WHICH ENGLISH BIBLE TRANSLATION IS BEST?

Ben said:

Peace everyone

Can anybody tell me which english bible translation is best? when I read the article,(http://www.av1611.org/vance/nrsv_esv.html) I don't know how to choose it?

Deeply thank you.

                                                                 And!                                       Great Joy in the Lord Always!

            That link you shared is heavily polemical and while I appreciate the intentions, I disagree with lots and lots of what Vance says.

My favourite of all time is the KJV!

                 However, because of the way the world is now and using my Bible to help me serve God's People as well as for my personal study (for that I use NA27 and Biblia Hebraica with 4.2 morphology)   

                    I use Mainly the ESV!          I memorised a fantastic number of passages (well over a thousand) in the King James, and ESV has that same "flow" I need for my memory!                 *smile*

                                              On the other hand, one of my very finest translations is the God's Word Translation.  Absolutely superb! Very, very reliable!    *smile*

A couple of screen shots:

Floyd Johnson said:

I am of the firm conviction that there is no "best" translation.  

Yes there is--it's the ESV.  [;)]

Seriously, though, I think you have some good points here.  It is sometimes useful to know the strengths and weaknesses of various interpretations (e.g., fluidity of reading, word for word translation, etc.). 

Ben said:

Can anybody tell me which english bible translation is best?

If best for devotional reading, it's the one you'll read. All others end up useless to you.

If for other reasons, then the question is back to you... best for what?

If best for academic work or language studies, no single translation will suffice, as the translations all had different goals (e.g., NIV's "thought for thought," NASB's "word for word", etc.) & none (IMO) adequately preserve simultaneously both the meaning and the literary qualities of the original languages. In addition, your faith tradition may also have preferences that play into "best."

Blessings on your studies!

Something which shoulde be considered in the whole Bible Translation argument is just that. The Holy Scriptures originally came to us in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. If you want to discuss Bible translations it warants some discussion about the various manuscripts that English (and any other language) is taken from. It seems that there are 2 major families involved for the Greek translations, ie the Majority or Byzantine text and the Westcott and Hort Family of Texts which originated with the Sianaticus and Vaticanus texts. The Large portion (97%) of Greek Fragments and Manuscripts (which number about 6,000) agree with the majority text. The remainder make up the remaining 3% of manuscripts. The Majority text is the source for Coverdale's Bible, Luther's Bible, Tyndales Bibles, Wycliffe's Bible, Peshitta Bible,Geneva Bible, Matthew's Bible, The King James Bible. The other translations come from the Westcott and Hort family of texts. The whole matter should revolve around the accuracy of the original language texts rather than the English translations.

 Steve Caswell

Short and simply put:  New American Standard Bible 1995.  Far and away the best; not the easiest to read and memorize, but highly accurate.

Just my opinion,

Jim

Ben said:

Peace everyone

Can anybody tell me which English bible translation is best? when I read the article,(http://www.av1611.org/vance/nrsv_esv.html) I don't know how to choose it?

Deeply thank you.

The best English interpretations of Scripture that Logos has to offer are:

(1) The 1917 translation of the Tanakh from the Jewish Publication Society (link)

(2) The 1985 Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures from the Jewish Publication Society (link)

Post Script: I like your kanji avatar 静 here in Japan that would usually be read as (shizuka) and it usually means quiet. When Parents are being nice (to loud children) they yell 'shizuka ni kudasai!'/Please be quiet! and if rude then 'Urusai!'/shut up!.

Mark Smith said:

If you want a more literal translation, the King James Version, New American Standard Version, and English Standard Version are ones to consider. However, for a non-native English speaker, these may prove a bit more challenging to read.

For this non-native English speaker [:)]  ESV is very easily understood and it's language feels not complicated, nice, precise and contemporary. It combines literal translation with good flow of the language. I would recommend it to any non-native English speakers whose English skills are above average.

Ben said:

Peace everyone

Can anybody tell me which english bible translation is best? when I read the article,(http://www.av1611.org/vance/nrsv_esv.html) I don't know how to choose it?

Deeply thank you.

If I'm going to be restricted to English bibles rather than the original languages and if I'm to recommend only one bible (as opposed to having one for the OT and another for the NT), I'd go with the NRSV.  It's a good translation despite its irritating emphasis on "gender neutral" language.  It irritates me that they feel it necessary to render "brothers and sisters" when the original says ἀδελφοί.  It's not a matter of its being incorrect to understand females to be covered by the term since, like English, the masc gender was used to refer to females as well unless the group was homogeneous.  It rather seems like one of those situations where one is continually saying "me too", "don't forget me", "remember I'm here" -- irritating.  It reminds me of one of those movie situations where someone keeps insinuating themselves into a conversation.

EDIT:  Of course, there are some groups such as Grudem and his supporters who never learned enough about language to be aware that there is a difference between grammatical gender and sex.

Matthew C Jones said:

May I amend this simple truth to say, "The one you read and heed."?

[:)][Y]

BillS said:

Matthew C Jones said:

May I amend this simple truth to say, "The one you read and heed."?

 

Yes, Amen [Y]

I like how the Introduction to the NET Bible says it:

The most important translation concept
The most important translation of the Bible is not from the original languages to English, but from the printed page into your life. If you have never read through a complete book of the Bible, we suggest you begin by reading the Gospel of John. We encourage you to recognize that the Bible is not merely a book. It is God’s message to us all, and God continues to speak through it today. There is, after all, a reason far more Bibles have been produced than any book in history. Read it and see.

(Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition)

Loaded question [;)]

The better question may be which translation is most relevant for my need at the moment.

What I'm getting at is this, some love the KJV - however if we are all honest the unchurched look at believers who try to minister to them in olde English a little funny - why, it's just not how we speak any longer. So the KJV may be relevant in some local churches, however a translation like the NIV, NLT or comparable would be most effective in ministering to the unchurched and to the younger generation in the church.

Ultimately I agree that studying with a good core of translations is most effective for the minister and believer alike, but until we get the believer energized for the discipline of study, start them with something they can connect to...

The students will enjoy a variety from KJV to NIV to ESV to Amplified and will be relevant stirring them up to dig deeper...

Just my 2 cents

I think that Mr. Caswell summed it up well.  An English translation must begin with a basis on the best original texts and then...only then, can an English translation be weighed.

I am not sure (and someone please correct me if I am wrong), but I do not believe a recent (in the past 20 years) an English translation has been created (for the N.T.) based on the Majority text.  I see little to any discussion of this.

I agree that most of the Bible may be understood well from most of today's English translations for devotional and other light study needs; yet, as man continues to decline until Christ returns, future translations will reach further and further from the veracity of the original to the relativity of the individual.

Milford Charles Murray said:

I think if you check it out, God's Word is indeed a translation, NOT a paraphrase.  (The Message IS a paraphrase.)

Isaiah 5:18 | NAS

Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes; 

Isaiah 5:18 | GW

How horrible it will be for those who string people along with lies and empty promises, whose lives are sinful.

In any event, I LOVE both versions.