Scarletprayers Posted June 5, 2005 Group: Royal Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 135 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 7,537 Content Per Day: 1.08 Reputation: 157 Days Won: 2 Joined: 04/06/2005 Status: Offline Birthday: 09/29/1956 Share Posted June 5, 2005 There are a couple of hundred English translations of the Christian Scriptures (even more of the New Testament). Until recently the NIV had outsold all others for the past 20 years, with the KJV still being the most widely circulated and used. Beginning about 10 years ago, the caretakers of the NIV began to take some steps that were unpopular among many conservative Christians (primary users of the NIV) which has led to publication of the Today's New International Version. The past year or so, the NIV has faced some formidable challenges to its top spot. Two newcomers, the Holman Christian Standard (recently adopted as the official translation of the Southern Baptist Convention) and the English Standard Version (being favored by many Reformed and Presbyterian groups) have become very popular among conservative Christians. For several months this year (2005), the New King James Version has taken over the top spot from the NIV in sales, knocking it from 1st for the first time in 20 years. For what it's worth, I prefer English translations which somewhat favor the transmitter languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek) rather than the receptor language (English), which usually makes them a bit choppier and classifies them as more literal in their equivalence. In order of preference (not necessarily their literal sequence) I like the English Standard Version, New American Standard Bible (1995 update), New King James Version, New Revised Standard Version, King James Version, and Geneva Bible. In counter balance to Pax (love the name BTW), I think the New American Bible (NAB) (a Roman Catholic translation often confused with the NASB), which is a quite literal and excellent Catholic Bible, may have been what was intended in the post from Pax. There is also considerable disagreement within and without Catholic and Protestant groups as to whether the books of Tobit, etc. (often termed 'Apocrypha' or 'Deuterocanonical' were "removed from the original Bible" or indeed ever a part of the Bible canon of Scripture books. The whole boby of the Roman Catholic Church did not completely endorse them as Scripture until after the Protestant Reformation had begun. The stance of the Coptic and Eastern Orthodox Church is also worthy of consideration.. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Can I ask why the sequence you used??? Why do you consider the ESV to be first? I would really like to know, because I was planning on getting a new Bible and wondering which one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeward Posted June 5, 2005 Group: Junior Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 1 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 108 Content Per Day: 0.02 Reputation: 0 Days Won: 0 Joined: 05/06/2005 Status: Offline Share Posted June 5, 2005 Aaaargh. I just did some more verse comparisons between the KJV, NKJV, and NASB on the web. So I edited the NASB out of my above post. I think for now I will just stick with NKJV and KJV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earthy Posted June 5, 2005 Group: Members Followers: 0 Topic Count: 6 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 16 Content Per Day: 0.00 Reputation: 0 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/04/2005 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/17/1971 Author Share Posted June 5, 2005 So the KJV is definitely the one to go with then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopper Posted June 5, 2005 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 23 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 424 Content Per Day: 0.06 Reputation: 57 Days Won: 0 Joined: 09/09/2004 Status: Offline Share Posted June 5, 2005 (edited) Edited April 17, 2008 by hopper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopper Posted June 5, 2005 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 23 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 424 Content Per Day: 0.06 Reputation: 57 Days Won: 0 Joined: 09/09/2004 Status: Offline Share Posted June 5, 2005 (edited) Edited April 17, 2008 by hopper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopper Posted June 5, 2005 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 23 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 424 Content Per Day: 0.06 Reputation: 57 Days Won: 0 Joined: 09/09/2004 Status: Offline Share Posted June 5, 2005 (edited) Edited April 17, 2008 by hopper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qun Mang Posted June 6, 2005 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 116 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 678 Content Per Day: 0.09 Reputation: 15 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/26/2004 Status: Offline Share Posted June 6, 2005 Another option (if you don't mind BIG Bibles) is one of the many parallel Bibles available today, where anywhere from 2 to 8 translations are listed side by side for comparison. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Eight translations?? I can only imagine the size of that brick! As if my four translation parallel Bible wasn't big enough... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trust & Obey Posted June 6, 2005 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 16 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 1,091 Content Per Day: 0.16 Reputation: 14 Days Won: 0 Joined: 05/23/2005 Status: Offline Share Posted June 6, 2005 There are a couple of hundred English translations of the Christian Scriptures (even more of the New Testament). Until recently the NIV had outsold all others for the past 20 years, with the KJV still being the most widely circulated and used. Beginning about 10 years ago, the caretakers of the NIV began to take some steps that were unpopular among many conservative Christians (primary users of the NIV) which has led to publication of the Today's New International Version. The past year or so, the NIV has faced some formidable challenges to its top spot. Two newcomers, the Holman Christian Standard (recently adopted as the official translation of the Southern Baptist Convention) and the English Standard Version (being favored by many Reformed and Presbyterian groups) have become very popular among conservative Christians. For several months this year (2005), the New King James Version has taken over the top spot from the NIV in sales, knocking it from 1st for the first time in 20 years. For what it's worth, I prefer English translations which somewhat favor the transmitter languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek) rather than the receptor language (English), which usually makes them a bit choppier and classifies them as more literal in their equivalence. In order of preference (not necessarily their literal sequence) I like the English Standard Version, New American Standard Bible (1995 update), New King James Version, New Revised Standard Version, King James Version, and Geneva Bible. In counter balance to Pax (love the name BTW), I think the New American Bible (NAB) (a Roman Catholic translation often confused with the NASB), which is a quite literal and excellent Catholic Bible, may have been what was intended in the post from Pax. There is also considerable disagreement within and without Catholic and Protestant groups as to whether the books of Tobit, etc. (often termed 'Apocrypha' or 'Deuterocanonical' were "removed from the original Bible" or indeed ever a part of the Bible canon of Scripture books. The whole boby of the Roman Catholic Church did not completely endorse them as Scripture until after the Protestant Reformation had begun. The stance of the Coptic and Eastern Orthodox Church is also worthy of consideration.. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> hopper, you seem to be full of good knowledge and I look forward to reading more of your posts. God bless you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopper Posted June 19, 2005 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 23 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 424 Content Per Day: 0.06 Reputation: 57 Days Won: 0 Joined: 09/09/2004 Status: Offline Share Posted June 19, 2005 (edited) Edited April 17, 2008 by hopper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Journey Posted June 19, 2005 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 10 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 582 Content Per Day: 0.07 Reputation: 2 Days Won: 0 Joined: 01/19/2003 Status: Offline Birthday: 04/10/1970 Share Posted June 19, 2005 Great series of posts Hopper!! Remember that the standard for a good or bad translation is how faithful it is to the original Greek or Hebrew. If the translation is not "transparent" to the words used by the author then it is a paraphrase. Secondarily, you should look at how that translation flows when read aloud. A good translation will be accurate to original Hebrew and Greek and flow well in your native tongue. The English Standard Version is one of the best english translations you can get today. http://www.esv.org Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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