What is the Best Bible Translation?

Jane Christy      13 Nov 2010, 00:23

The KING JAMES BIBLE IS THE BEST BIBLE! It is only the KJB which remains to be the holy,infallible, pure, and inspired by GOD Bible in the whole world. The rest Bible versions are corrupt,full of mistakes and inspired by Satan! Haven't you wondered why there are lots of Bible versions today? Yet,the KING JAMES BIBLE ALONE REMAINS TO BE THE VERY WORDS OF GOD IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!

Doug Buckley      13 Nov 2010, 18:27

All English bibles are translations from the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts, and even they are not perfect. When you translate something from one language to another there is always a loss of fidelity.

Doug Buckley      16 Nov 2010, 17:19

Hi Jane, yes I am a believer, and nowadays I mostly use and recommend PC bibles. Some of the translations I use are ASV, KJV, LITV, YLT, also WEB, NASB, and Webster's bible are all useful. E-bibles replace a small library of books including interlinears, dictionaries, and commentaries.

Jane Christy      17 Nov 2010, 09:57

Hi Doug. Oh wow. You use a lot of Bible versions?. How is it then using so many Bible versions? Aren't you get confused more because you use different Bible versions? Haven't you wondered why there are a whole lots of Bible versions today if all of them have the same doctrine & the like? I'm a KING JAMES BIBLE BELIEVER AND I DO BELIEVE THAT THE KING JAMES BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND THAT OTHER BIBLE VERSIONS ARE CORRUPT, INSPIRED BY SATAN, PERVERTED WORDS OF GOD! Before,i used different versions of the Bible also thinking all of them says the same thing but i've learned that not all versions of the Bible are the same. The Bible itself is being used by Satan to tempt the people,to bring confusion. Hope we can have more and better discussion on this thing because this is a real serious matter- the WORD OF GOD.

Jane Christy      17 Nov 2010, 10:11

Hi Doug. I wish you could share me some of your opinions or ideas about that.

Doug Buckley      17 Nov 2010, 18:03

Hi Jane, its like I said before, there is no such thing as a perfect translation. Some like the KJV and ASV and LITV are very good, and some are abominable. Sometimes there can be more than one legitimate way to translate the same passage. Some Greek and Hebrew words and also tenses don't have English equivalents. Literal translations like the KJV can be difficult for some people to read, and sometimes translators try to make the bible easier to read, which can lead to bad translations. Using multiple translations is better than just one.

Jane Christy      18 Nov 2010, 22:53

Hi Doug. Yeah, bibles other than KJV are easier to read & understand but of course,there can be a perfect Bible as the Lord for God is perfect & His word should be perfect too & it is the King James Bible i believe. Like you said,many translators of the bible lead to bad translations. So,isn't it better to stick to one version of the Bible since many bible translations might have been translated wrongly or badly? Words been changed in these many Bible translations taking out the real message or passage of the Bible. Most of the time,translators translate the Bible only for them to gain money,and not to help the reader better understand the bible. Isn't it that two things different are not the same so different Bible translations don't have the same doctrine on it.?

JAck      20 Feb 2011, 15:38

The King James Bible is not the Word of God, really. If you want to know the Word of God, then learn ancient Greek and Hebrew, Jane. THat is the ONLY way to truely read God's Word how it was given.

Many of your claims concerning translations are very unfounded and mostly hinge on this weird idea many have that "If the King James Version was good enough for Paul, then it is good enough for me." The KJV was written 15+ centuries AFTER Christ was even on this earth. Not to mention thousands more AFTER God even spoke this world into existance.


I do not believe anyone has the authority to say "This is the Word of God in English." It was not written in English. That does not make the translated version any less powerful, but to truely understand it means more than just reading words. It means understanding history and culture of the ancient civilizations.

Gary Sellars      17 Aug 2011, 00:53

"A proper bible translation should be very formulaic, rigid, and consistent in how it translates."

You haven't examined the KJV carefully or you would know how inconsistent it is. There are Greek words that are translated as many as 40, 50 and 60 different ways and this is very easy to confirm.

That is NOT consistency. A simple computer Bible like e-Sword can show you a ridiculous amount of inconsistency in ten minutes in the KJV.

The KJV translators, in many places, chose words to INTERPRET rather than translate. For example, "saint" doesn't appear in the Bible. The word is "holy" in every occurrence. "Blaspheme" is an example of interpretation. It's used ONLY in reference to God, whereas the Greek word includes reviling men. There are MANY other examples of the KJV translators sticking their opinions in the text instead of doing their job.

Gary Sellars      17 Aug 2011, 04:17

My first response was immediately after reading the first part of the author's comment.

I also use the KJV, in part because it's the most popular. I use it only on my computer with Strong's numbers and the King James Concordance, which is a free e-Sword add-on. Although it has many shortcomings and errors, it's still my favorite software aid because it instantly shows me every way any particular Hebrew or Greek word was translated. This alone exposes much poor and sloppy translation work. It also shows how the KJV translators so often took it upon themselves to interpret for the reader rather than just giving the facts.

I also use Thayer's Greek Dictionary and Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions but truly, they're secondary to the King James Concordance -- it is THAT valuable. You've heard "the Bible interprets itself"? Well, this is the premier aid for you to see that in action.

The King James Concordance errors I referenced are mostly errors of omission, though they also include misplaced verses and wrong numbering, e.g., "3" uses of a given word where it should be "2." As I mentioned, it is a free resource and I've been thus far unable to find the author. I so value the work that I would be willing to participate in a correction and update. I know of no copyright. I think once you examine it, you'll love how useful and helpful it is and like me, would like to see it fixed to be even better and thoroughly reliable.

The assumption that the KJV is "the Word of God" (without error) has left all who have heard it exclusively preached (where the preacher didn't have the knowledge or willingness to expose and correct errors) with great misunderstandings, wrong ideas, wrong thoughts, wrong perspectives and even wrong doctrines.

Instantly examining the word in the original language, which CAN be done with an interlinear, followed by immediately seeing all uses in every verse that contains that word, which CANNOT be done with an interlinear, has opened my eyes to so many things which are universally accepted but which are absolutely WRONG.

One example is 1Tim 6:10 (the truth of this example is demonstrated by an interlinear and the King James Concordance isn't of significant value here, but I mention it to illustrate how badly the KJV translators did with this verse). Everyone has heard that "the love of money is the root of all evil" but that's NOT what the Bible says and it only takes a few seconds thought to recognize it. For example, a 13 year old girl wants an abortion to avoid shame, not because she loves money. This isn't hard to see and the Bible isn't at fault, but the KJV IS. The second "the" in that verse DOES NOT EXIST in the Greek, and every KJV translation I've seen doesn't italicize it, though this is the common and understood treatment when words are added by the translators for ease of understanding, yet in this situation, it turns the holy Word of God into a lie.

For those who don't know, the article "a" should have been used AND italicized instead of the second "the" because that is a good rendering. The "a" should have been italicized because Greek doesn't have "a" as an article, and should have been added for clarification of the true meaning of the verse.

This is only one example of so many errors that they would FILL a book and it's FAR past time for people to understand the Word of God is holy and sacred and the KJV is wonderful *sometimes* and sometimes it's horrible and anyone mature enough to understand the substitutionary atonement is mature enough to understand the KJV is the work of sinful men and is NOT authorized, ordained, approved or endorsed by God because the Scriptures have not done so and the Scriptures are our "Supreme Authority" or "final rule for faith and practice."

"I think God showed me it was!" won't wash because it doesn't stand up to the authority or scrutiny of the Word of God regardless of the emotional arguments and vicious (and one-sided) attacks of biased and willfully uneducated men (and women). Your opinion and mine are to be subject to the Word of God, not the other way around. The KJVOnly folks exalt spurious and specious opinions above the authority of the Word of God and refuse to recognize they are idolaters in doing so.

This is not hard to see for me and I don't think it is for any thoughtful person. It doesn't stand up to the Deut 17:6 rule, referenced twice in the OT and FOUR times in the NT: "Let every fact be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses."

I think I've said enough to persuade any reasonable person that a sufficient examination of the KJV *translation* should be made before swearing loyalty and allegiance to it and pretending doing so is God's command or will.


Like you, I also like LITV and my hard copy reading is the NASB.

I've found really good work at some place in most every translation I've examined along with glaring errors. I've even found very good verses in the Living Bible and The Message -- two paraphrases that I would never recommend to others (unless they were part of a parallel Bible with better versions to instantly compare) because they give the illusion of being the Word of God when entirely too much liberty was taken with them, and yet there is some good even there.

The next person's comment praising the KJV is the result of brainwashing by "KJVOnly" people blindly and ignorantly loyal to the KJV, who have presumptuously assumed the Lord endorses the KJV (with absolutely no scriptural or even rational basis) and who haven't done their homework on the KJV. They've rather swallowed the (sometimes very good) rhetoric of the "KJVOnly" folks who have taught them and who are atrociously ignorant of the plethora of errors in the KJV, which are so numerous, it's ridiculous how foolish and ashamed these people would be if they dealt with reality, did their homework and told themselves the truth.

For those that don't know, "KJVOnly" folks make fools of themselves. I'm not trying to be unkind or ugly, but to soft peddle it would be dishonest. These folks could easily see their great error in 15 minutes; they just REFUSE to do so. Loving people doesn't mean that we lie for them. Paul said, "Have I become your enemy because I tell you the truth?" (Gal 4:16) It is likewise our responsibility. In the Church we have more a sense of "Southern Hospitality" that leaves people in deception because we don't want to be criticized than Christian love that confronts with truth. It's not unloving to tell someone they're deceived. Of course they don't want to hear it and they may refuse it, and sometimes we should "leave them alone. If the blind lead the blind, they'll both fall into the ditch." (Matt 15:14) But we're told to reprove, rebuke and exhort will all patience..." (2Tim4:2)

All I'm saying is EASILY confirmed by anyone with a Bible and a concordance and/or access to the Internet, which we all obviously have.

ALL translations have errors. The best and the worst. Our faith should be in God, not in the work of men, i.e., the KJV or any other translation. God's done an excellent job preserving His Word and we should differentiate between His work and men's.

James Strong gave us a numbering system to make our examination easier and those proficient in Hebrew, Greek and Jewish Aramaic help us compare the work of men with the work of God.

Let's be sober minded and rightly divide the Word of truth.

Doug Buckley      17 Aug 2011, 23:14

Hi Gary, you appeal to a list of KJV errors, which implies that there is some perfect translation from which this list is compiled. I don't think you quite appreciate the difficult decisions that translators have to make. Literal translations should be rigid and consistent, but this isn't literally possible. Some words don't have English equivalents and have very different meanings in different contexts. Some biblical words mean one thing in a literal sense and are also used to mean something else in a figurative sense. The bottom line is that translators always have to make decisions based on what they think it is saying. Making something consistent in one way, might make it theolgically inconsistent.

Yes the KJV has some egregious and obvious errors! My personal favorite is when it translates aeon as world. However, it is still a great literal translation. Jay P. Green who did the LITV loved the KJV so much that he did his own version (the MKJV I think). If it was junk, modern scholars would not be using it as a starting point for newer translations. I have a Jewish translation of the OT where the translators even praise the KJV in their introduction. I'm sure if you were stuck on an island you'd take a KJV over the message.

Brian Blanchard      03 Sep 2011, 00:15

I firmly believe, with no doubt, that God's Word is clear about who does the translating (or interpreting) for each child of God. "The Holy Spirit" does. Knowing each heart as He does, let us never underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit to clearly interpret, for each child, exactly that which His child needs at that particular point in the child's spiritual growth, REGARDLESS of which translation the child is using to pursue the Truth of God. Putting ones faith in any one translation is at least measurably putting ones faith in a man or men, and God's Word promises that doing so will result in us being surely failed. God is TOTALLY in control of all, ALWAYS has been, and truly ALWAYS will be.

TJ Taylor      26 Nov 2011, 13:52

I refuse to argue....you'd be fighting a "useless" battle speaking against the KJV and saying it was not "INSPIRED" by GOD himself..as for HOLY MEN OF GOD..you'd surely surely be hard pressed to find but a FEW that are truly inspired of God in these days..Plus the fact that I've been through this bible almost 5 times..and its the "anointing" that keeps me reading. I've already compared several translations, they went into the trash.Be very careful in telling others something you may not be aware of yourself..Please allow for personal experiences of others, not just ones idea or theory. Thank you.

rod      27 Nov 2011, 16:17

The problem I have:
People equating the bible and the living word, or equating the bible to the gospel.

The bible contains the gospel, it contains "The Word" (words that were spoken as a living word to someone else), and the bible contains stories about Jesus, but it is NOT Jesus...

EX: The word spoken to Peter "rise and eat" was not spoken to YOU, and would have a totally different effect on you if it was spoken to you as it was to Peter...

You can READ it over and over again, but it will NOT have the same effect on you as it did Peter, UNLESS God's Spirit moves over that WRITTEN TEXT (The Bible / The Scriptures and makes it alive to you)...

Doug Buckley      28 Nov 2011, 19:55

deleting the previous comment (rule 2).

Doug Buckley      29 Nov 2011, 13:21

Hi Rod, I think we both agree that the bible is from God, not man. The problem is that when its misinterpreted or misunderstood, or misquoted, its no longer having the same effect, "Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye" (Mark 7.13 KJV bible).

So people corrupt the Word of God. Alot of times we have to read between the lines to see the meaning, and so without the Spirit, it becomes useless. Only with understanding can the bible really be accepted as the Word of God.

TJ Taylor      23 Dec 2011, 01:33

But the WORD is GOD...its IMPOSSIBLE to separate them..John 1:1 In the beginning was the word, and the word WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD!! You're NOT knowledgeable in the word of God if you are not first aware of this simple fact....( sigh)

Doug Buckley      23 Dec 2011, 03:18

The idea that a bible sitting on a table "is" God or "is" Jesus makes no sense at all. The Word is a title given to Jesus because he is the light and the truth, and he became flesh (John 1.14), even before the New testament was written.

Tj Taylor      26 Jan 2012, 17:56

You can give up the session with a person who knows exactly what the word stated, yet they still deny it...you can't separate God from his word, since HE IS THE WORD...I'm through with this one...( I hope someone else knows exactly how to handle that!!) Its beyond me...