Bible Question:
Good morning, What is the most accurate Bible from every point of view. Thanks, Jim |
Bible Answer: jcary5 (Jim): Post #84042 entered by Radioman2 is the superior answer to your question, and I commend it to you. ..... In translating any text, sacred or secular, from one language to another the problem of interpretation arises. It is inescapable because no two language systems are identical. Each has its own rules of usage which are peculiar to that language, things like syntax and idioms; hence, it is not infrequently quite a challenge to render into the receptor language the precise meaning and dynamic of the original. Still and all, we have reason enough to rejoice, because no text besides the biblical text has been examined with more intense, scholarly scrutiny, and no efforts have been spared to translate accurately the biblical text into clear and readable English. Each of the several choices of versions that Radioman2 listed is a fine example of fidelity to the biblical manuscripts as well as readability. Even the King James Bible is enormously readable once the reader acquaints himself with its slightly archaic vocabulary and syntax. And no other version has quite the majesty, music, or literary excellence of the King James. ..... None of these versions on Radioman's list is particularly tainted with bias, none is misleadingly inaccurate, and none is anything but the admirable work of dedicated, painstaking biblical and linguistic scholars who have exerted their considerable talents and efforts to bring to English-speaking peoples the eternal word of God. You would not go wrong at all to pick and choose from among Radioman's list the version with which you feel most comfortable. I would, however, suggest avoidance of some of the loosely paraphrased versions that lade the shelves of bookstores today, some of which resemble the Bible in roughly the same way that Cliff's Notes resembles Shakespeare's Hamlet. --Hank |