When you are ready to study the Bible, you need to have a bible that you can trust to be accurate to the original languages that the Bible was originally written in and a bible that you can be comfortable with. English bibles come in three categories: literal translations, dynamic-equivalent translations, and free translations (or paraphrases). What exactly each one is and how they will influence your study of God’s Word we will examine here.

Literal Translations

These translations give a word-for-word translation of the original texts. This makes the reading of these translations more labored and harder to follow. There are never a one-to-one relationship between the original language and the translated language. Some words can be translated in different ways. Also, if the original authors used a cliche or other natural expressions, it may be harder to pick it up in a literal translation. Some literal translations are the King James Version, the New King James Version, and the New American Standard Bible.

One note about literal translations. There are two main bodies of original texts that our translations come from. The KJV and the NKJV come from the Textus Receptus and the NASB come from the 23rd edition of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece for the New Testament and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia with Septuagint influence for the Old Testament. There are textual variances, though very minor, between them. It is prudent to everyone studying the Bible to have a translation of each. It is not the scope of this article or Berean Bible Study to argue the virtues or differences or shortcomings of any translations unless a translation undermines the God of Heaven and His Son, who has died on the cross for the sins of the world.

Dynamic-equivalent Translations

Theses translations give you a thought-by-thought or concept-by-concept translation of the original texts. They sometimes sacrifice the literal translations of some words. It is also possible that the theological biases of the translators influence the translation because of not doing a literal translation. The goal of these translations are to bring the intended thought through the translation. Some dynamic-equivalent translations are the New International Version and the New English Bible.

Paraphrases

These translations do not concern themselves with literalness, but tries to convey the original idea into everyday language. These versions are the most influenced by the theological biases of the translators. Some paraphrases are The Living Bible, the New Living Translation, the Contemporary English Version, and The Message.

In My Opinion

All three types of bibles are profitable in bible study when used the proper way in their proper place. It is best to approach the Observation process and the main part of the Interpretation process with at least two literal translations. There is a part in the end of the Interpretation process where dynamic-equvalent and paraphrase translations are useful, but not until then. This is important because when you approach God’s Word, you do not want any man’s influence on it until you wrestle with it first.