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Originally Published on Mar 20, 2023
“Now to the latter we answer, that we do not deny, nay, we affirm and avow, that the very meanest translation of the Bible in English, set forth by men of our profession, (for we have seen none of theirs of the whole Bible as yet) containeth the Word of God, nay, is the Word of God.” - King James Bible Preface
There are over one-hundred complete English Bible translations available these days. How does someone choose the most accurate, most readable, or least theologically biased translation?
Below I will try to cover some basic reasons there are multiple different English translations, and how those same reasons, along with some additional considerations, can help you to make a good choice for your own Bible study needs. I cannot cover every possible English translation, so I'll focus on a handful of the more widely accepted and bestselling translations as examples.
(TL;DR - If you don't want to read through the reasons, just scroll down to the summary below.)
For around 266 years, the King James Bible was the most widely used English translation of the Bible in the world. In 1870 the Church of England realized that the English language had changed considerably since 1604 and commissioned a modern English revision of the King James called the Revised Version. This, in turn, launched an American modern English revision in 1901 called the American Standard Version.
Then in the mid to late twentieth century, various publishers began to desire their own English translations of the Bible. They desired to sell their own translations to avoid having to pay for the rights to previously copyrighted English translations. This motivated a commercialistic proliferation of many new English translations up to the present time. Of course, various other catalysts like discoveries in archeology, updates in our understanding of Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew languages, and changes in the English language itself also contributed to the need for more modern translations.
While at times it may seem frustrating to have so many different English translations, we are actually blessed to have access to so many quality English translations. We can compare and contrast translations for greater understanding, find translations with the appropriate reading level, and American and British readers can find translations that follow their preferred national style of English.
The purpose of a translation is to take the words and meaning of one language (in this case the Bible's Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek) and translate those as accurately and understandable as possible into another language (in this case modern English). The problem of translation begins with the question of the translation's primary concern. Does it focus more on the original wording and potentially lose some of the original meaning, or does it focus on the meaning and potentially lose some of the original wording and nuances?
Anyone who has taken a foreign language knows that translating literally, or word-for-word, from one language to another is an almost impossible method. You can get as close as possible to the original, but sometimes the word order needs to be changed to convey the correct meaning. Sometimes the source language contains a single word that does not have a single English equivalent, so it may need to be translated using multiple English words to fully understand the meaning of the original. For instance, I cannot translate the German word "waldeinsamkeit" into one English word. There is no single English word that means the feeling or sense of being alone in the wilderness.
All words have a semantic range of meanings, and only in their context can the particular meaning within that range become clear. For instance, the word "bear". What does the word "bear" mean? Does it mean a big furry animal that lives in the woods and likes honey? Or does it mean to carry a load of something on your shoulders? What if I use it in a sentence like, "You have been a real bear lately!" Now what does it mean? Individual words have multiple meanings depending on the context in which they are used. Translators must use the surrounding context to determine which English word best fits that context, and because English words can also have a semantic range of meanings, translators have more than one word they can choose from to fit the original meaning.
For example, in Genesis 3:1 the NIV and ESV use the word "crafty" while the CSB and NASB20 use the word "cunning".
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. - Gen 3:1 NIV
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. - Gen 3:1 CSB
Is one set of translations right and the other wrong? The Hebrew word being translated here is "arum" (H6175) and Strong's defines it as, "cunning (usually in a bad sense):—crafty, prudent, subtil." So all the translations are technically correct. The translators simply chose to use two different but very similar meaning English words that largely agree with the meaning of the original Hebrew word.
This is just one small example, but it's these and other types of issues surrounding language that have brought about three general translation methods.
Formal equivalence translation attempts to to keep the structure and wording of the original language as much as possible. It tries to keep the same word order and attempts to use the same English word for the same Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek word each time it's translated. In a way, this method produces what many consider a less interpretive version of the original language.
Examples of a formal equivalence translations would be the King James (KJV), English Standard Version (ESV), and the New American Standard Bible (NASB).
Functional equivalence attempts to take the meaning of the original language and reproduce it in its modern English equivalent. It attempts to keep the original wording and structure, but only when it doesn't interfere with the overall understanding of the original meaning. This allows the text to be heard as it would have been originally.
Examples of functional equivalence translations would be the Christian Standard Bible (CSB), New International Version (NIV), and the New Living Translation (NLT).
A paraphrase isn't actually a translation at all. Paraphrased Bibles are typically written by an individual who reads a Bible passage and then re-writes the passage in their own words and understanding. A paraphrased Bible can be helpful for young readers, or in gaining additional understanding of a particular Bible passage, but should never be used as your only Bible!
Widely accepted and time-tested translations are translations that have been in use by many various Christian denominations for over two decades. They are considered by most Christians to be reliable and accurate translations. All the translations referred to in this post above are considered widely accepted and time-tested translations, most especially the time-tested King James Version(!).
Not all translations are doctrinally unbiased translations. For instance, the New World Translation (NWT) is specifically written to fit the doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses. Research the translation you are buying or using is not one that changes the words of the Bible in order to conform to a specific church denomination or doctrine.
Translations written by an individual are not necessarily terrible translations, but they are more likely to contain the biases, mistakes, and limitations of the individual. A translation done by a committee or group of people, particularly trained scholars, can check each other for their biases and verify the accuracy of the words and grammar used by the translation.
Subjectively, the optimal solution to choosing an English Bible translation is to choose and use at least two different translations, each from a different translation method. This will help you compare and contrast for a more comprehensive understanding of the text. Of course, you'll want to choose from translations that are: time-tested, widely accepted, not affiliated directly with a specific denomination or doctrine, and translated by a group or committee of respected scholars.
One of the translations would be a formal equivalence translation like the KJV, NASB, or ESV. While the other translation would be a functional equivalence translation like the NIV, CSB, or NLT. What translation is your church, Bible study group, or Christian friend using? Choose that translation as one of the two so you'll be able to study with them.
Finally, you'll want to choose one of the two translations to be your primary reading and study Bible. For example, let's choose the functional NIV translation as our primary Bible. Now let's choose a formal translation, for instance the NASB or ESV, to compare and contrast against the text of the NIV.