Principles of Biblical Translation and Evaluation
Introduction to the Search for the "Best" Bible Translation
Students frequently ask which English Bible version is the best, especially when they plan to dedicate significant time to studying, thinking about, and reading the text. While the definitive answer for the most serious students is to study the original languages of Greek and Hebrew, most readers require an English version. The process of choosing a translation involves understanding why new versions are constantly produced, the different philosophies of translation, and the specific qualities that constitute a high-quality academic and devotional text.
The Necessity of New Bible Translations
There are three primary reasons why the continued production of new Bible translations is essential for modern readers. The first reason is the discovery of older and superior manuscripts. Scholars have now identified more than Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. Five hundred years ago, translators had access to only a few dozen or hundreds of manuscripts. Many of the most accurate and oldest manuscripts were discovered as recently as the twentieth century. Generally, older manuscripts are closer to the original writings and therefore less likely to contain cumulative errors, leading to increased accuracy in modern translations.
Second, our understanding of the Greek language has improved dramatically through centuries of research. For instance, scholars have dedicated entire doctoral dissertations—some reaching pages—to the study of a single three-letter Greek word, such as "gar," a conjunction meaning "for" or "because." This level of exhaustive research into the function and nuances of Greek grammar and vocabulary ensures that modern translators can render the text into English with far more precision than was possible in previous centuries.
Third, the English language is a living entity that changes over time. Words and phrases that were clear thirty or four hundred years ago may carry different meanings or become obsolete today. To ensure that the reader can fully comprehend the divine message, translations must be adapted to reflect contemporary linguistic usage. While some may argue that English has an overabundance of translations, many other languages and countries still lack even one modern version.
Categories of Translation Methodology
English Bible translations generally fall into three categories based on their underlying philosophy. The first is formal equivalence, often called literal or word-for-word translation. Versions such as the King James Version (KJV), Revised Standard Version (RSV), New American Standard Bible (NASB), New King James Version (NKJV), and the English Standard Version (ESV) attempt to translate the meaning of every word in the original language with a one-to-one correspondence where possible.
The second type is functional or dynamic equivalence, which focuses on thought-for-thought translation. These versions, such as the New International Version (NIV), the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), the New Living Translation (NLT), and the Christian Standard Bible (CSB, formerly Holman Christian Standard), prioritize the overall meaning of a sentence or phrase over a strict literal rendering of individual words. These are often more readable but less useful for micro-level word studies.
The third category consists of free translations or paraphrases. Examples include the Amplified Bible, the Living Bible, and The Message. Technically, these are not strictly translations but interpretive restatements of the text. Because they include a high degree of the author's personal interpretation, they are often not categorized as "Holy Bibles" in the same way academic translations are, though they may serve as supplemental reading.
The First Essential Quality: Utilization of Superior Manuscripts
A good translation must be based on the best available manuscripts, which are typically the oldest. Older manuscripts are less likely to have "crept-in" errors from centuries of manual copying. For example, the King James Version was a monumental achievement that built upon the work of William Tyndale and others, but the manuscripts available to its translators were inferior to those available today. Modern scholars now have access to Isaiah manuscripts that are years older than those used for previous translations, revealing discrepancies in certain verses.
Case Study: The Authenticity of 1 John 5:7
One of the most famous examples of manuscript discrepancy appears in 1 John 5:7. The King James Version includes a long passage stating, "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth…" Modern versions often omit this as a partial verse. This is not an attempt to remove the Trinity from the Bible, as "King James only" advocates might claim, but a matter of manuscript evidence. This specific phrasing appears in the oldest form in a seventh-century Latin manuscript. It is absent from all Greek manuscripts prior to the fourteenth century and appears in only Greek manuscripts total. In of those , the phrasing is written in the margin, not the main text.
Furthermore, not a single Greek or Latin Church Father quoted this version of 1 John 5:7 during the first four and a half centuries of the church, despite nearly constant debates regarding the nature of the Trinity and the divinity of Christ. If the verse had existed, it would have been the primary evidence used in those debates. Erasmus, who produced the first critical edition of the New Testament in the sixteenth century, originally excluded the verse. After being criticized, he challenged his detractors to produce a single Greek manuscript containing the verse. Shortly thereafter, a likely "manufactured" Greek manuscript appeared, and Erasmus included it in his later editions. Today, no credible scholar considers the long version of 1 John 5:7 to be authentic to the original text.
The Second Essential Quality: Precision and Accuracy
Accuracy is paramount in translation, as even minor errors can significantly alter the meaning of a text. Historical printing errors serve as a warning: one edition famously told a woman to "sin on more" instead of "sin no more" in John 8:11, while another in 1 Timothy 6:6 stated that "godliness with contentment is great pain" rather than "gain." Beyond typos, a translation must be precise in its rendering of the original Greek or Hebrew labels.
For example, in John 21:2, the Living Bible identifies the companions of Simon Peter as "my brother James and I." While this is factually true (referring to James and John), the original Greek text actually says "the sons of Zebedee." The New Living Translation (NLT) corrects this by using the phrase "sons of Zebedee," which is a more precise translation of what the text actually says rather than an interpretation of who those people were.
The Third and Fourth Essential Qualities: Understandability and Contemporary Language
A translation is only helpful if the reader can understand it. For example, the New American Standard Bible's rendering of 2 Corinthians 10:13 is quite literal but difficult to parse: "But we will not boast beyond our measure, but within the measure of the sphere which God apportioned to us as a measure to reach even as far as you." The NRSV makes this much clearer: "We, however, will not boast beyond limits, but will keep within the field that God has assigned to us…"
Similarly, 1 Samuel 30:24 in the KJV uses the phrase "tarrieth by the stuff," which modern readers find confusing. The NIV clarifies this as staying "with the supplies." As language evolves, terms must be updated. In the KJV, "charity" means love, "suffer" means allow, "Holy Ghost" means Holy Spirit, and "waxed" means became. In Isaiah 14:23, the KJV mentions a "bassoon of destruction," which is an archaic word for a broom. In Nehemiah 13:26, "outlandish women" simply means foreign women (those from "out of the land"). In Romans 1:13, the word "let" is used to mean "hindered," but in modern English, it means the exact opposite, demonstrating how archaic language can lead to total misunderstanding.
The Fifth and Sixth Essential Qualities: Universality and Restraint in Contextualization
A good translation should avoid local slang or colloquialisms that might confuse readers in different regions. The New English Bible (a British version) uses "Whitsuntide" for Pentecost and mentions "cornfields," which are technically grain fields as corn was not discovered in the ancient Near East. It also uses British coinage like "" or "." In Mark 2:23, it uses maritime terms like "starboard" for the "right side," which may not be understood by non-seafaring populations.
Finally, a translation should avoid over-contextualization. The "Cotton Patch" version turned Jerusalem and Jericho into Atlanta and other Southern locations. Some versions written for fishermen changed the 23rd Psalm to "The Lord is my pilot." The original Living Bible often went too far, changing Sarah's "bread" to "pancakes" in Genesis 18:6, a "lamp" to a "flashlight" in Psalm 119:105, and a "kiss of love" to a "handshake" in 1 Peter 5:14. Perhaps most famously, it referred to the biblical figure Barnabas as "Barney the Preacher." A quality translation maintains the historical and cultural context of the original setting while remaining understandable to the modern reader.