Bonus Blog: Book Review of Bible Translations for Everyone
- Donna Wright
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
You’ve decided to buy yourself a new Bible. Maybe your current one is really old, or you are intrigued by a Bible you saw in an ad or at someone’s house. Or, like so many of us today, you’ve been relying on a Bible app in your phone, but have decided to go for a hard copy that you can hold in your hand and write notes in.
Then you go to a book store, or a Christian book web site or Amazon. You stand in the book store and look at the 2-3 book sections that are filled with Bibles. Or you type in “Bible” in the search bar and are confronted with the same overwhelming array of Bibles- versions, translations, old standards vs. new, different publishers... How do you know if the Bible that is being sold is a “good” translation or version? Because, sadly, there are some translations out there that are not only bad translations, they teach heresy (more on that in a bit).
I’m a confirmed Bible nerd, and I know what I like, but for the average consumer, all of these choices can be discouraging enough to make you walk or click away, and you could be missing some great things because the market has overwhelmed us with choices. Even books about the Bible can be too difficult to read, because they are too academic and reading them takes too much effort. What’s a person to do?
I’ve read a LOT of books, including books about the Bible. I also consume some social media that is geared toward the Word and my faith. A couple of years ago, I found a YouTube content creator named Tim Wildsmith, whose original channel is entitled:
Tim has for years collected Bibles of different translations and different versions in order to review them and do an honest appraisal of their strengths and weaknesses, in language that is easy for the non-nerd to understand. He’s branched out a little to talk about related matters like Bible rebinding. He’s also become an author, and Bible Translations For Everyone is his first publication. His next book, the Daily Scripture Guidebook, is a “through the Bible in a year” type of book (I’m about to watch his launch party!). Tim has a Master’s of Divinity from Fuller Seminary and is acting as interim pastor for his church. He is one of three content creators I support because I believe in his mission and have been pleased with many of his videos. I don’t expect to like them all and that is just fine.
Before I delve into the book, let’s look at some Bible vocab. What is meant by a translation vs. a version? A Bible translation is the faithful, scholarly translation of Biblical manuscripts from their original languages into the publication language, be that English or Spanish or any other language. The original documents are of course lost to time, but as Scripture was written by man’s hand through the prompting of God, people gathered and copied the available texts, resulting in hundreds and hundreds of manuscripts that are divinely consistent. A translation committee made up of language and Biblical scholars work together to translate the manuscripts into a translation. The committee part is key- not only is there safety in numbers, there is almost no chance for an error to escape a committee!
The original Scripture manuscripts are written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. The Old Testament is a Hebrew Bible (along with some Aramaic in the book of Daniel), and there are several main manuscripts that committees use when creating or updating a translation of the Old Testament. The creation of the New Testament was more challenging because of the number of documents, but once the canon of Scripture was decided upon, the Greek documents that were chosen were classified by institutes of Biblical textual research. Pastor Wildsmith gives an excellent summary of this in his first chapter.
You may ask why a translation is updated- did the original language change? No. Was a new piece of manuscript like the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered? Sometimes. The big change is in current language. The English language changes all the time- think of the new words that have been added to our language every year (although I doubt we will see “doom-scroll” in an authentic Bible translation). The way we speak and use words and grammar changes over time, and Bible translations are occasionally updated to reflect the changes. I prefer my 1978 New International Version over the updated translations; again, a personal preference, because it was my first real Bible.
Here's an example of how language changes- in Jude 1:22, the King James Version produced today reads,
“And of some have compassion, making a difference.”
"Making a difference" in Jude 1:22 originally meant "making a distinction", while today making a difference means having some kind of impact. Modern Bible translations reflect that change in the language by translating Jude 1:22 as
“And have mercy on those who doubt;” (English Standard Version)
“And have mercy on some, who are doubting;” (New American Standard Bible).
There are a lot of translations and Mr. Wildsmith discusses the best known of these, like the ones from the above paragraph plus others like the New Living Translation and the Christian Standard Bible. Most translations in his book have their own chapter, and each chapter is organized into a background on the translation committee, a discussion of the manuscripts used in translation and the translation philosophy of the committee (which Tim describes in detail; the idea is whether to translate word-for-word, which can be clunky and difficult to read but very accurate, vs. a thought-by-thought flow of the words, which is less accurate but may be more readable. There is a whole continuum between!).
Each “translation” chapter is finished with the question: Is *this translation* right for you? Tim gives his opinion of the translation, and then the chapter closes with Old and New Testament verses from the translation. The verses are the same across the chapters, allowing you to compare.
Tim also includes a chapter entitled A Few More Translations We Need to Talk About where he gives his opinion on The Message (and he and I have very different opinions on this one!), the NET Bible, the Modern English Version, Catholic Bibles and more.
Tim does not, unfortunately, discuss translations that are dangerous or heretical. I am using strong words like that to emphasize that these so-called translations are not scholar or committee-based and are often connected to a cult or false religion. One example is the New World Translation produced by the Watchtower Society of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, which is essentially a rewording of the Bible. A new believer, or an unbeliever, would be given the wrong impression about God from its translations:
Certain passages are translated differently to support their doctrines. For example, John 1:1 is translated as "a god" instead of "God", and the word "other" is sometimes inserted in places like Colossians 1:16 to imply that Jesus was the first created being, rather than part of the original creation. https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/9295/do-jehovahs-witnesses-have-their-own-version-of-thebible#:~:text=Jehovah's%20Witnesses%20use%20the%20standard%2066%2Dbook%20Protestant,other%20translations%20if%20you%20ask%20them%20to.
Another dangerous translation is The Passion Bible, which calls itself a Bible For a New Generation. Even Google’s AI states that this translation is inaccurate. It includes many additions, words, and ideas not present in the original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts, and its author, Brian Simmons, reportedly worked alone after receiving a special revelation from God. The New Testament version has 50% more words than any scholarly translation. It is no wonder that churches like Bethel, which teaches Biblical untruths, have embraced the Passion Translation. Here’s an excellent YouTube video about the Passion Bible:
Tim does not cover another huge market- Bible versions. You’ve seen them- study bibles, journaling bibles, student bibles, recovery bibles.... there seems to be a version for every phase of life and every person. The translation does not change- it is the format of the Bible. Some bibles have large margins or blank pages to encourage the taking of notes. Others are marketed towards women and men, or to kids (She Reads Truth, The Outdoors Bible, The Adventure Bible). Bibles are published by various publishing companies, which may own the rights to one or more translations. A quick perusal of Zondervan.com, best known for the New International Version, has links to more than 200 VERSIONS of the Bible, all marketed to a particular consumer. Other Bible publishers include Crossway, Tyndale and Holman.
There is also a market for specialty Bibles- made of fine leathers, imported and expensive paper, crafted fonts and even embossed pictures on the page edges. These can cost between $200-$500. Spending that kind of money on a Bible is a very individual decision. Some of these Bibles make beautiful family gifts and heirlooms.
Tim’s book finishes off the book with a chapter on finding a Bible that’s right for you, and several appendices with key terms, comparison charts, timelines, notes and additional recommended reading. The book is only 158 pages long and is written in easy-to-understand language. I highly recommend this book, especially if you want to learn about translations and find the right one for you. It is available on Amazon (paper, audiobook and Kindle), Christianbooks.com and other Christian retailers and at stores like Walmart and Barnes and Noble. Read and enjoy!
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
https://timwildsmith.com/bibletranslationsforeveryone (includes links to sale sites)