Buying a Bible? Have you thought about buying bibles online? There are so many versions out there to choose from don’t just settle for whatever version they have at Walmart. You need to get the version that is right for you and if you buy your bible online, you can choose from just about any version you want. So, which version is right for you?
It used to be that the King James Version of the Bible was considered by many to be the only reliable translation. Today, dozens of English translations are available. With so many Bible translations to choose from, it's hard to know which one is right for you. You may wonder, what's unique about each translation. Generally speaking, some are better for study, others are more suited for easy reading rather than accuracy. It’s not so much about which version is best, but how the Bible is used. Each translation has its particular strengths and weaknesses.
So what kinds of differences are there among the different versions? Some versions are attempts to translate the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek into English on a word-for-word basis. Other versions paraphrase the original text. They attempt to preserve the original meaning without necessarily translating each word of the original. Still others are a compromise between the word-for-word approach and the meaning-preservation approach.
If you are interested in a serious study of the Bible, including grammar and vocabulary, you will want a more literal translation that is bases on the word-for word approach. If however you are more interested in reading the Bible more as a story, then a freer translation based on the paraphrasing approach may be better.
So why do we have so many different versions of the Bible? There are a couple of reasons. One is simply updating the language. Many versions were made a long time ago. Over time language changes. Words fall out of use; new words come into use; and meanings of words change. Many versions of the Bible try to update the language used so that they are more easily understood.
Another reason for different versions is to clarify meaning. The best version of the bible would be one where the meaning of the original author is clear and accurate. The problem is that there are no original manuscripts. The original manuscripts were copied and passed down and recopied and passed down and so on. Remember they were originally written long before the printing press. What would happen is that scribes would copy earlier books, and as they did so,
they wrote notes on the margins of the page to correct their text, especially if a scribe accidentally omitted a word or line, and to comment about the text. When later scribes were copying the copy, they were sometimes uncertain if a note was intended to be included as part of the text. Over time, different regions evolved different versions, each with its own assemblage of omissions and additions.
Most versions we have today come from the evolved versions that were copied and re-copied several times. We just don’t have any of the early manuscripts. Because of this sometime there is some ambiguity as to the original meaning of the author. Throughout the years different versions have arisen in an attempts to interpret and clarify meaning. Also from time to time, earlier manuscripts are discovered and then used in translating a new version of the Bible.
Another reason that we have different versions of the Bible is that often different denominations interpret certain passages or concepts differently according to their theology and so will publish a new version or translation that they believe is correct and in accordance with the original authors meaning.
Although one version may be suited for a particular purpose, it is good to have several Bible translations on hand rather than only one version. That way one can compare several translations, especially for passages that are difficult to understand. By using different versions of the Bible, readers can gain a richer understanding and appreciation for scripture because they gain different perspectives from each translation.
