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Old Testament survey
Chapter 3. Versions of the bible.
I have learned the differences between a translation and a paraphrase version of the Bible.
A translation is an effort to express what the Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic word actually say. It gives as nearly as possible a literal word by word translation.
Paraphrase translate thoughts by thoughts. It does not attempt to translate word by word. It is a restatement of a meaning of a passage and are easier to read and understand because they are written in modern vocabulary and grammar.
Nying Rose Neeneh and Brain Mbuli3 Comments-
Great job, @matohdilan
Bible translators do a great job staying true to the original text, but bringing meaning to us in our contexts. This is why having various bible versions is important for proper study.
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Actually, we have to be vigilant especially as there are many versions of translations these days. Rather that get mixed up let’s use the king James version which is closest to the original
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@rosenying You’re right about the need to be careful, Pastor Rose!
However, you have mentioned something that is a critical error I see many Bible students believe—that the KJV is the closest translation to the original. This is not true.
The KJV is a really good Bible, but not the best if your goal is to get as close to the original languages as possible. For closeness to the original manuscripts and languages, I recommend the NASB, ESV, LEB, and NET translations. These are translations from several manuscripts far older than that of the KJV. The older the manuscripts, the more trustworthy the translation.
But as a general practice, the best way to get the best out of your study is to use various translations. We have Formal equivalence translations, which focus on word-for-word translation; then the dynamic equivalence, which translates for easy reading and understanding, focusing on meaning rather than word order and literary structure; then we have paraphrase, which, according to its name, gives a fluent rendering of the meaning of the text.
We should be careful, especially with paraphrases, but generally as we select our translations because some have an agenda behind them. But if you’re looking for the Bible closest to the original manuscripts, it is not the KJV.
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