Why Are There So Many Different Translations of the Bible?

part 3 of “Nuts and Bolts: Bible Basics”

Bible translations can be an interesting thing to navigate. But what if I told you they are there to help us understand the Word of God even more. There are so many different Bible translations and it seems that many people have their favorite translation that they like to use. They also have their opinions on what they think is the “correct” translation. But is there a right or wrong translation? If we understand the idea behind the different translations then we might not get so up in arms about the matter.

When I think about what I have learned from God being able to reference these different translations of the Bible I can see that there is benefit in having them available to us. Here is the reason why I think that to be true. In Matthew 13, Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower. Jesus tells the story of a farmer sowing seeds and some of the seeds fall on the path, some of them fell on rocky places where there was limited soil and were scorched by the sun, some fell among the thorns and were choked by the thorns and some fell on good soil and produced a good crop. The verse that I want to call attention to is 19. This is when Jesus begins his explanation of the parable and what the different landing places of the seeds meant.

But Matthew 13:19 is the verse that comes to mind for me when I think about Bible translations.

“When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.” – Matthew 13:19

Now in Jesus’ explanation of the parable that verse is mainly about those who do not know Jesus. But I believe that it applies to people who believe in Jesus as well. A follower of Jesus can read the Bible every day for years and years, but never understand it or get anything out of it and the devil is there to snatch any “seed” (if you will) before it can be understood. This is why I believe Bible translations exist.

When I first started reading the Bible and digging into it, even beginning to teach a little, I used the New Living Translation or NLT as it is abbreviated. The reason for this is because it read like a story and I was able to understand it. This helped me in the early years of my teaching ministry as I was still new to preparing and studying the Bible to teach to other people – students in this case. I used the NLT translation in all my lessons that I prepared for several years until I was asked by the church that I volunteer and teach the students to use the NIV. This wasn’t because they were upset with the translation choice, it was because they wanted us to all use the same translation of the Bible across the church. They have since begun to use other translations here and there as well.

So I believe that all this fuss about translations is not needed because they are used to reach the same end goal – being able to understand the Bible so we can best follow Jesus. So what are some of these different translations? I am going to share with you some of the more common ones that my church uses and some that I have seen used at other churches.

First, let me start by saying that there are 3 sections that these Bible translations fall into.

1. WORD FOR WORD – These translations are more accurate and literal because they are translated word for word as best as they can be. The translations of the Bible that fall into this section are:

1. NASB

2. AMP

3. ESV

4. KJV

5. NKJV

I have used many of these as they help me in various ways. The 2 translations that I reference the most are NKJV, AMP, and NASB. There is not much difference between NASB and NKJV. However, the Amplified Translation can sometimes add some great insight to what you are reading even if you are reading a different translation and jump over to AMP to see a verse. Throughout the verses, in the AMP there are brackets next to certain words and in those brackets, there are other words that expound on the word they are about. Here is what I mean. I am going to use a familiar verse – John 3:16 and I am going to show you what it looks like in the NKJV and then from the AMP.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” NKJV

“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. AMP

Just a side note there is a church in my area that used only the ESV translation of the Bible.

1. THOUGHT FOR THOUGHT – These translations are translated more phrase by phrase and use more contemporary language allowing for a smoother reading experience. The translations that are mostly used out of this section are:

1. NIV

2. NLT

As I mentioned in my story above that I have used these 2 translations for many years. Most churches used the NIV the most and regularly in their services. The NIV is a blend between the word for word and phrase by phrase allowing the translation to stay as true as possible to the original text. But just like when any language is translated into English or the other way around there are some words that can't be translated with accuracy because there isn’t a word that exists in English to translate it to. So the translators had to get as close as they could.

The NLT translates the thoughts and ideas of the text for the reader to understand now just as they would have in the past. This makes for an easy-to-read and understandable translation of the Bible. (Probably why it appealed to me 😊). The NLT translation also falls right in the middle of the THOUGHT FOR THOUGHT and PARAPHRASE sections of the translation chart.

1. PARAPHRASE – The translations in this category put the most emphasis on readability and are mostly used for devotional study and gaining different insights. The translations that can be found in this section are

1. MSG

2. NiRV

The message was written by Eugene Peterson as a way to help his congregation understand the Bible. Sound familiar? His congregation came to him and with having trouble understanding the words of the Bible so he sat down and wrote the message translation for them. He translated the Bible more by paragraphs to get the idea of the paragraph and so with that you cannot find specific verses as easy in the message because of the way he wrote it.

The other one that I wanted to point out was the NIRV. The reason why I bring up this translation is because it's for children. This translation of the Bible reads like a story and it puts the Bible at a child's level. So with that being said though it is more of a paraphrase because it changes and adapts the words and the paragraphs so younger people can understand it.

So I hope this helps you understand the different ways that the translations of the Bible help us better understand the Bible.

As Matthew 13:19 says it's important that we understand what we're reading and what we hear. Otherwise, the devil is there ready to take it from us so we can experience what God is trying to say because let's be quite honest he doesn't want us to know what God says because it works out better for him in the end. So I encourage you to check out some of these other translations of the Bible if you get stuck reading and you don't understand something check it out in the NLT it will help you see something different or pick up the message.

Also, you can download the YouVersion Bible app to your phone and you can compare the translations in a list form and you can see all the different translations easily right there at the touch of your thumb.