English Bibles Classifed

John Brumett
John Brumett Member Posts: 612 ✭✭
edited November 20 in English Forum

I have attempted to classify the Bibles in my Logos Library into 5 Categories

1.  Word for Word

2.  Dynamic Equivalence

3.  Paraphrase

4.  Historical

5.  Individual Translation

Here is the Word Doc of what I have classified so far.  If there are other Bibles in Logos that I have missed please let me know and I will update the Word Doc.    

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  • Milford Charles Murray
    Milford Charles Murray Member Posts: 5,004 ✭✭✭

    I have attempted to classify the Bibles in my Logos Library into 5 Categories

    1.  Word for Word

    2.  Dynamic Equivalence

    3.  Paraphrase

    4.  Historical

    5.  Individual Translation

    Here is the Word Doc of what I have classified so far.  If there are other Bibles in Logos that I have missed please let me know and I will update the Word Doc.    

    Peace, John!                *smile*

                   A worthy project, indeed!           It's going to need a lot of "tidying up," though!

    For example: 

    GOD’S WORD Translation. Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group, 1995.

    Definitely, not a paraphrase ...       I know it and love it!             It's has received very high accolades for its penetrating scholarship.  *smile*


    GOD’S WORD Translation

    by God's Word to the Nations Bible Society

    Baker 1995



     



    GOD’S WORD Translation 




    Overview

    GOD’S WORD Translation (GW) communicates the saving, life-changing Good News about Jesus in clear, natural English. Translated directly from the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek by a committee of scholars, GOD’S WORD is an exceptional Bible that consciously combines scholarly fidelity with natural English.

    By implementing the translation principles of Closest Natural Equivalence, the translation committee seeks to translate the best available texts into English with the closest possible accuracy. This commitment to accurately translating the Bible includes expressing the meaning naturally and in a style that preserves the characteristics of the source text.

    The combination of accuracy and readability makes GOD’S WORD ideally suited for the following:

    Devotional reading and in-depth studyPreaching, teaching, and worshipMemorizationDiscipleship


    Praise for the Print Edition

    GOD'S WORD is an easy-to-understand Bible. . . . It is a wonderful version.

    —Billy Graham

    GOD'S WORD is a remarkably fresh, accurate, and readable translation that communicates well the original text for modern readers. Based on a sound linguistic approach, this new translation is an outstanding achievement.

    —Dr. David Dockery

    Even if the rather prolific output of modern translations, paraphrases, and versions of Scripture should increase, this particular linguistic achievement, GOD'S WORD, will rank among the top contenders with the Bible-reading public.

    —Dr. D. James Kennedy

    The Bible is the means God has chosen to reach out in human language, reveal the essence of his relational heart, and relate the Good News of his redemptive plan. GOD'S WORD Translation presents that message in a way that makes sense to readers of all ages. It is an accurate translation using modern English language and phraseology which makes it easier to understand.

    —Josh McDowell

    Also, I didn't see the ISV in your document!

                 God's richest blessings, John!                  Thank you for sharing!

    Philippians 4:  4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand..........

  • John Brumett
    John Brumett Member Posts: 612 ✭✭

    Here is what you can do to make this useful:

    1.  Tag your Bibles in your Library with these 5 catagories.

    2.  Create 5 collection with the Titles

    English Bibles: Dynamic Equivalence  

    English Bibles:Paraphrase

    English Bibles:Historical

    English Bibles:Word for Word

    English Bibles:Individual Translations

    In your collections use this rule:  mytag:Paraphrase and mytag:Historical; ect. 

    Check the Box show in Parallel Resources.

    Put your favorite Bible in all 5 collections.   I put the NKJV in all 5 of my collections. 

    You parallel resources should look like this:

      

  • John Brumett
    John Brumett Member Posts: 612 ✭✭

    You right it looks like it might fit more under dynamic equivalence.  I ran a passage analysis on the book of Ephesians and this is what it looks like.

      

  • John Brumett
    John Brumett Member Posts: 612 ✭✭

    You can see it is very close to the NCV which is a dynamic equivalence translation.   

  • John Brumett
    John Brumett Member Posts: 612 ✭✭
  • John Brumett
    John Brumett Member Posts: 612 ✭✭

    As you can see from the prior picture you can put bible harmonies and bible apparatus in a collect to show in parallel resources just remember to add your favorite English Bible to each collection and check the box "show in Parallel Resources".  I find this easier to access when I am in a Bible Passage.        

  • Milford Charles Murray
    Milford Charles Murray Member Posts: 5,004 ✭✭✭

    Once again, John, I thank you for your very hard work -- a labour of love, I'm sure -- and bless you for your very original and creative thinking.

                 There are a number of ways this will be useful to me!                     *smile*                                                                  Psalm 29:11

    Philippians 4:  4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand..........

  • Calvin Habig
    Calvin Habig Member Posts: 439 ✭✭

    I am a bit hesitant to put this up because people seem to create more heat than light when it comes to classifying Bible translations but I found the idea of Collections of Bibles helpful.  I wasn't quite comfortable with the lists & categories, however.

    I checked How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth and found the following categorization:

    Formal (Literal) Equivalence (according to the text,the farther down on the lists the version is, the less it holds to that category).
    KJV
    NKJV
    NASB
    NASU (NASV-1995 update)
    RSV
    NRSV
    ESV

    Functional (Dynamic) Equivalence
    NIV
    TNIV
    NAB
    NJB
    GNB
    REB
    JB
    NLT

    Free
    NEB
    LB
    The Message

    This seemed to me to be too broad a categorization so I checked further.  I came up with a compilation list from the following sources:
    1. Thomas, Robert L., Bible Translations: The Link Between Exegesis and Expository Preaching, pages 63ff;
    2. Clontz, T.E. and Clontz, J., The Comprehensive New Testament, page iii.

    A predominant use of formal equivalence
        King James Version (1611)
        Young's Literal Translation (1862)
        Lexham English Bible (2011, 2012)
        *Revised Version (1885)
        American Standard Version (1901)
        Revised Standard Version (1952)
        New American Standard Bible (1995)
        New King James Version (1982)
        English Standard Version (2001)
        New Revised Standard Version (1989)
        Douay-Rheims (1610)
        Green's Literal Translation (1985)

    Moderate use of dynamic equivalence
        New International Version
        Today's New International Version
        Holman Christian Standard Bible
        New American Bible
        New English Translation
        Modern Language Bible

    Extensive use of dynamic equivalence or paraphrase or both
        New Jerusalem Bible
        New English Bible
        Revised English Bible
        Good News Bible (formerly "Today's English Version")
        Complete Jewish Bible
        New Living Translation
        God's Word Translation
        Contemporary English Version

    Extensive use of paraphrase    
        The Message (2002)
        The Living Bible (1971)

    That last list is the one that I made my collections from.  HOWEVER, (I hope I am not showing my igorance here, but I did not know how to classify some other Bibles in my Logos collection:
    Darby
    ISV
    Is the NET Bible the same as the New English Traslation?
    New Century Version
    NIrV

    Without polemics, 1. Thoughts on these categorizations.  2. Answers on my versions that I don't know how to classify?

    Thanks.

    (I know that this wouldn't normally go in the Files thread, but I am just playing off of the thread that was already here).

  • Calvin Habig
    Calvin Habig Member Posts: 439 ✭✭

    OK, I'll add more.

    Logos Produced Resources:

    Amplified-paraphrase?

    Ones I have in Personal Book format:
    Bible in Basic English
    Living Oracles (Alexander Campbell-this is in process)-I would guess Formal Equivalence, but does anybody how knows this work know for sure?
    New World Translation (Jehovah Witness-cult Bible, but is it a paraphrase?)
    Phillips Translation-I think a paraphrase, but not sure
    World English Bible

  • Bruce Dunning
    Bruce Dunning MVP Posts: 11,143

    There are some excellent suggestions in this thread. Something to consider.

    Using adventure and community to challenge young people to continually say "yes" to God

  • Ken McGuire
    Ken McGuire Member Posts: 2,074 ✭✭✭

    Logos Produced Resources:

    Amplified-paraphrase?

    Normally a paraphrase is created to try to reproduce the idea of the text into something sounding more natural in another language.  The Amplified bible does not sound like normal English.  Yeah - it rejects a one for one verbal equivalence to try to give all the senses of "key" greek words.  But its goal is to be a "literal" translation.

    Admittedly I am not much of a fan of it...

    The Gospel is not ... a "new law," on the contrary, ... a "new life." - William Julius Mann

    L8 Anglican, Lutheran and Orthodox Silver, Reformed Starter, Academic Essentials

    L7 Lutheran Gold, Anglican Bronze

  • abondservant
    abondservant Member Posts: 4,796 ✭✭✭

    Praise for the Print Edition

    GOD'S WORD is an easy-to-understand Bible. . . . It is a wonderful version.

    —Billy Graham

    GOD'S WORD is a remarkably fresh, accurate, and readable translation that communicates well the original text for modern readers. Based on a sound linguistic approach, this new translation is an outstanding achievement.

    —Dr. David Dockery

    Even if the rather prolific output of modern translations, paraphrases, and versions of Scripture should increase, this particular linguistic achievement, GOD'S WORD, will rank among the top contenders with the Bible-reading public.

    —Dr. D. James Kennedy

    The Bible is the means God has chosen to reach out in human language, reveal the essence of his relational heart, and relate the Good News of his redemptive plan. GOD'S WORD Translation presents that message in a way that makes sense to readers of all ages. It is an accurate translation using modern English language and phraseology which makes it easier to understand.

    —Josh McDowell

    Also, I didn't see the ISV in your document!

                 God's richest blessings, John!                  Thank you for sharing!

    I graduated from one of the same schools as Billy Graham. He's great. Scholar he is not. I don't mean that as a slight in any way, I have a lot of respect for him, for his submission to the Lord, and the ways God has used him to advance the Kingdom. I'll probably try to take a group to his rally this fall/winter.

    Great idea though, I have a hard time remembering how to classify a few of the translations in my library. This is a great start!

    L2 lvl4 (...) WORDsearch, all the way through L10,