How Do I Choose a Bible Translation?

This was originally posted as a guest blog at Discipleship for Women.

I’m shopping for a new Bible … any suggestions on which one I should get?

Ever been asked this question? I sure have … and recently I saw it posted on Facebook, followed by several suggestions—nearly all different.

Get the Message. It’s fantastic.

I recommend the NIV to everyone!

Read the ESV study Bible.

Anything but KJV!

With all the options out there, shopping for a Bible can feel a little like shopping for breakfast cereal—only the stakes are much lower at the grocery store, and the worst that can happen if we choose poorly is a disappointing breakfast.

So, how do we choose? Which translation is the best?

Truth is … the answer is sort of a moving target because it all depends on what exactly you’re looking for. You might be thinking, I’m looking for God’s Word, duh. And I agree with you on that! But there are many significant decisions that go into producing a good Bible translation—more than we can cover in this short blog.

There are, however, a couple of important things we can keep in mind—points that will take us a good long way toward choosing wisely.

1. Remember you’re shopping for a … translation!  

Our very desire to find a good translation tells us a couple things we sometimes don’t think much about. First, there is an original language involved that we don’t speak or understand. Second, we are putting our trust in someone else to bridge the gap for us.

When considering a translation of the Bible, that gap includes more than a simple language barrier. It also involves historical distance. This means not only do we need to get from the original language (Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic) to the receptor language (English for us), but we also need to understand what the words meant to the people who heard it thousands of years ago. How did they use it? How would we use the same word today?

To make the point, consider the word sick. When I was a child—just a few short years ago (wink wink)—sick meant you got to stay home from school. It meant you didn’t feel well.  Today, it’s a compliment. “That’s a sick car,” means it’s awesome! If someone younger than 20 says, “You look sick!” it might mean you are looking especially good.

If word usage can change so drastically in just a few short decades, imagine what can happen in thousands of years across cultures!

2. Be familiar with translation theories.

Translators have several decisions to make throughout the translation journey, but one of the most significant choices they make is what to do with the historical distance we mentioned in our first point.  This will be determined by the translation theory they use. If you’ve ever wondered why two translations word things so differently, this is likely your answer.

One translation theory is called formal equivalence. In this approach, scholars are not aiming to bridge the historical gap. The goal here is basically to keep as close to the original words and grammar as possible focusing on a word-to-word translation that doesn’t worry about contemporary usage or meaning. This leaves readers with the responsibility of making sense of any ancient figures of speech and determining modern equivalents to measurements or monetary values. The good thing about this type of translation is it allows readers to interpret the Bible for themselves because very few judgement calls have been made in choosing modern equivalents. The downside is that formal translations can be wooden sounding and at times very confusing. For example, in The King James version, 1 Peter 1:13 says, “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  This idiom makes no sense to us because our minds do not have loins. In modern language, the meaning is “pay attention” or “prepare for action.”

The King James Bible, The New King James Bible, The New American Standard Bible (NASB), and the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) are examples of translations toward this end of the spectrum.

A second translation theory is functional equivalence (or “dynamic” translation). In this approach, translators do try to bridge the historical distance by focusing more on the meaning of the ancient words and translating them into the same contemporary meaning. Historical distance is kept on all historical and factual issues, but language, grammar, and style are presented in their most modern form. This is considered a thought-for-thought approach. With this approach, scholars will take an ancient figure of speech and change it to the way we would say the same thing today. So, using our example from 1 Peter 1:13, the New Living Translation reads, “So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.”

It’s easy to see the benefit of functional translations. It makes reading and understanding the Bible much simpler, but there is a downside. We are trusting the translators to accurately update the meaning, and if they get that wrong, a lot can be lost in the mix. Fortunately, the men and women who work to bring us these translations have usually dedicated their lives to getting it right!  

The New Century Version (NCV), The Revised English Bible (REB), and The New Living Translation (NLT) are toward this end of the spectrum.

Another approach is the free translation, also called a paraphrase. Here the focus is on translating ideas into the most contemporary form possible.  The Message is a great example of a paraphrase.

---

Many translations fall somewhere in the middle of formal and functional equivalence such as English Standard Version (ESV) or The New International Version (NIV). These try to be the best of both worlds … holding as much as possible to the original form while keeping modern readers in mind.

Each translation theory has its strengths and choosing one from several categories for comparison can take our Bible study to a new depth. For a more detailed discussion of all this and many other significant issues related to understanding the Bible, I highly recommend reading How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart.

Just for fun, let’s take a look at three different translations of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13:

King James Version (KJV – formal translation)

9.    After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11. Give us this day our daily bread.

12. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

New Living Translations (NLT – functional (dynamic) translation)

9.    Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.

10.  May your Kingdom come soon.  May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

11. Give us today the food we need

12. and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.

13.  And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

New International Version (NIV – a combo translation)

9.    This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name

10.  your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

11.  Give us today our daily bread.

12.  And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

The Message (free translation or paraphrase):

9.  Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are.

10. Set the world right; Do what's best—as above, so below.

11. Keep us alive with three square meals.

12. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.

13. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.

---

I’d like to leave just one more thought. If all these (and many more) weighty decisions go into producing a solid translation of God’s divinely inspired Word, who does the work is equally as important as how it’s being done. Just think … would you feel safer with a translation that was produced by one man who has no formal training in the original languages such as The Passion Translation[i], or with a translation written by a committee of more than 100 scholars with oversight committees and review scholars such as the ESV?[ii] It’s definitely worth serious consideration.

Action step: In most Bibles, you will find the translation theory, as well as a list of all contributing scholars in the introductory material (the super important stuff we usually skip).  Take some time to look in your Bible to see if you can locate the translation theory and information on who contributed to the final product.

[i] In an interview with the Welton Academy's Podcast, Brian Simmons, author of The Passion Translation, stated, "I had minimal background in biblical languages, so yeah, it was something that, honestly, something the Lord has really helped me with." (14:52)

[ii] The translation theory, process, and committees of the ESV: https://www.esv.org/translation/

3 {Silly} Bible Reading Habits that Hurt Discipleship

This post was originally posted as a guest blog at Discipleship For Women.

I was a devoted Christ-follower for over two decades before I learned what a mess I’d been making of my Bible. I’m not talking about all the colorful highlighting and note-filled margins. I’m talking about the way I was reading it—what parts I chose to read, what I expected to get out of it, and how I chose to apply it to my life.

I was treating my Bible in a completely different way than I would treat any other book on my shelves. In retrospect, the Bible reading habits I developed might provide a good laugh if the consequences weren’t so devastatingly life-altering … and if I was the only one practicing them. But I’m not alone. A quick glance at how folks typically apply Scripture on their social media offers plentiful evidence.

The Bible is the most important book in the world, and because it speaks of spiritual matters and is written by both God and man, some deem it unspiritual or too intellectual to learn how to read it. I couldn’t disagree more. The Bible itself teaches us that we must learn how to read it:

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

The Word of Truth is the Gospel of Jesus—the truth He came to bring, which is revealed to us in all of Scripture. If we are commanded to handle the word rightly, that infers there’s a wrong way to handle it. I don’t believe I will ever solve every scholarly dilemma when it comes to translation or original context, but I can do my best to eliminate gross errors like the ones I’ll discuss here. Of course, as students of Scripture, we will continue to learn and grow for a lifetime. But changing these three habits will take our Bible reading to a new, and far more accurate level—which will affect our daily lives and our relationship with God in very significant ways.

Silly Habit #1: The Flip and Point

I would never grab a history book off my bookshelf, offer a quick prayer for God’s guidance in my day, start flipping the pages, abruptly stop flipping by pointing randomly (eyes closed) to a spot on a page, then read whatever my finger landed on and consider that an answer to my prayer.  

But I’ve done it with the Bible more times than I’d like to admit.

Yes, I know the Bible is more than a mere history book. It is living and active and when illuminated by the Holy Spirit has supernatural power. But does that mean we are supposed to treat it like a magical book of spells, or a slot machine of advice? No … but that’s what I was doing, and it had life-altering consequences for me. I completely ignored the wise counsel of my parents at a very critical time in life because I flipped and pointed to the following verse:

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26 

I did not take the time to read any of the verses that came before or after this verse, and I surely didn’t take time to dig into the systematic teachings of the Bible on how to make wise decisions in situations like the one I was in. I simply took the one verse as permission to pridefully disregard my parents and move confidently in the direction of foolishness. Thankfully, God is great at redeeming our messes.

When we flip and point, we are not only in danger of egregious misapplication, but we are inadvertently dishonoring the authors—both God and the human authors. Imagine putting your heart and soul into writing a letter only to discover the person you wrote to only read a few sentences that had been randomly selected by flipping and pointing. That’s what we’re doing to the Apostle Paul (and God). When we randomly pick and apply a verse out of Ephesians, we’re picking a line or two out of a whole letter he wrote to the church at Ephesus. There is no way we can get much of anything accurate out of reading it that way.

Only after taking the time to read the entire letter or poem or historical account (there are many genres of literature in the Bible) can we expect to get the most out of it … just as with anything else we read. It might take a couple of sittings, but I recommend always reading the entire book of the Bible you are studying several times to really enjoy the fullness of it. Read it out loud if you can.

Silly Habit #2: Stealing the Spotlight 

Another thing I wouldn’t do is read a letter written thousands of years before I was born as if it were written to me. Or read an historical account about a woman living before the time of Christ and act as if I was the protagonist in the story. But that’s what I did with my Bible. Though I knew the Bible taught us about God and Jesus and told stories of our faith heroes, my time in the Word was spent searching for my story—who I am—what I am supposed to do with my life—how I can get my prayers answered.

I might not have expected to see the name Teasi pop up in the minor prophets, but I read and searched the Bible as if it were all about me—as if every page was filled with written instructions left to me by a personal life coach in the sky.

Truth is, the Bible is not written to me or about me. It’s not written to you or about you. It’s written to the Children of Israel and to the early church and it’s about … Jesus. He is the hero of every story from start to finish.

The Bible is, however, written for us, and we can learn everything we need pertaining to life and godliness as we study God’s written revelation of Himself and His written plans for redeeming mankind. Focusing on the character, actions, and plans of God does teach us about ourselves because we are His creation made in His image for His purposes. And as we read about God and His redemptive plans, we do get answers to our biggest questions:

Where did I come from? Where am I going after I die? What’s the point of life? Why do I see so much evil in the world?

But we learn these answers in light of God’s big story—not our own.

Next time you sit down to read your Bible, pray that God will reveal more to you about Himself than ever before. Start highlighting everything it says about Him—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Think about what He is doing, what glorifies Him and what doesn’t. I’ll be honest, looking for God and meditating on His story as I read always leaves me far more satisfied and fulfilled.

Silly Habit #3: Bossing the Bible Around   

The final thing I can’t imagine doing is reading a complex instruction manual with a friend and then taking turns telling each other “what I feel like this means to me is ...” Why? Because feelings are a fickle indicator of truth, and we aren’t the ones who determine the meaning. The author is. As readers, it’s our job to find what the author meant. And sometimes that’s not simple. Sometimes we must dig.

But we do this with the Bible all the time. I’ll bet you don’t have to think too far back to remember someone asking, “What does this verse mean to you?” But think about how crazy this is. If I have meaning and you have a meaning and everyone in our small group has a meaning, then before you know it, we’ve made the reading of Scripture nearly meaningless. It becomes a subjective volley of my meaning against yours, and what if our meanings are contradictory? Who is right? And why are we telling God what He means in the first place?

The question we really should be asking is, “How does this truth apply to you?” because application quite often will be subjective. But we can’t know how to apply a portion of Scripture to our life until we know what it means. And here’s the deal: The Bible will never mean what it never meant.

When God superintended the human authors to pen His story, He did it over thousands of years, in multiple locations and in multiple genres. He used poetry, letters, historical accounts, wisdom literature, and more. And all these writings had an intended audience—the original readers or hearers who lived in a time, place, and culture far removed from us. When they read or heard God’s messages, they predominantly knew what it meant because it pertained directly to specific issues in their time. They were familiar with the literary styles, rhetorical devices, and figurative language used.

But we aren’t. We’ve got to do some digging (exegesis)—a bit like going back in time—to do our best to think like the original audience, see what it meant to them, and only then to do our best to determine the timeless truth. Once we see it, we can ask the Holy Spirit for His guidance in applying His truth to our contemporary situations.

Using a good study Bible will take us a good long way toward understanding the original culture. All those footnotes, maps, and charts (that we often skip) are provided to us by the men and women who devote their lives to translating the original languages, understanding the ancient literature, and describing the ancient cultures. The resources I’ve recommended below also contain suggestions on additional study tools such as Bible dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and commentaries.

Next time you read your Bible, take time to read all the good stuff the scholars have contributed, starting with all the preface information before Genesis. And when you do … thank God for them!

Recommended Resources:

• Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible with Both our Hearts and Our Minds by Jen Wilkin

• How to Read the Bible for All Its Wroth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart

• The Bible Project video series “How to Read the Bible” https://thebibleproject.com/all-videos/how-to-read-the-bible/

• Two of my favorite study Bibles: The ESV Study Bible; The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible