According to Google, the Guinness World Record as of 1995, the Bible is the best-selling book of all time, topping out at that point with 5 billion copies sold. Statistics vary, but around 100 million copies of the Bible are printed each year, so there have been another 2 billion or so copies of the Bible printed & likely sold since this 1995 statistical estimate entered the Guinness World Record. There are currently around 2,073 different language translations of the Bible available digitally on bible.com. However, only about 736 are translations of the entire biblical text. In English alone, sources say there are more than 400 translations. However, Wikipedia says the Bible has been translated into English in over 100 complete versions. The most popular English translation is the New International Version (NIV, last updated in 2011), followed by the King James Version (KJV, last updated in 1769). My preferred translation, the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, comes in at number 10 (NRSVUE, last updated in 2021), and The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language doesn’t make the top ten list (published in 2002). And we wonder why the Church doesn’t seem to agree on much of anything.
In Acts 17:10, Paul & Silas travel from Thessalonica, where they were essentially chased out of town, to Beroea. In Beroea, it’s recorded starting in verse 11, “These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly & examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so.” It’s interesting to me because we have the two letters written to Thessalonica in the New Testament (translated abundantly & available in many formats) & none named for Beroea. Yet the people of the latter town studied the scriptures while the former chased the apostle out of town. What would today’s Church look like if more people took the time to not only study the Bible but understand the differences in the different translations & the underlying purposes in their wording?
The King James Version (KJV) was translated with the aim of unifying the Church of England and countering the controversial Geneva Bible. However, the KJV’s language is archaic & it contains inconsistencies due to translations from original texts that have since been found to have errors. It was also influenced by the doctrinal standards of its time, leading to the creation of terms not found in the original text, such as ‘Lucifer’ in Isaiah 14:12, which actually means ‘shining one’ or ‘morning star’ in the original language.
The NIV was translated with the goal of an accurate translation that modern readers could understand, balancing a literal word-for-word translation with an original contextual meaning translation. It is critiqued by conservative theologicals, especially since incorporating gender-inclusive language in the 2011 translation. In addition, it omits things included in the KJV because those passages aren’t found in older biblical manuscripts. Another critique is the translation is published by Zondervan, a commercial publisher that may be more interested in revenue than accurate translations.
The NRSVUE was translated to incorporate recent scholarship, newly discovered insights from historical manuscripts, gender-inclusive language, & accurate fidelity to the original languages. It is expected during the coming years that the NRSVUE will be widely used in academic, ecumenical, personal, & liturgical contexts. There are similar critiques of the NRSVUE as the NIV, specifically the inclusive language & use of older manuscripts that led to the exclusion of passages found in the KJV. Some argue that the poetic nature of the original language is lost in the literal translation of some passages, which leads to some arguing that the translation is overly academic.
It comes down to understanding what you’re reading. Not all translations are created equally & there are reasons both for & against any translation. The next time you sit down to study your Bible, turn to the copyright page & see which translation you’re reading. Understand the reason for the translators undertaking the process of their work & let that be part of what informs your reading of their work. This is how we can become like the people of Beroea, examining the scriptures daily as we grow in faith & love.
