Bible Discussion Thread

Question. Which is the best Bible translation?

You'll have to ask Chris that. He's had a lot of experience with translations.

I've marked up about 10 Bibles. I'm waiting on a new one to arrive :D

I like a King James Version with the center of the pages column (cross referencing, prophesies, meanings); with dictionary and large concordance.

There are Commentary reference books too. That's one you'll want to ask Chris which is best.

Thanks Mishael: I think you would have done quite well, as others, to answer this question.

Ongom, your question can receive many answers according to people's research, their understanding & preference for a particular version. As you are asking on this Site, the obvious answer will be that the King James Version is more preferable to all others. I only read from it, though I believe that if someone simply can't understand its English & if suitable helps are not available to them, then it's better to read from another translation (e.g. NASB, NKJV), than not read or understand the Bible at all.

So to the KJV. Even though it was translated from later Manuscripts (& not the older ones as some would give preference to), the translators found that these Manuscripts were much more reliable (for consistency, accuracy & from checking with other Manuscripts) than the others, such as the Sinaitic & Vatican Manuscripts, which contained significant errors.

As well, there were many scholars (about 47 of them), highly skilled in Hebrew & Greek who were involved in this work of translating & they constantly checked, re-checked & assessed their work before the Bible was published. In fact, they worked for several years (about six years, I think) to ensure total reliability.

Yet, I must also say, that by just reading the Bible (as many do for its olden history), will be of limited value unless God's Spirit Who inspired the writers of the Bible books, is also involved in helping the reader to understand it & learn from its many precious lessons. So, we pray that God's Spirit will help you to decide on the right version of the Bible & then to understand & apply the Truths of His Word to your life.

You have much more experience than I do in all versions of the Bible. I only have King James Bible and KJV Bible commentaries; Dictionary. I knew you have recommended the NAS too. I just thought you'd do better to answer that questioner. I meant no confusion.

Although I have a Dakes, I really only look at the lists or their concordance. I just ordered a new KJV large print concordance so I can see it; which I am very excited to get.

Mishael, with the advent of the internet, there's so much information on the Bible & Bible helps there, that the old hard copies are now near to becoming redundant. Anyway, we older folks still prefer to flick through its pages & enjoying searching the Word systematically. Yes, the NASB is said to be a very good translation as well, & a good option to the KJV.