Bible Translations Made Simple

As English speakers in the 21st century, we have a very unique problem: we have TOO MANY translations of the Bible.  This is an amazing problem to have, and it affords us the luxury of debating which translation is the best.  Most people in Christian history were lucky to even own a Bible, something which was virtually impossible until the printing press was invented.

Now, you can go to biblegateway.com and gain access to 45 different English translations of the Bible. There are six versions of the Revised Standard Version alone, and four versions of the NIV Bible.  With so many Bibles to choose from, it's a bit intimidating selecting a Bible.  

Here's a simple guide to help you understand the different types of translations, and the purpose of each:

The Big Picture

There are essentially three types of Bible translations:

• Word for Word (Formal Equivalence)
• Thought for Thought (Dynamic Equivalence)
• Paraphrase

Each type has its own advantages and disadvantages.  Since there are so many reasons we read and study the Bible, having so many different types of translations is a wonderful advantage.   Likewise, since there are so many types of Bible readers, having a variety of translations is a wonderful blessing.

Word for Word (or Formal Equivalence if you want to impress friends)

Word for Word translations do their best to translate the Bible word for word (obviously).  Now, to be clear, in the strictest sense, they aren't actually word for word translations.  Translation is a tricky game. 

First off, no two languages actually are word for word, grammar for grammar equivalents.  As an example, there are four Greek words which are translated as love in English (some languages have as many as 20 words for love). Likewise, the grammar of different languages are different.  This leads to words needing to be added or removed.  

Second, different languages have different idioms and figures of speech.  Doing a strict translation of an idiom or figure of speech we don't use would lead to a translation which is nonsense.  Therefore, in all translations, they have to make choices in order for them to make sense.

With those two things in mind, word for word translations do their best to translate the original language word for word.  They make as few creative or interpretive choices as possible.  They only re-arrange sentences to fit the English language. They do all they can to keep the grammatical structures in place.  

EXAMPLES:  

• The NASB (New American Standard Bible)
• ESV (English Standard Bible)

BENEFITS:

• They most accurately represent the exact words of the original language.
• They are great for Bible study.

DISADVANTAGES:

• They are more difficult to read out loud.
• They require the reader to do all interpretation of the text. If you're new to Bible study, this can be very difficult.
• The sentences are often very clunky.  

Thought for Thought

The thought for thought (or dynamic equivalent) translations aim to interpret the intended meaning of each sentence or phrase in the Greek.  Since no two languages are point for point equivalents, thought for thought translations allow the interpreter to work with full thoughts.  It allows them license to do some interpretation in order to best communicate what the original writers intended. 

EXAMPLES:

• NIV (New International Version) - Closer to word for word
• NLT (New Living Translation) - Closer to paraphrase

ADVANTAGES:

• They are easy to understand without straying far from the original text.
• They are easy to read out loud.

DISADVANTAGES:

• The interpreter makes choices in interpreting thoughts. Therefore, they are not ideal for Bible study. 

Paraphrase

Paraphrases are efforts to take the meaning of the original texts into modern language.  They give the translator large amounts of license to creatively communicate what the original texts meant.  They have full control to rephrase thoughts or paragraphs as they want to best communicate the meaning and emotion of the original language.

Think of a paraphrase like a pastor taking an English translation of the Bible and re-writing it to make it as clear as possible for his congregation.

EXAMPLES:

• The Message

ADVANTAGES:

• They make the meaning of the text clear.
• They are the easiest versions to read.
• They can be great as a 2nd text during Bible study.
• They can be great for helping those new to Bible reading.

DISADVANTAGES:

• They are BAD as a primary text for Bible study.
• The interpreters are given so much freedom they can misinterpret the Bible or leave out important details.

Which Bible is Best?

Like many things in life, defining what is best requires knowing what you are trying to do.  

We have the advantages of having translations and paraphrases which were created for different purposes.  There is no best translation.  There are only translations which serve a specific purpose best.

BIBLE STUDY:

• NASB
• ESV
• NKJV

PREACHING or READING OUT LOUD:

• ESV
• NIV
• HCSB (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

These all have a good balance of word for accuracy and out loud readability.

DEVOTIONAL READING:

• NIV
• NLT (New Living Translation)
• The Message

PERSONAL THOUGHTS

Personally, I am a fan of the ESV, NIV, NASB, and The New Living Translation.  I use the ESV and NASB most frequently for Bible study.  I preach most frequently from the NIV, and I do bulk reading of the Bible usually in the NLT.  I've never been a fan of The Message, but that is purely a matter of preference.

It's important to understand translations so that you can use them properly.  I get concerned when I learn someone uses The Message as their primary translation; but it can be a great resource as a secondary interpretation.

The KJV (King James Version) is mostly a word for word translation with a slight thought for thought leaning.  I didn't include it in my post because I don't think it's a particularly good translation in the 21st century.  It was an amazing resource for Christianity when it was first released in 1611, but the English language has evolved greatly in the 400+ years since then.  In fact, there are over 100 words in the KJV which have either stopped existing, or changed definitions since they were first released.  If you aren't extremely familiar with English from that time frame, it is not a good translation to use. 

With that said, if you enjoy reading 400 year old English, it's fine if you want to read it.  But, I would not recommend it for Bible study or preaching.