Why so many versions of the Bible

ismael flecha · 2025-07-31T23:57:19+00:00

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ismael flecha

why are there so many diverse versions of the Holy Bible if the word of God is infallible and God breathed.

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Keith Pang

This is not an appropriate topic for the forums.

Also, during the translation process, translators must make interpretive decisions about translating words from the original languages (such as Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek) into another language, such as English. There is no way to do a true "word-for-word" translation, as languages may not have the exact words to convey a one-to-one meaning. Translations do their best to either be as literal as possible or to make a dynamic equivalent, which makes it "easier" to understand for specific audiences.

Bernhard

Or to put it differently: If you write a letter in Arabic and all three of your kids each translate it into English for their English-speaking spouses, their separate translations would all convey the same meaning (hopefully), but there would be differences in exact wording. If your descendants find that letter 300 years from now and they try to translate it again, their translation will differ even more in wording from those made today, as the English language will have continued to change during that time. "Version" in this context just means "translation" of the same text. And having those different translations helps those who do not speak the original languages to truly understand the meaning of the text.

GaoLu

Logos makes many versions available, by which scholars help us better understand the original. I am grateful!

@Logos Any idea how many total Bible versions, including partial translations, in all langauges are available in Logos? (Not including original manuscript fragments)

Francis

@ismael flecha there are different kinds of bible translations:

Literal translations seek to translate word for word as closely as possible to what is in the original languages.
Dynamic translations work at the sentence level to try to reproduce sense as closely as possible while trying to remain faithful the vocabulary. Smoother but a bit more interpretation is required to make the Bible text clearer in the target language.
Paraphrases go even further and try to say the "same thing" in the language's and cultural idioms. The words may be totally different. There much more interpretation involved in paraphrasing.

In addition to this, different bibles exist to:

Follow a textual preference: for instance KJV follows the Textus Receptus (Byzantine manuscripts) while NASB follows an eclectic, more Alexandrian family of manuscripts.
Catholic, Anglican and orthodox Bibles include the so-called deuterocanonical books that they consider canonical whereas Protestant Bibles typically exclude them because they do not recognize them as canonical.
Some bibles have special features, such as reading cycles, footnotes, study notes, cross-references, etc. So, there are different editions and specialty bibles such as Thompson Chain's.
Some bibles are updates of a previous version. As language and research evolve, some publishers feel that they need to make new versions as well. Sometimes they reflect cultural evolutions as well (e.g., gender inclusive language).
Some bibles reflect a confessional flavor. For instance, some bibles in certain persuasions may translate "righteousness of God" as "righteousness that is from God" while others might translate it "the fact that God is righteous."
Some bibles have a specific public in mind: children's bibles, youth bibles, men's bibles, women's bibles, chaplain's bible, etc.

There are articles online that can help you compare bibles. In fact, Logos has books that speak about this and can help you know how to choose a Bible, for instance "How to choose a Bible Version." There are also articles from Logos on this very topic such as this one: The Best Bible Translations: All You Need to Know & How to Choose. A lot of people default to a Bible because they do not realize some of the differences between them. Someone offers them a Bible or they use the same as their church. There is some place for that but it is a good idea to take the time to familiarize yourself with basics of choosing a Bible. As @GaoLu said, different bibles can be useful as comparing them can sometimes help realize different ways that a verse or passage can be understood. Logos provides a tool called "Text comparison" that allows the user to do that.

What @Keith Pang was saying that is Logos set up these forums to ask questions about Logos, the software and its products. They do not want it to be a place to seek spiritual counsel or debate questions of faith and theology.

Doc B

Having been in the shooting war known as translation theory, aka translation tribalism, with multiple Purple Hearts to show for it, I strongly agree this is not a topic for the forums. It'll start a food fight like nothing else can.

It should be moved to an appropriate forum where all the ignorance can be displayed ad nauseum. 😮

If you want some sane answers, go read a book like Dave Brunn's One Bible, Many Versions or Tim Wildsmith's Bible Translations for Everyone. Those would be helpful and wouldn't involve emotional outbursts from certain people.

GaoLu

It'll start a food fight like nothing else can.

¡La Tomatina! Coming up this August 27.

Jan Krohn

https://community.logos.com/discussion/251396/why-so-many-versions-of-the-bible

This looks like the typical question Muslims ask to demonstrate the superiority of the Qur'an over the Bible, since the Qur'an is allegedly unaltered.

I can assure you it is not unaltered.

Starting point for research:

A Concise Guide to the Quran: Answering Thirty Critical Questions (Introducing Islam) | Logos Bible Software

In particular, Question 15. Are All Arabic Versions of the Quran the Same?

Or a lower threshold, without spending 23 bucks, ask ChatGPT for the oldest manuscript that is 100% identical to today's Hafs Qur'an (1924 Cairo Edition). You'll be surprised.