designation is of what is called a parallel Bible in which both discrete versions are presented side-by-side for comparison and do not represent a single separate translation in and of itself.

So I have put this blog together to allow you to reference the various versions that are in popular use, see where they came from, and indicate how potentially authoritative they may be with respect to the "originals". Keep in mind that this is a reference to modern English translations. I do not intend to go into the history of how the documents of the Bible were originally determined or early translations like the Septuagint or Latin Vulgate, though many of the modern translations do rely on those early renderings to discern shaded meanings from the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts.

So here goes in chronological order of their release.

King James Version (KJV): The grand-daddy of them all. Commissioned by King James I of England in 1604, and released in 1611, this version has become the authoritative translation worldwide. It relied on early Masoretic Hebrew versions of the Old Testament and the Textus Receptus for the New Testament. It is as faithful a rendering as was available at the time, and to attempt to assure its longevity, even dispensed with idiomatic expressions which were popular at the time it was written. Indeed, phrasing such as "verily I say unto you" were archaic at the time and intentionally inserted to maintain longevity. With the discovery of older manuscripts than what were available to the translators of the KJV, subsequent versions were released that updated this early 1600s version. Overwhelmingly, the differences between the KJV and other translations involve stylistic variants and, to my knowledge, do not alter the underlying message of the Bible.

Revised Version (RV): Released in 1891 (NT) and 1895 (OT), this version essentially cleaned up the language of the KJV and rendered the English into a form that was more understandable for the time. It is a very literal and flat translation of the Hebrew and Greek without the flourishes of the KJV. And as the first significant and widespread translation since the KJV, and because it dispensed with the flourishes found in the KJV, it began the movement of people insisting that the KJV is the only Bible to use.

American Standard Version (ASV): As noted in its own title, this was the first major translation performed by Americans without British help. It was released in 1901 and is a very literal translation of the original texts. Though not widely accepted as an alternative to the KJV, it nonetheless became the standard work within many seminaries and is also known as The Standard Bible. it is no longer used except by Jehovah's Witnesses who use it as their official text.

Revised Standard Version (RSV): The translation that fired the first huge shot across the bow of the KJV. Published in 1946 (NT) and 1852 (OT), the RSV used the KJV, the RV, and the ASV along with the original manuscripts as the basis for its creation with a heavy emphasis on the ASV. It was written to be not only accurate in translation, but also easy to read, written in a style that was accessible to the modern English speaker. This is the version that launched the full blown King-James-Only-Movement in all its glory, though there really isn't grounds for that severe of a reaction. Again, there are no doctrinal deviations from the KJV that amount to anything with one exception which I won't even mention at the risk of starting a riot.

New American Standard Bible (NASB): Released in 1963 (NT) and 1971 (OT), this is exactly what it implies -- a new version of the ASV. It is literal, grammatically correct, very accessible to speakers of English, and presents Christ as foremost. The translators went back to the original manuscripts, now updated due to recent discoveries like the Dead Sea Scrolls, and is very true to those originals. In doing so, however, they somewhat missed the intent of making it fully accessible to readers even though they allowed for idiomatic expressions. It was a tradeoff, But the NASB is still an accurate rendering of the original texts. It was updated in 1995 with the New American Standard Version (NASB95) and that update is the one most literal translations widely used in churches today.

New King James Version (NKJV): Released in 1982, this version did two things. One, it cleaned up the now archaic language of the KJV and two, it reasserted the KJV manuscripts as those which are authoritative. As such, it essentially ignores any discoveries and older manuscripts than what were available in 1611. There are no substantial doctrinal differences, though, that would make it a deal breaker.

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV): Released in 1989, the NRSV is a complete rewrite of the RSV, modernizing the language. The primary fault, which is a huge one among many people, is that it is gender neutral. In other words, in other versions where the term "man" is used, the NRSV uses the term "adult." Using those variants does introduce doctrinal differences that are unacceptable to many people, especially those of the more conservative denominations.

New International Version (NIV): Grand Daddy Two. Released in 1973 (NT) and 1978 (OT), the NIV is rapidly becoming the standard for day to day reading and studying. The translation demanded that it maintain literalness to the original texts while also conveying the sense of the passage in question. As such, there are wordings that are used for explanatory purposes that are not faithful to the original Hebrew or Greek, but which fully retain the intention of those originals. Much of the criticism of this version has been by die hard literalists, and in a handful of cases, they have potential justification. However, the divergence does not affect at all the doctrine of Christianity. It is currently the most popular version used today.

With the exception of the NRSV for the reason as noted, any of the above versions are very good sources of Biblical study in that they represent the original manuscripts fairly and without doctrinal variations foisted for purposes beyond the translation itself. As always, when in doubt, go to commentaries by those who are experts in the field and look at their extensive writings on the matter to be studied. Better yet, learn how to read Hebrew and Greek. :)

Now, some other versions just to mention. The Living Bible, the Good News Bible, God's Word, and The Message are but a few "translations" of the Bible that have appeared since the 1970s. These versions are known as dynamic translations and, though they attempt to adhere to the original intent, use paraphrasing and interlinear commentary to express the thoughts of what the Bible states. They are good for casual reading or if you desire some clarification in idiomatic English for a passage in another version you are reading, but are not suitable for real Biblical study.

And just to add one more point...

If you are really interested in studying the Bible, you need to have at least the following in your home library to reference:

The Interlinear Hebrew-Greek-English Bible four volume set published by Trinitarian Bible Society. This work gives the original text of the Bible in the original language and letters and "interlinears," the running English as a transliteration of the Hebrew and Greek. It is word indexed to Strong's Concordance.

Strong's Concordance published by Abington Press. This work not only allows you to look up every word in the Bible, but it has a section that gives the root derivations of those words. It is an essential to Bible study.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia published by Eerdman's Publishing. This four volume set contains background on the history, politics, theology, economics and other aspects of what the Bible makes statements about. It is well researched and well written.

Who's Who in the Bible: Written by Joan Comay and Ronald Brownrigg, this is a comprehensive look at all the people mentioned in the Bible and gives detailed biographies and histories.

Handbook to the Bible published by Eerdmans. A down and dirty commentary of the Bible on a book-by-book basis that acts as a good start in understanding when the various books were written and for what purpose.

An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon published by Oxford Press. This is exactly what it states -- a lexicon (or dictionary) of Greek with the word's variant meanings and origins.

And if you would like to learn the languages of the Bible, two good works to start with are: An Introduction to Ancient Greek by C. A. E. Luschnig and Introduction to Biblical Hebrew by Thomas O. Lambdin.

For commentaries, and being a conservative Christian, I prefer those written by Charles Swindoll, John MacCarthur, The Old Testament Library published by Westminster Press, The New International Commentary of the New Testament published by Eerdman's Press, and the works of Matthew Henry, Charles Spurgeon, Charles Stanley, J. Vernon McGee, among many others.