I found a great article on The Christian Post that explained the difference in some of the translations. First, in translations that use a “literal meaning,” sometimes the meaning is missed. Examples of this translation are the New American Standard Bible, King James Version, and the English Standard Vision). The “free approach” translation translates to English, but does take liberties with literal words if needed, which is also considered to be paraphrasing. Examples of this are The Message translation, The Living Bible, and the Phillips Translation. This is what I use most of the time. I like the easy reading of it. I can read the literal translations all day long, but if I don’t know what the message is saying, then it’s a loss.
The “dynamic equivalence” translation takes the middle road of the previous two translations and an example of that is the New International Version. My son’s Bible is a NIrV geared towards kids so sometimes I will even use his Bible because it makes it simple.
This week, I want to explore choosing a Bible translation that is
best for you. I know in the past, I would get lost in Scripture
because I didn’t quite understand what it was trying to say. As a
younger child, whenever we did make it to church, it was traditional
hymns and King James Version and I was lost. We have to also remember
that the Bible was not written in English, so there will always be a
little something that is lost in translation regardless of what
translation we pick. Also, remember how words can have different
meanings in different places. I’m sure that slang was a thing, even
back in Biblical times.
Another upside to his kids’ Bible is that there are story passages that use applicable examples of Scripture to further drive points home. Both my NLT and his NIrV were given to us by our church when we prayed for our Salvation, so it stands to reason that these translations are both recommended for beginners. The article also recommends using a combination of translations to get the full meaning behind Scripture. I think cross-referencing is a great tool.
There’s no one size fits all translation and I think it’s important to try out several different
translations until you find one that you feel the most comfortable with and that you feel like you understand. I don’t deal well personally with translations that add -th to every word, so I tend to lean more towards reader’s versions. However, I think there’s definitely a time and a place to use more literal translations, perhaps in ceremonial settings. BUT let’s not forget that people who haven’t heard the Gospel do attend ceremonial events (weddings, funerals) and while no one is probably going to stand before a bride and groom and give the Gospel in front of guests, but bits and pieces of Scripture could pique the interest to people who have never heard it before, if they understand what the message is. Just a thought. That’s all for now. Have a great week!
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