Section IV – Which Translations Are Best?
Back to The Bible's Difficult Scriptures Explained!
The Bible as we know it today has been passed down through the centuries. Referenced only briefly earlier, over the past few years, there has come an explosion of different translations and “specialty” Bibles. Some of these can be helpful. Others are inaccurate, and some pitifully so. How can you be sure which one to use? Which is the most accurate?
God commands His servants to “seek you first the kingdom of God” (Matt. 6:33), and to “search the Scriptures [the Bible] daily” (Acts 17:11). But how can this be done if the Bible has not been translated into the language of the “common people”? This section explains which of the over 70 English translations produced today you should use.
The introduction of the King James (KJV) or Authorized Version (AV) of the Bible states, “But how shall men meditate in that which they cannot understand? How shall they understand that which is kept closed in an unknown tongue?…Translation it is that opens the window, to let in the light; that breaks the shell, that we may eat the kernel.”
The word “bible” conjures up mystery in some people’s minds. From the Greek biblos, it simply means “a sheet or scroll of writing; book.”
The languages in which the Bible was originally written are primarily Hebrew, for the Old Testament (with a few exceptions in Daniel and Ezra), and Greek in the New Testament. If a person is not able to read Hebrew and/or Greek, then he must rely on reading a translated version in his own language or vernacular. Of course, no Bible translation is 100% accurate. There will be errors, based on the meaning of certain words, phrases, idioms and each individual’s preconceived ideas. God could have directly sent men who could have translated the Bible into the language of the people. But God has tested the Bible “scholars” of this world to see how careful and diligent they would be in keeping His Word accurate.