Bible Translations
The bible is possibly one of the most difficult books to translate, because the source texts are from different languages and cultures written over thousands of years by different authors in different styles and circumstances. Certain words or phrases are impossible to accurately translate because of a lack of vocabulary in the English language.
On top of that we no longer have the original scriptures in their original form as it was written by the original authors.
Therefore, it is unsurprising that so many different bible translations exist today.
Many people have critiqued the bible for its redundancy of providing the same messages in different ways, but this could actually be considered a "backup feature". In modern Computer Science, we still use redundancy to store data on unreliable mediums. Likewise, with bible translations one will find that although different sources of text exist, the content is mostly the same with only a few differences. When these independent copies found at different sites confirm each other, it means they were reliably copied.
Therefore, one should never base a new doctrine on 1 isolated verse alone as this could lead to wrong interpretations. Instead consider the context and a confirmed patterns which should preferably be authored from different witnesses.
Christian Denominations
| Denomination | Bishops | CEB | ESV | Great | JB | KJV | MEB | NASB | NCB | NIV | NKJV | NLT | NRSV | Wycliffe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anglican | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||||
| Assemblies of God | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||||
| Baptists | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||||
| Calvinist | X | |||||||||||||
| Eastern Orthodox | X | X | ||||||||||||
| Latter-Day Saints | X | |||||||||||||
| Lutheran | X | |||||||||||||
| Methodists | X | X | X | X | ||||||||||
| Oriental Orthodox | X | X | ||||||||||||
| Presbyterian | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||
| Roman Catholic | X | X | X | X | X |
| Name | Abbr. | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Standard Version | ASV | 1901 | Masoretic Text, Westcott and Hort 1881 and Tregelles 1857 |
| Amplified Bible | AMP | 1965 | Revision of the American Standard Version |
| Bishops' Bible | BIS | 1568 | Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus |
| English Standard Version | ESV | 2016 | Derived from the 1971 edition of the Revised Standard Version. |
| Great Bible | GB | 1539 | Masoretic Text, Greek New Testament of Erasmus, the Vulgate, and the Luther Bible. |
| Jerusalem Bible | JB | 1966 | English version of the French La Bible de Jérusalem. |
| King James Version | KJV | 1611 | Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus, Tyndale 1526 NT, some Erasmus manuscripts, and Bezae 1598 TR. |
| Modern English Version | MEB | 2014 | Revision of the King James Bible. |
| New Catholic Bible | NCB | 2007 | Revision of New Jerusalem Bible. |
| New Internation Version | NIV | 2011 | Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament (based on Westcott-Hort, Weiss and Tischendorf, 1862). |
| New King James Version | NKJV | 1982 | Revision of the King James Bible. |
| New Living Translation | NLT | 1996 | |
| Wycliffe Bible | WYC | 1388 | Vulgate Text |
| The Message | MSG | 2002 | A fresh paraphrase into contemporary language and idiom by Eugene Peterson. |
Specialized Bibles
| Religion / Church | Bible | Abbr. | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congregationalist | Julia E. Smith Parker | 1876 | Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus | |
| Eastern Orthodox | Orthodox Study Bible | OSB | 2008 | Adds a new translation of the LXX to an existing translation of the NKJV in a single volume. |
| Jehovah Witnesses | Bible in Living English | |||
| Jehovah Witnesses | New World Translation | NWT | 1960 | Westcott and Hort's Greek New Testament, Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, Hebrew J documents |
| Judaism | Jewish Publication Society | JPS | 1917 | Masoretic Text |
| Lutheran | God's Word | GW | 1995 | |
| Messianic Judaism | Complete Jewish Bible | CJB | 1998 | Paraphrase of the Jewish Publication Society of America Version (Old Testament), and from Greek (New Testament) text |
| Messianic Judaism | Divine Name King James Bible | DNKJB | 2011 | Authorized King James Version which restores the Divine Name |
| Messianic Judaism | Messianic Jewish Literal Translation | MJLT | 2018 | Based on Young's Literal Translation (YLT) |
| Messianic Judaism | New Jerusalem Version | NJV | 2019 | Update of the 1901 ASV, WEB and “The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text |
| Messianic Judaism | The Orthodox Jewish Bible | OJB | 2002 | |
| Messianic Judaism | The Scriptures | TS2009 | 2009 | Masoretic Text (Biblia Hebraica), Textus Receptus Greek text |
| Messianic Judaism | Tree of Life Bible | TLB | 2014 | Masoretic Text, the 27th Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece |
| Puritan | Geneva Bible | GEN | 1560 | Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus |
| Quakers | Quaker Bible | 1764 | Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus | |
| Rastafari | Jah International Version | JIV | 2017 | |
| Roman Catholic | Christian Community Bible | CCB | 1988 | English version of the Biblia Latinoamericana translated by Fr. Bernardo Hurault. |
| Roman Catholic | Douay–Rheims Bible | DRB | 1610 | Latin, Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. |
| Roman Catholic | Knox Bible | 1955 | Translated by Msgr. Ronald Knox. | |
| Roman Catholic | New American Bible | NAB | 1991 | |
| Roman Catholic | New American Bible Revised Edition | NABRE | 2011 | Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia for the Hebrew Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls consulted and referenced |
| Roman Catholic | New Community Bible | NCB | 2008 | Revision of Christian Community Bible. |
| Roman Catholic | New Jerusalem Bible | NJB | 1985 | An update to the 1966 Jerusalem Bible. |
| Roman Catholic | Revised New Jerusalem Bible | RNJB | 2019 | Revision of the New Jerusalem Bible. |
| Roman Catholic | Revised Standard Version (Catholic Edition) | RSV-CE | 1966 | Catholic edition of the a revision of the American Standard Version. |
| Roman Catholic | Revised Standard Version (2nd Catholic Edition) | RSV-2CE | 2006 | The RSV-2CE is a slight update of the 1966 RSV-CE |
| Roman Catholic | The Living Bible | TLB | 1971 | American Standard Version (paraphrase) |
| Unitarian Christians | Revised English Version | REV | Ongoing | Revision of the ASV, Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece |
Based on Wikipedia