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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | NIV bible | Bible general Archive 2 | jak | 92837 | ||
Would anyone suggest, or advise someone to purchase a NIV bible, what are some of your thoughts on it? Realible, accurate, devotional?. Love in Christ Jackson Gal.6:14 |
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2 | NIV bible | Bible general Archive 2 | Hank | 92857 | ||
jak -- NIV's approach to Bible translation involves what its translators call 'dynamic equivalency,' a fancy term meaning nothing more or less than paraphrasing. Paraphrasing is an effort to capture the thought and meaning of the original without using a formal, word-for-word method of translation. Some compilers of paraphrased versions take far greater liberty with the biblical text than others, so not all paraphrases are alike by any means. The NIV is more conservative in its use of paraphrasing than the Living Bible or the Message, for example. The burden placed upon biblical translators is enormous no matter which philosophy of translation they attempt to follow, whether word-for-word or paraphrase. But the greater burden falls on the paraphraser, because he is expected to tell his readers what the Bible means by what it says. He becomes, in effect, more than a translator. He becomes an interpreter and commentator. He may get it right or he may get it wrong. If, therefore, a Bible reader is content to accept someone else's interpretation of Scripture instead of reading what it actually says and making up his own mind, then a paraphrase is the way to go. The overriding emphasis of the paraphrased versions is on smooth and easy reading..... They remind me of the work of a brother and sister team named Charles and Mary Lamb that was undertaken some decades ago. They published a book called "Tales from Shakespeare" for the stated purpose of introducing young readers to some of Shakespeare's better-known plays. In this book they presented in loosely pararphrased form a prose version of the great Bard's plays. One who reads "Tales from Shakespeare" will come away with a general knowledge of what the plays are all about, but he will never have a first-hand experience with Shakespeare's writings unless he reads the words that Shakespeare actually wrote. The Bible itself places heavy emphasis on the actual WORD of God. The prophets heralded the "WORD of the Lord." The psalmist affirmed, "Your WORD is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Ps. 119:105). John began his Gospel by declaring "In the beginning was the WORD..." It is clear that the WORD of God is what is stressed by Scripture. By contrast the paraphrasers stress the thoughts. And it is well to bear in mind that if the paraphrased versions are unwilling to give us the actual words of Scripture, we are to a large degree at their mercy when we read these versions and can only hope that they got the thoughts right. ..... The question of whether to rely on a paraphrased or a word-for-word translation is not a negotiable issue with me. I simply refuse to accept any paraphrased, "thought-for-thought" interpreted commentary as the word of God. That leaves only a very small number of viable choices in the crowded marketplace. Besides the KJV, there are the NKJV, NASB, and ESV. There will likely be more new translations and revisions of the older ones as time goes by. But for now these I've named are the only ones that I use or would recommend. At one time I looked with some guarded favor on the NIV and NLT, but I believe for reasons that I have stated that it is better to stay with the formal translations and away from the paraphrased versions. And in spite of what the publishers of paraphrased versions would have you believe, I don't buy the hype that a paraphrased version is necessarily clearer or easier to read than a formal translation...... Certain word choices in some of the modern paraphrased versions are absurd to the point being downright laughable. In Psalm 23:4 the KJV, NKJV, NASB and ESV all use the phrase "Your (or Thy) rod and Your (or Thy) staff, they comfort me." But according to the New Century version, God uses a walking stick. Read this "improvement" on the old way of saying things: "Your rod and your walking stick comfort me." --Hank | ||||||
3 | NIV bible | Bible general Archive 2 | mawxsix | 118415 | ||
I have found it helpful to use a Parallel Bible with both the KJV and the NIV. You can compare any scripture in both translations and decide for yourself, it the paraphrased version is accurate. There are Parallels that have as many as four different translations on a page. Maw | ||||||
4 | NIV bible | Bible general Archive 2 | Hank | 118431 | ||
Mawxsix: If you find parallel editions of the Bible helpful, fine. They may be useful for those who can abide them. I owned a parallel once. As I recall, it had four versions. I ended up giving it away. It drove me nuts. It was like trying to listen to four people tell me their version of the same story all at the same time. My mind works best running on one track at a time, and it's hard enough to keep it on that one track, much less two or four! ..... I started out using the King James exclusively -- not that I've ever been a member of the odd bunch called the KJV Onlyists -- because back then the King James Bible was the only one in town. Later on I switched to the Revised Standard Version and used it for a couple of decades. Then along came the New King James Version. I test drove it, liked it, and adopted it as my version of choice. Most recently, however, I've grown to like and trust the NASB. I have found it to be what it's advertised to be, the most literally accurate translation in the English language. It has its warts and lumps and its occasional odd turns of phrase. It isn't perfect, but no translation is, notwithstanding what the rooters for the KJV may say about it. The perfect translation is yet to be made. Formal, word-for-word translators have a tough go of it to reproduce a transparency of the original manuscripts while at the same time producing standard English that is both clear and readable. The NASB is not as smooth as the NIV, but the NASB translators did not allow themselves in a word-for-word translation the same liberty that the NIV translators allowed themselves in a so-called dynamic equivalency translation. I believe it is not inaccurate to say that the greater the leaning toward paraphrase the greater the opportunity and the temptation to insert into the text interpretation and commentary. Hence, we are in some danger of being told less of what the passage actually says and more of what the translators think it means. One has only to pick up a copy of the "The Living Bible" or "The Message" to get the feel of how loose paraphrasing can add a disturbingly different flavor to the biblical text. --Hank | ||||||
5 | NIV bible | Bible general Archive 2 | flinkywood | 118436 | ||
Hank, it's late, I'm in a tax quagmire, seeing quadruple, and reading your post for comic relief. Your personal translation evolution is a neat, sweet treatise on the whole kit-and-kaboodle. I like that you like the NASB; I like liking it myself. I'm in it all the time. Trustworthy, you bet; I even like the warty awkwardness of it, the way it bangs resolutely down the pitch, cleats and all, clawing it's way through the Psalms, teeth clenched, snorting and groaning, kicking up the mud and grit, aching for the goalpost. It ain't no sissy translation! Man, I gotta get some shuteye Colin |
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6 | NIV bible | Bible general Archive 2 | Hank | 118439 | ||
Colin: Regarding your tax quagmire, had Shakespeare penned his memorable injunction, "Beware the Ides of March!" in our time, I'm convinced he would have amended it to read "Beware the Ides of April!" ..... And I like that you like that I like the NASB. I must confess to a slight hubris when in a group study I read from my NASB with felicity while others around me are subjecting themselves to untold agony trying to deciper in their King James an obscure word or locution which has long since passed into desuetude. --Hank | ||||||
7 | NIV bible | Bible general Archive 2 | flinkywood | 118452 | ||
Hank, Untold agony is the untold story of the KJV only-ists. | ||||||