A VERY interesting thread on Titus 1:9 about versions of the Bible is on-going, and needless to say, it is very interesting and refreshing. I would like comment a bit on what versions I have and what I use them for:
KJV(King James Version): The most authoritative; I use this version for my deep studies.
NKJV(New King James Version): I use this if I am just reading just to read the scriptures. The fluidity of the scriptures in this version are AMAZING.
NIV(New International Version): This version I NEVER use. It is just too choppy, and it renders the verses that one goes to the most(John 3:16, Romans 8:37) either unreadable or indistinguishable to what a person remembers the scriptures were.
NRSV(New Revised Standard Version): This version is okay. Since I go to a Catholic university and I am a Theology major, the professors frown on the KJV. I bring my NRSV w/ the apocrypha.
NJB(New Jerusalem Bible): The translation I don't really like, but there is one thing I do like about it; the footnotes. They give Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and other words, as well as other texts. I will probably go back to it for that reason to see what it says about certain verses.
NAB(New American Bible): The translation is okay, but not like the NRSV or NKJV.
Anyway, I wanted to give an overview of what I have. I would like to get my hands on an RSV(Revised Standard Version). I have heard good things about that translation.
Erik
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I like the RSV. It is, I think, a more accurate translation than that KJV as it is based on scholarship post 1610. The RSV does still manage to retain a lot of the lyrical beauty of the KJV.
I think the NRSV is about the last descent translation in English. After that, the whole inclusive language thing really hit its stride. I really get nervous about changing the wording (and often meaning) of Scripture to suit politically correct ends. Re-editing in our own image is a recipe for disaster.
I too like the RSV. Are you familiar with the ESV? I like it better than any of the more modern translations, and it doesn't buy into the inclusive-language precepts.
My favorite translation is the Revised Standard Version - 2nd Catholic Edition. The 2nd edition retains the beauty of the original RSV but takes out all the "thee"s and "thou"s. The Catholic edition contains the Deuterocanonical books which the Protestant Bibles leave out. The KJV is not an especially good version. It is a translation into English of St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate, thus a translation of a translation.
Jason,
Yes, I am familiar with the ESV, since I work in a Christian Bookstore! ;-) Anyway, there are certain scriptures(well, one in particular) that I saw in my copy of the ESV that perturbed me. It was 1 Cor 14:15. I read the same passage in the KJV, and it was different. In the ESV, it says "my spirit," and in the KJV it says "the Spirit." What is your take on this?
Erik
J,
I have nothing against the Catholic Bibles at all, and read the Deuterocanon frequently, as I am going to a Catholic University. If I am not mistaken, was not the Septuagint(LXX) taken from the original Hebrew(Masoretic) text? I am not trying to start arguments here, just trying to get at an answer. That's interesting about the Vulgate; I was wanting to get myself a copy of that... Thanks for your comments. That does shed some light on things...
Jason,
I have my own copy of the RSV, and I like it as well. I just grew up with reading the KJV. I have so many different bible translations in the house it's not even funny. I don't mind all of the middle English. It's just up to personal prefrerence. Don't tell my wife that; she is a KJV all the way. She thinks that the KJV "came down from Heaven hermetically sealed in a Hefty bag." Those were her words!!!!
Erik
Post a Comment