Basic Bible Prophecy

Answer

The question of inerrancy of the Bible with so many different translations to choose from is both a difficult question to ask and equally difficult question to answer.

What we know:

• We do not have the original books, letters, or manuscripts.

• The bible was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic, by men, inspired by God, having their own style, grammar, and vocabulary.

• Before the New Testament, the Old Testament had several translations as early as the fifth century BC.

• The New Testament writers quoted from the Old Testament Scriptures.

• The Bible is the most translated book in history. The Bible has been translated into 700 different languages, and the New Testament has been translated into 3,415 languages.

• There are over 150 different translations of the whole Bible.

• Translators use a variety of “manuscripts” when making a translation:

• The work of the translators is a monumental task that involves restating the meaning of words from one language to another. It is difficult, tedious, and requires men and women who are experts in ancient biblical languages.

• There is only one step in the translation process – from the original language to the modern language.

• Modern language is an ever-changing process.

• The translations we use today have only been translated one time.

• The translations we have today are not translations of translations of translations.

• Generally, there are four (4) different categories of translations. 1) Word for word. 2) Meaning for meaning. 3) Thought for thought. 4) Paraphrase.

Word for word Translations (Also titled “Formal Translations):

Young’s Literal Translation (YLT)

American Standard Bible (ASV)

Revised Standard Version (RSV)

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

English Standard Version (ESV)

New English Translation (NET)

King James Version (KJV)

New King James Version (NKJV)

Lexham English Bible (LEB)

Meaning for meaning Translations:

God’s Word Translation (GW)

Thought for thought Translations (Also titled “Moderate Translations):

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

New International Version (NIV)

New Living Translation (NLT)

Paraphrase Translations:

• New International Reader’s Version (NIRV)

• The Message (MSG)

• Good News Translation (GNT)

Conclusion

On the CARM website, they write,

“The existence of translations in no way affects the accuracy of all these copies. What’s more, the multitude of versions actually strengthen our confidence that the Bible has been accurately preserved. They do so in at least two ways:

Ancient translations provide additional witnesses to what the text said back then, which we can see matches what it says now.

Having multiple, independent modern translations allow us to be more certain that the Bible has been accurately translated for us.”[1]

Trust

I want to say that for me, the greatest argument for the accuracy and trust of various translations is simply this:

I have witnessed people being led to the Lord in salvation and new believers discipled from each of the four main categories of translations: “Word for word”, “Meaning for meaning”, “Thought for thought”, and “Paraphrase.” That to me was the tipping point on the power of the living Word of God being manifested through various translations through the ages and into the many languages throughout the world today. Dr. Bob Crowder

When choosing a translation, I highly recommend having a “Word for word” and “Thought for thought” translations in your library. However, for verse-by-verse Bible study you cannot do better than to study with a “Word for word” translation.

[1] https://carm.org/about-the-bible/the-bible-has-been-translated-so-many-times-can-we-still-trust-it/