king jame bibles

When I was a kid, my grandmother used to regularly remind me of John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Pretty clear, no matter which Bible version you use, but this particular prose is the one that is still most familiar today in the 21st century, the King James version. The King James version of the Bible was a result of King James I who succeeded Queen Elizabeth in 1603 to the throne of England. He noted that he had never yet seen a Bible well translated into English. King James believed the existing versions including the Bishops Bible to be corrupt in their translation and communication and not answerable to the original intent of the authors. Consequently one of the first things he did as king was instigate a common translation of the scriptures suitable for reading in all the churches of England. The King James Bible became essentially the "official" Bible of England.

The prose of the King James remains the most beautiful of all in print today. It is among some of the most revered literature in history and one of the best selling Bible versions of all times remaining popular still today among Bible purists who believe that it is the only pure translation in print. However, beauty of prose be as it may, the language of the King James Bible is antiquated, and even foreign to many of us today. With words in old English prose that mean the exact opposite of what they mean today, a person studying from the King James today would do well to seek out the help of Bible scholars familiar with the idioms of the version lest it be significantly misunderstood. If you are in a quandary wondering which Bible version is the best for you, the King James probably is not. I personally could have saved myself many hours of revisiting passages that I clearly misunderstood because of the language of the King James.

The New International Version took the world by storm with it's modern language, easy to read style, and easily understood structure. The New International Version is currently, in the 21st century the best selling version of the Bible in print. For that reason it is the most heavily stocked in secular and Christian bookstores and in more editions than any other. The King James is still heavily sold and many editions exist, but the NIV has overtaken it as the most popular today. When deciding which Bible version is best, the NIV is considered by many to have a solid hold on that claim. However, it has been heavily criticized for being translated from texts that leave out some of the most revered passages in scripture some with notations, some without. And the gender neutral language in it in some places is also offensive to some fundamental Bible scholars. However, it is the most popular version in print today.

A couple of what are referred to as "translations", the Living Bible and The Message Bible are not translations at all but less than scholarly paraphrases by individuals, one of whom makes it clear (Living Bible) that he is the only author of the version. The other had some "collaboration" with scholars but has never been clear on exactly who they were. Both versions make the Bible a pleasantly readable story, but should not be used for deep Bible study or word study. However, the New Living Translation brought together the best in readability and scholarship to produce a Bible that is closing in on the most popular versions today. It's easily readable style with the knowledge of knowing the content is reliable and scholarly makes the NLT one of the great choices when deciding which Bible version is best for you.

The New American Standard Bible which has been my choice for over twenty years is a translation that in the first version made it clear that its purpose was to be the most accurate and literal word for word translation in print. It accomplished that very well while sacrificing readability and clarity. A slightly revised version later improved the readability and clarity to make it one of the best study Bibles in print today. It is widely used, but its popularity is nowhere near that of the most popular translations.

There are other noteworthy translations that have gained a good deal of popularity such as the New King James version, New English Standard version and the Contemporary English version. All have their reasons for the translation and all have value in the library of a Bible scholar. All versions mentioned here can adequately tell the story of scripture from Genesis to Revelation. This important factor is not getting too hung up in which translation is best, but taking the great lessons of scripture and applying them to our lives.