The Bible Was Not Written In English

Translation Described

Which Manuscripts?

About Translators

Translation Philosophy

KJV NASB ESV NIV NLT Explained

The Message

A John 3:16 Test

Word for Word vs. Thought for Thought

Peek into Next Episode

Jacqui 0:03

Greetings,Tran listeners. Tell me, why are there so many different versions of the Bible? And let's be honest, have you ever wondered if something got changed along the way? There's ESV, NIV, KJV, NLT, and those are just four of them. There are at least 50 English translations of the Bible. 50? Why are there so many? And how do you know you're reading something you can trust? By the end of this episode, you'll understand why there's so many, what makes them different, and which one might be right for you. Well, welcome everyone. I'm your host, Jacqui Adewole, and this is the Bible Basics Podcast, where every two weeks we break down the basics of the Bible into understandable bite-sized chunks. We spent the first five episodes looking at what the Bible actually is, how it was put together, how it came to us, and why we can trust it. Now we're shifting into something just as practical. How to actually read it. And one of the first things that trips people up is standing in a bookstore or scrolling through a Bible app and seeing all those different versions, dozens of them. What makes them different? And does it matter which one you pick? Here's where we start. The Bible was not originally written in English. The Old Testament was mostly written in Hebrew. Hebrew was the language of the people of Israel. It's the language in which they wrote, worshiped, and recorded their history. A small portion of the Old Testament was written in Aramaic. Aramaic was a related language widely spoken across the ancient Near East. You find it in parts of the books of Daniel and Ezra. The New Testament was written in Greek. By that time, Greek had spread across much of the known world through trade and conquest. It was the common language of the day. The writers of the New Testament used it to reach as many people as possible. So for us to read the Bible in English, it has to be translated from ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Every English Bible you've ever read is a translation. Every single one. And that's not a problem. That's necessary. And understanding that is the first step to using your Bible with confidence. When I was baptized, my uncle gave me a gift of a parallel Bible. If you've never heard of one, a parallel Bible shows two different translations side by side on the same page. I had no idea what I was looking at at first, but once I started reading, it opened everything up because I could see that the same verse looked slightly different depending on the translation. Same idea, different words. And once I understood why that was happening, reading the Bible started to feel a lot less overwhelming. And that's what I want for you today. So what is a translation? A translation is taking words from one language and expressing them in another. Sounds simple, but here's the thing. Languages don't line up perfectly. You can't always go word for word and have it make sense in English. Sometimes one Greek or Hebrew word needs a whole phrase to carry the same meaning in English. So translators have to make decisions, not about what's true, but about how best to say it clearly. And those decisions, made by different teams at different times with different goals, are a big part of why there are so many translations. Not because the Bible keeps changing, but because every generation of translators is trying to make it as clear as possible for the people reading it today. So their first decision is which manuscripts to use. Before translators even get to the words, they have to make a decision most of us never think about. Which ancient documents are they translating from? Here's why that matters. We don't have the original handwritten copies of any book in the Bible. What we have are thousands of ancient copies, manuscripts made over many centuries by scribes who carefully copy the text by hand. Most of these manuscripts agree very closely with each other. The differences are usually small, a word here, a phrase there, but translators still have to decide which manuscripts they're working from, and different translation teams may make slightly different choices. This is part of what makes translations differ even before the actual translating begins. It's also one of the reasons why teams of scholars do this work together, so that these decisions are made carefully, with multiple sets of eyes on every choice. And that brings us to the people behind the process. Most major Bible translations are not the work of one person. They're done by large teams, dozens of scholars, people who specialize in ancient languages, people who study the history and the culture of the Bible and Bible times, theologians, linguists. The teams are usually diverse, different church backgrounds, different areas of expertise. And that diversity is intentional. It keeps any one perspective from shaping the whole translation. Now there are exceptions. A few number of Bibles were produced by a single person. We'll come back to one of those in a moment. But for the translations most people use day to day, this is a communal effort. Careful, reviewed, accountable. What you're holding is the result of a rigorous process, not guesswork. Now, once the team is assembled and the manuscripts are chosen, they still have to answer one more question. How closely do we stick to the original wording? There are two directions they can go. The first is called word for word. This approach tries to stay as close as possible to the original language. If the Greek uses three words, the translation tries to use three English words. The structure of the original text is preserved as much as possible. And by that I mean the grammatical structure of the text. The second is called thought for thought. This approach asks a different question, not what did the original say, but what did the original mean? And how do we say that clearly in natural English? Now, here's something important. This isn't a choice between right and wrong. It's a spectrum. On one end, word for word, on the other end, thought for thought. And of those fifty plus English translations, most sit somewhere in between, trying to hold accuracy and clarity together. Today I'm going to walk you through five of the most widely used ones, plus one that sits in the category of its own. Think of these as landmarks on the map, not the whole map. Let's put some names to this. On the word for word end of the spectrum, you have the King James Version, the KJV. This is the version many people grew up with. It was translated in 1611. The language is formal, sometimes very beautiful, sometimes difficult to follow if you're not used to it. Words like thee and thou and saith, also some words that don't have any meaning to the average English reader, such as sackbutt, which is a musical instrument, or stomacher, that's a decorative garment. However, it's grand, it's poetic, and for some people it combines both beauty of language and faithfulness to the text. But for new readers, it can feel like a barrier. Staying on the word for word side, but moving towards more modern English, you have the New American Standard Bible, the NASB. The NASB is one of the most literal translations available in contemporary language. It stays very close to the original text while being more readable than the KJV. It has some unique features, such as being one of the first Bibles to capitalize pronouns that refer to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, such as he, him, your, and mine. Scholars and serious students of the Bible often keep the NASB close. A little further along the spectrum is the English Standard Version, the ESV. The ESV also leans word for word but reads a bit more naturally than the NASB. It's accurate and accessible at the same time, which is why it's become popular both for personal reading and for teaching. Moving toward the other end of the spectrum is the new international version, the NIV. The NIV was designed from the beginning to balance accuracy and readability. It draws on both approaches. It's not purely word for word. It's not purely thought for thought. It's aiming for both. This is the one I prefer to use. It's one of the most widely used translations in the world for a reason. Moving further towards the thought for thought end, you have the new living translation, the NLT. The NLT prioritizes clarity. It takes the meaning of the original and expresses it in plain, everyday English. One thing that stood out to me is the way units of measure and currency are translated in more familiar terms, such as instead of saying the sixth hour in John chapter 4, verse 6, the NLT translates this to around noon. For someone just getting started with the Bible, the NLT is often the easiest place to begin. And then there's something called the message. This one is different from all the others. The message is a paraphrase. The scholar Eugene Peterson rewrote the Bible in very informal, contemporary language. It was the work of one person, not a translation team. It can be a wonderful way to read familiar passages in a completely fresh way, but because it reflects one person's interpretation, it sits outside the main tradition of formal Bible translation. Use it as your reading companion, not as your primary Bible. So now let me show you what a comparison of some of these translations actually looks like. Take John 3.16, one of the most well known verses in the Bible. In the King James Version it reads, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Now, here's the same verse in the New Living Translation. For this is how God loved the world. Same message, same truth, different words. It's your choice. One stays close to the original phrasing, the other makes the meaning immediately clear to a modern reader. You're not getting a different story, you're hearing the same truth from a slightly different angle. Now, let's talk about this word for word versus thought for thought debate. Some people feel really strong about this. Those who prefer word-for-word translations would say, staying close to the original words keeps you as close as possible to what was actually written. Each word choice in the original matters. Translating too freely risks losing something. Those who prefer thought-for-thought translations would say, if someone can't understand what they're reading, accuracy alone isn't enough. The goal of the Bible is to be understood. Clarity serves that goal. Both of these arguments make sense, and that's exactly why there isn't one correct answer. The best translation is the one that helps you actually read and understand the Bible. That's why I actually recommend having more than one translation. Not because one is wrong, but because each one can help you see more clearly. I've experienced this firsthand recently. I'm working through a 40-day Bible study on the book of James. For each of the first 15 days, we the readers or the participants were asked to read the entire book of James in different translations. Then you journal what you notice each day. I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was such an eye-opener. The same passages I'd read before suddenly had more texture. A word I'd always glossed over would land differently in another translation. A sentence I thought I understood opened up in a new way. Same book, same truth, just heard from a different angle. And that's exactly what reading more than one translation can do for you. Now here's something a lot of people don't realize. If you open the front of your Bible before the book of Genesis, there's usually a section that explains how the translation was made. It'll tell you who the translators were, what approach they used, how they handled difficult passages, and what they were aiming for. Most people skip that, but it's worth reading even just once. It helps you understand what you're holding. Try this today. Download a free app called UVersion, also known as the Bible app. Find any verse you're curious about. Tap on it. At the bottom of the screen, you'll see an option that says compare. Tap that. It'll show you that same verse in several different translations right next to each other. Start with the ESV and the NLT. Notice what's similar. Notice what becomes clearer. You're not looking for the right one. You're looking for the one that helps you understand. And if you already have a translation you love, drop it in the comments. I'd love to know what you're reading. Now here's something you can hold on to. Across all these translations, all 50 plus of them, the core message stays the same. The story doesn't change, the truth doesn't change. People will debate which type of translation is better. Some feel that word-for-word translations keep you closer to what was originally written. Others feel that thought-for-thought translations present the Bible in a way that's easier to understand. What every serious translator agrees on is a goal to put the word of God into the hands of people who can read it, understand it, and be changed by it. So start with one you can understand, not the one that sounds most official, not the one someone told you to use, the one you'll open, the one you'll come back to. Next time we're going to look at the different types of writing inside the Bible, because knowing what kind of writing you're reading changes how you read it. Until then, keep reading, keep seeking, and keep growing in your faith.