The Insiders Guide to Choosing a Bible
Did you know that there are over 900 different translations of the Bible!? That is a crazy amount of translating. But not every translation is created equal. Which begs the question, “Which Bible translation should I use to read and study from?” That’s what we are covering on Episode 03 of the Grafted Podcast…The Insiders Guide to Choosing a Bible.
Have you ever gone to the store, and on your list it says you need more cereal? As you walk down the cereal aisle there hundreds of boxes with all kinds of cereal. There’s the old people’s cereal that has bran and shredded oats, there’s kids cereal that is loaded with chocolate and marshmallows, and then there are all kinds of toaster pastries filled with gooey goodness. Now you have a decision to make. How are you going to choose which one to get?
Believe it or not, choosing a Bible is a lot like choosing a cereal. It can be a little overwhelming. There are just as many if not more options to choose from, and it isn’t as simple as you might think. You could go to your local bookstore, head over to the Christian section, and buy a bible. While there is only one Protestant Bible, there are many different translations that are on the shelf. And not all of those translations are created equally. In this episode, we are going to talk about how to choose a bible to read and study from?
Why do we need a Bible?
As Christians, it’s extremely important for us to continually learn about God, grow in our faith, and act on what we believe. This happens as we spend time with other believers, in prayer, and by studying God’s Word. In studying God’s Word, we need to have our own Bible to study. Through reading God’s Word we learn and understand who God is, about his law, and His purpose for our lives. If we read and study the Bible properly, it isn’t just another obscure book, it brings purpose and meaning into our lives. The problem isn’t just with us understanding it, in reality, the problem lies with how we obey what God says and we put His word into practice. We’ve all heard the saying, “you are what you eat.” Well, it’s the same as what we put in our minds. If we read and study God’s word, it becomes part of who we are and what we believe. Our goal in studying the bible is first to grow closer to God, and second to allow it to change our lives from the inside out. Studying the Bible is how we hear God’s Word for us.
Marketing
The first thing we have to do is get past the marketing. Just like with cereal brands, there is a ton of money spent on marketing and selling Bibles. With so many different options on the table, both seasoned and new believers often wonder which Bible translation is the best to buy. They come in every shape, size, and variety you can possibly imagine. There is everything from serious intensive Bibles for studying to trendy editions for culturally relevant issues and themes. There are endless options that Bible publishers add-in which really can make choosing a bible difficult. These add-ins are things like commentaries, maps, graphs, concordances, devotionals, bible reading plans, journaling areas, and all kinds of other things. All of which are marketing tactics to make you want to buy one Bible over another. They are not part of the translation of the original text. That’s why we have to look past the marketing and format of a Bible, to learn what translation is being used. Now, these extra add-ons are not bad things. In fact, some of them are extremely beneficial. But when choosing a Bible, this must be the last thing we look at. So we will circle around to this later.
Why So Many Translations?
According to the American Bible Society, “There are so many different versions of the English Bible that no one can give an exact number.” Why? The answer is simple, languages change. Translations are essential for people who don’t read the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages that the Bible was written in. If people are going to be able to understand what God is saying through his word they need to be able to read it in their lanaguage. There are two parts to this.
The Scale
First: on Episode 02 of the Grafted Podcast, we talked about where the bible came from, and who decided what would be in it. We know that God is the author of all scripture, but he used humans over 1500 years and three different languages. These three languages don’t translate perfectly into English. So translators must make a few decisions on whether they want to convey the exact words or the central idea of the original text. Some translations are literal word-for-word translations, others are thought-for-thought translations, and there are a variety of mixtures between the two. There is even a category of “Freestyle” or paraphrase translations. These different translation philosophies created the “Bible Translation Continuum” that we will talk about in a minute.
Revised Translations
We can see the second part pretty easily if we look at texting over the past two decades. When texting first became a thing, we used the T9 keyboard using the number keys on our phone to text every word. Then we started abbreviating certain sayings like “Laugh out Loud,” to LOL and today with a full keyboard that we don’t really use much we send emoji and gifs. It’s the same with the English language. The way English was, the words, punctuation, grammar, and idioms of 1611 when the King James Version was published were way different from today’s English. Therefore when the language becomes outdated and difficult to understand, it needs to be revised or updated for the modern everyday speech. Older words need to be replaced with newer ones. The goal in creating revised versions was not to change the meaning of the Bible, but instead to use modern language to convey the exact same meaning that was in the original languages.
Science of Translation
When it comes to translating the Bible there is actually a science that is behind it. Translators must look at two different areas: Textural and Linguistic.
When they look at the textural side they are looking at the character, quality, and age of the manuscripts, as well as at the different kinds of issues and errors that happened as the bible was copied. For example, the King James Bible was translated from the Septuagint or the Greek Bible. The problem with this comes with the Old Testament, which was originally written in Hebrew. When the reformation happened it was noticed that there were a few problems that happened in translating from Greek to English. These problems were solved when translators translated from Hebrew to English. Another issue is that the manuscripts were copied by hand many times. And just like playing the telephone game, there were differences and issues that showed up. This is why it is important for translators to use the oldest known manuscripts in the original language instead of newer translations like the Septuagint or Vulgate.
On the linguistic side, they look at the verbal and grammatical parts of the original languages and how to transfer those words and ideas from one language into another. In their book “How to Read the Bible for all its worth,” Gordon Fee and Douglas Stewart say, “the best theory of translation is the one that remains as faithful as possible to both the original and receptor languages, but when something has to ‘give,’ it should be in the favor of the receptor language — without losing the meaning of the original language.”
Bible Translation Continuum
Each translation of the bible has differences in its purpose and writing style. There are different translations created to reach people with a variety of literary backgrounds and tastes. For example, the New Living Translation is simpler to understand than in the New American Standard Bible which is more complex. There are some Bibles like the New International Version that are found somewhere in between. This is where the Bible Translation Continuum comes in.
The Bible Translation Continuum is a tool to see where a translation is at on a formal or a functional scale. This tool is also known as the Formal or Functional equivalent and historical distance scale.
Bible Translation Continuum Scale
On the far left of the scale are the formal word-for-word literal translations. This side attempts to maintain the translation as close as possible to the original languages while still keeping it understandable. Bibles on this side include the King James Version, American Standard Version, and the English Standard Version.
On the right side of the scale are the functional thought-for-thought dynamic translations. These translations try to convey the thoughts and ideas from the original languages to another with less concern in using exact wording or phrasing. On this side, the bibles are New Living Translation and the Contemporary English Bible.
Now there is another part to this scale even further to the right that is considered Free or Paraphrases. If this Bible Translation Continuum scale was on a piece of paper, the Free/paraphrase translations would be on the moon. These translations attempt to convey the idea or thoughts from one language to another. They try to stay faithful to the intent of the original text but end up eliminating much of the historical context. The author of these translations often is translating from a modern translation and introduces the way they wish the concepts would have been conveyed instead of what was conveyed in the original text. Translations considered in the Free/Paraphrase category are the Living Bible and the Message Bible.
Individual vs Committee
Translating the Bible is extremely complicated work. Mark Strauss said, “Translation entails ‘reproducing the meaning of a text that is in one language (the source language), as fully as possible, in another language (the receptor language).” Translators make difficult choices in how to say something from the original language to the new language. Sometimes this means choosing between two equally good but different ways of saying something. Individuals and committees often have differences of opinion about the best way to make these tough decisions. A translator working by themselves may have editors or a board to help make these decisions. But these editors or board members may or may not have a Biblical background. Committees of translators, on the other hand, spend time in discussions to come to an agreed-upon decision.
Preface
How exactly do we find out about all this information we’ve been talking about. Each Bible translation has a Preface. This Preface is found in the front of every Bible translation and will tell you everything you need to know about how that translation was made. That’s why it’s important to actually read the preface of each translation you are considering. It will tell you about the philosophy, the principles and styles, specialized terms, history, who was involved, and other special features of that particular translation.
For example, in the Preface of the English Standard Version, you will find that the ESV is the fifth generation grandchild of the King James Version, it is essentially a literal “word-for-word” translation that tries to stay as literal as possible while maintaining clarity in modern English, and it was translated by a team of over 100 people with an international scope from many denominations. This team compaired the King James to the oldest manuscripts available, and revised any discrepancies and then translated into modem English.
Which Translation should you choose?
Ok, I get it. Your listening to this to gain some nugget about what Bible translation you should choose. You’re wanting to hear the secret to choosing which Bible translation is the best? To be honest, nobody can really speak for someone else on this matter. There is really no one-size-fits-all Bible. Some people want and need a literal word-for-word translations, and others want or need a more dynamic thought-for-thought translation. What is most important is that you are able to choose a bible that helps you understand the original meaning the author was conveying to the original audience. Because of this, I cannot give a definite “Use this translation” answer. But I can give you some guidelines to go by, and I can tell you what my personal preference is.
Here are my 4 guidelines to help you choose the best Bible Translation for you
Choose a translation in the language you natively speak. This will make it easier for you to read and understand what God’s Word says.
Choose a translation that is translated from the oldest Hebrew and Greek manuscripts that are available. Not from the Septuagint (Greek Bible) or the Vulgate (Latin Bible).
Choose a translation that was made by a committee of qualified translators.
Choose a translation for your own needs. Do you want a word-for-word, a thought-for-thought translation, or something in-between? Is it easy for you to read and understand?
Reading a translation of God’s Word should be enjoyable, and should cause you to grow in your faith. While you should choose a translation that you like, that should not be the only reason you chose it. Nor should you choose a translation based on what a friend or family member uses. Look at the Preface and decide if the translation fits your needs. Thankfully with the internet, you can research different translations before stepping into the book store or looking at amazon. Another cool thing is that with the YouVersion Bible App, you can test drive different translations before you make the purchase.
Marketing 2
Remember earlier we talked about throwing out the add-ons, marketing, and formatting that publishers put in Bible’s in order to sell them. Once you decide which translation is the best fit for you, you can start looking at add-ons like devotionals, commentaries, maps, charts, concordances, and other things that may help you. Like I mentioned earlier, these things can be extremely beneficial. We just shouldn’t take them into consideration when looking at what translation we should purchase.
An Issue to think about
Now that we have done all this research, and we know what translation to get, there still may be some issues. The translations we choose might be correct most of the time, but in some instances, it might not be correct. Sometimes, a word-for-word translation may be difficult to understand, so a thought-for-thought translation may be needed to help. Other times a dynamic translation may be too general and a more formal translation is needed to focus the thought. It might benefit you to have more than one translation. This will help you compare and contrast what your reading, and give you a deeper understanding of particular passages. I would recommend getting at least two different translations of the Bible. One should be a formal word-for-word literal translation, and the other should be a dynamic thought-for-thought translation.
One of the marketing things that bible publishers have created is what is called a parallel Bible. Which is simply one book with two to four different translations that run side by side. These tend to be helpful if you can find one with the translations you are wanting together.
As for me
As for me, I’m one of those people who have a bunch of different Bible translations. In the past, when I did extreme in-depth bible studies, it was normal to have five or more translations open on my desk. But over the years, I have figured out which translations tend to suit my needs best. Today, I typically use one main translation and consult a second translation when I am trying to understand a particular passage better. For me, I use a word-for-word Bible, the English Standard Version, as my everyday reading and studying bible. And I use a thought-for-thought translation, the New Living Translation, to have contrast and clarity with, particularly difficult passages. Both translations are made by committees who are translating from the oldest manuscripts into the language I natively speak.
FireBible
Now if I may be so bold as to make a recommendation for you. I would like to recommend the FireBible from LifePublishers for your consideration. This Bible is formatted by its publishers to include cross-references, study notes, book introductions, textural footnotes, articles, themefinders, charts, maps and illustrations, subject index, reading plans, and a concordance. It has different formats for different age levels including children, teens, and adults. You can choose from multiple biblical translations including the English Standard Version, New King James, as well as translations in many other languages. When a FireBible is purchased, a portion of the proceeds go to translating this Bible into more languages for use in ministry around the world.
This is not a paid advertisement. LifePublishers did not ask me to do this. I simply love this bible enough to use it and tell others about it. I will place links in the description below for amazon. These are affiliate links that if you purchase from I will get a small kickback from Amazon, that will help us in ministry.
