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List of all english bible translations8/12/2023 If I want a Bible that a young child can enjoy reading, I will give that child a Good News Bible. If I want to understand the humor, satire, or irony, I will go to the Living Bible or the New Living Bible. If I want to understand the intended emotional impact of the biblical texts, I will pick up a translation like the Phillips or the Message. For example, if I want precise descriptions of certain key doctrines like the Trinity, I will consult one of the more literal word-for-word translations like the New American Standard Bible or Young’s Literal Translation. Still another tension is readability for audiences of different educational levels.Īll these tensions explain why there is a need for dozens of different translations. Yet another tension is how to translate textual humor, satire, or irony. Another tension is whether to stress translating the meaning of a text or its intended emotional impact on the reader. Translators typically are forced to choose whether to stress literal word-for-word translation from the original Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic or to stress thought-for-thought or meaning-for-meaning translation. The growth is such that with the passing of every 15 to 20 years, a new translation is needed to communicate to a new generation of English language readers.Ī tension in all English language translations of the Bible is translation philosophy. The rapid growth of English language vocabulary accounts for many more translations. Different translations will choose different English words as equivalents for words in the original Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. The size of the English vocabulary accounts for many of the differing translations. The number of Koine Greek words used in the New Testament is less than 6,000. The original language for the New Testament is Koine Greek. The translation situation is easier for the New Testament, but only somewhat easier. Furthermore, the number of new words being added to the English language grows by several thousand per year. If one includes names assigned to different species of life and different chemical compounds, the list of English words expands to more than 4 million. A search of digitized English language books reveals more than 1 million different words. The second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary defines more than 600,000 words. 2 Large English dictionaries typically include 400,000 words. English ranks as the language with the largest vocabulary of all time. Biblical Hebrew, if one omits the names of people and geographical place names, has a vocabulary size of only about 3,000 words. Both Hebrew and Aramaic are Semitic languages. Those six chapters are written in Aramaic.Įnglish is a Roman-Germanic language. The original language is Hebrew except for chapters 2–7 in the book of Daniel. The primary reason for the need for so many translations is that the Old Testament poses a big problem. The website grants full access at no charge to 55 different English translations of the Bible. There really is a need for 40-plus translations of the Bible. Their next question usually has to do with why I utilize so many translations. Most are stunned to discover that so many different good Bible translations exist. I frequently shock them when I say I use 40 different translations. With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.Almost every time I speak, after the formal Q&A session is over, someone will ask me which Bible translation I use. The other translations that gained in the rankings were the NLT, the ESV, the NIrV, and the NVI.
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