Comparing English bible versions

This is a copy of my response to a question about the English language bible versions, included in BibeWorks.

The venerable King James Version, actually an 1800s edition of the original 1611 bible. This one has had the widest influence, both on the English language and its spread, and on Christian thinking.

It is based entirely on versions of the Hebrew-Aramaic Old Testament from around 1000 AD, and on a few late manuscripts of the New Testament available in the 1500s.

The New King James Version is easier to read, but is mainly based on these same manuscripts.


The New American Standard Bible is based on the same OT manuscripts, but the New Testament is based on a wider and older range of manuscripts. This version aims to bring out the form of the original, as much as possible. It is not easy to read in big chunks.

The English Standard Version is an update of the RSV, which you are familiar with. These versions use the same variety of NT manuscripts as the NASB, but also look at ancient versions of the OT in other languages, such as the Septuagint, the first Greek translation of the OT.

The ESV changes a few renderings in the RSV which some folk saw as unorthodox, in passages such as Isaiah 7:14 and 1 John 2:2, but it also sometimes modernises the English by using more contemporary language, and by using generic language where the original does not contain masculine language.


If you compare the New Revised Standard Version with the ESV, you will see that the translators have more frequently updated the language to be inclusive of both sexes. But some people feel that the NRSV has at times done this inappropriately, and possibly with a feminist agenda. But it does not go bananas like the few feminist versions which are squeamish about calling God "Father" and Jesus "Son" for fear of being sexist!


The New Jerusalem Bible was originally French and is interesting to compare, because it is independent from the KJV/RSV/NASB/ESV tradition. One example of this is its use of "Yahweh" where these versions have "the LORD."


The New Living Translation began as an attempt to make the rather loose Living Bible more accurate. It is based on the same variety of texts as the NRSV/ESV [and most modern translations], but the language is more conversational and contemporary. If you have downloaded the update to the NLT, known as the NLT2, you will have a version which has distanced itself even further from the Living Bible. It is a substantial revision of the NLT and is much more different from the NLT than the TNIV, the upgrade to the NIV, is different from its predecessor.


I don't suppose you need me to say much about the NIV. It stands between the RSV and NLT in its effort to be accurate, but also understandable, I think. You can download the update to the NIV, the TNIV from www.tniv.info . This version is only a little different from the NIV, but updates that 25 year old version with contemporary language, use of gender inclusive language [standing between the ESV and NRSV in its willingness to do this] and in the light of contemporary scholarship.


Going beyond BibleWorks, you can also access the Good News Bible and the Message in the free and terrific e-sword program, which you can download from http://www.e-sword.net .