Bibles

OMC said:

“Our modern Bibles are translated from ancient manuscripts preserved across centuries — Hebrew and Aramaic texts for the Old Testament, and Greek manuscripts for the New Testament.
These manuscripts were copied by Jewish scribes and early Christian communities long before any modern ‘world system’ existed.
The oldest manuscripts we possess — such as the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Old Testament and early papyri like P52, P66, and P75 for the New Testament — predate medieval theology, denominational influence, and modern ideological systems.
These early witnesses form the textual foundation scholars use today, and it is from these historically rooted manuscripts that I share the biblical text with you.”
Dead Sea Scrolls (150 BC–70 AD) — oldest OT witnesses
Masoretic Text (7th–10th century) — stable OT tradition
Greek papyri (2nd–4th century) — earliest NT witnesses
Codex Sinaiticus & Vaticanus (4th century) — complete NT manuscripts
No “world system” influenced these early texts — they predate modern ideologies by centuries

Failing to consult the original text when fact‑checking your Bible is dangerous because it leaves you vulnerable to errors introduced by translation choices, doctrinal bias, and modern assumptions that the ancient writers never intended.
Without checking the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, you can mistake an English rendering for the inspired wording, build doctrines on mistranslations, miss verbal aspect, ignore grammar that changes the meaning, and accept interpretive decisions made by translators rather than the text itself.
This is how people end up defending ideas the apostles never taught, rejecting truths the prophets clearly wrote, or dividing over issues that disappear the moment you look at the original language.
The manuscripts anchor you to what God actually said, not what a committee thought He meant — and without that anchor, you’re trusting a filter instead of the source.

These are the most accurate English Bibles to the original texts.

NASB 1995 —
The gold standard for literal, word‑for‑word translation. Extremely close to Hebrew and Greek syntax. Used in seminaries for exegesis.
NASB 2020 —
Same philosophy as NASB95, slightly smoother English, still highly literal.
ESV —
Essentially literal, based on the best critical texts (BHS, NA28). Strong balance of accuracy and readability.
LSB —
Legacy Standard Bible; extremely literal, restores “Yahweh” in the OT, tight adherence to original grammar.
NKJV —
Uses the Majority Text/TR tradition but updates archaic language. Very stable textual base.
NRSV —
Critical‑text based, academically respected, very close to original languages.
NET Bible —
Noted for 60,000+ translator notes explaining every textual decision. Excellent for checking Hebrew/Greek reasoning.
CSB — “
Optimal equivalence” approach; more readable but still anchored tightly to original grammar.
MEV —
Modern English Version; literal translation from the same textual base as KJV but with modern clarity.

These Use critical editions of the Hebrew and Greek (BHS, BHQ, NA28, UBS5).
Follow formal equivalence (word‑for‑word) rather than paraphrase.
Preserve verb aspect, case, tense, and syntax as closely as English allows.
Avoid doctrinal bias in translation choices.
Provide transparency through footnotes, textual variants, and manuscript evidence.

If it is indeed, accuracy to the original scripture then avoid these,
These are paraphrastic or dynamic‑equivalence and not suitable for textual accuracy or exegesis.
NIV
NLT
The Message
Good News Translation
Passion Translation

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OMC said:

Brother, the moment you say “accuracy is a matter of opinion,” you’ve stepped outside Scripture, because the Bible never treats truth as subjective or flexible — Jesus said “Thy word is truth” (John 17:17), not “Thy word is whatever fallible people think it means,” and Paul commanded Timothy to “hold fast the pattern of sound words” (2 Tim 1:13), which assumes meaning is stable, knowable, and preserved. Yes, manuscripts were copied by fallible men, but God’s providence — not human perfection — preserved His Word (Isa 40:8; Matt 5:18), and the idea that formal equivalence, dynamic equivalence, or paraphrase are “just opinions” ignores the fact that Scripture itself demands testing (Acts 17:11), precision (Gal 3:16), and handling the word rightly (2 Tim 2:15).
And saying “even if we had the original, fallibility would not know” is simply unbelief dressed as humility, because the apostles expected the churches to understand their letters, obey them, and guard them — which would be impossible if meaning were unknowable. You’re right that we walk by faith, but faith does not replace accuracy; faith receives accuracy because God has spoken, preserved, and made His Word sufficient.

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OMC said:

Brother, the moment you say “accuracy is a matter of opinion,” you’ve stepped outside Scripture, because the Bible never treats truth as subjective or flexible — Jesus said “Thy word is truth” (John 17:17), not “Thy word is whatever fallible people think it means,” and Paul commanded Timothy to “hold fast the pattern of sound words” (2 Tim 1:13), which assumes meaning is stable, knowable, and preserved. Yes, manuscripts were copied by fallible men, but God’s providence — not human perfection — preserved His Word (Isa 40:8; Matt 5:18), and the idea that formal equivalence, dynamic equivalence, or paraphrase are “just opinions” ignores the fact that Scripture itself demands testing (Acts 17:11), precision (Gal 3:16), and handling the word rightly (2 Tim 2:15).
And saying “even if we had the original, fallibility would not know” is simply unbelief dressed as humility, because the apostles expected the churches to understand their letters, obey them, and guard them — which would be impossible if meaning were unknowable. You’re right that we walk by faith, but faith does not replace accuracy; faith receives accuracy because God has spoken, preserved, and made His Word sufficient.

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OMC said:

Brother, your concern is legitimate: the absence of punctuation in Greek manuscripts, the fluidity of case endings, the ambiguity of participles, and the late addition of Hebrew vowel points all mean that translation requires judgment — but that does not make grammar “guesswork,” nor does it leave us at the mercy of translator opinion; rather, it means the interpreter must rely on contextual anchoring, syntactical patterns, and canonical consistency to constrain meaning. Greek may lack punctuation, but it has rigid verbal aspect, predictable word order tendencies, and clear case functions; Hebrew may have late vowel pointing, but the consonantal text overwhelmingly determines meaning, and the Masoretic vocalization aligns with ancient versions like the LXX and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Yes, translators make interpretive decisions, but those decisions are not arbitrary — they are governed by grammar, context, and the witness of the broader canon. So while we cannot eliminate human judgment, we are not left with uncertainty so great that Scripture becomes unstable; the text is clear where salvation, doctrine, and kerygma are concerned, and the areas where grammar allows multiple renderings almost never affect the core proclamation of the Gospel.

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OMC said:

“Our modern Bibles are translated from ancient manuscripts preserved across centuries — Hebrew and Aramaic texts for the Old Testament, and Greek manuscripts for the New Testament.
These manuscripts were copied by Jewish scribes and early Christian communities long before any modern ‘world system’ existed.
The oldest manuscripts we possess — such as the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Old Testament and early papyri like P52, P66, and P75 for the New Testament — predate medieval theology, denominational influence, and modern ideological systems.
These early witnesses form the textual foundation scholars use today, and it is from these historically rooted manuscripts that I share the biblical text with you.”
Dead Sea Scrolls (150 BC–70 AD) — oldest OT witnesses
Masoretic Text (7th–10th century) — stable OT tradition
Greek papyri (2nd–4th century) — earliest NT witnesses
Codex Sinaiticus & Vaticanus (4th century) — complete NT manuscripts
No “world system” influenced these early texts — they predate modern ideologies by centuries

Failing to consult the original text when fact‑checking your Bible is dangerous because it leaves you vulnerable to errors introduced by translation choices, doctrinal bias, and modern assumptions that the ancient writers never intended.
Without checking the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, you can mistake an English rendering for the inspired wording, build doctrines on mistranslations, miss verbal aspect, ignore grammar that changes the meaning, and accept interpretive decisions made by translators rather than the text itself.
This is how people end up defending ideas the apostles never taught, rejecting truths the prophets clearly wrote, or dividing over issues that disappear the moment you look at the original language.
The manuscripts anchor you to what God actually said, not what a committee thought He meant — and without that anchor, you’re trusting a filter instead of the source.

These are the most accurate English Bibles to the original texts.

NASB 1995 —
The gold standard for literal, word‑for‑word translation. Extremely close to Hebrew and Greek syntax. Used in seminaries for exegesis.
NASB 2020 —
Same philosophy as NASB95, slightly smoother English, still highly literal.
ESV —
Essentially literal, based on the best critical texts (BHS, NA28). Strong balance of accuracy and readability.
LSB —
Legacy Standard Bible; extremely literal, restores “Yahweh” in the OT, tight adherence to original grammar.
NKJV —
Uses the Majority Text/TR tradition but updates archaic language. Very stable textual base.
NRSV —
Critical‑text based, academically respected, very close to original languages.
NET Bible —
Noted for 60,000+ translator notes explaining every textual decision. Excellent for checking Hebrew/Greek reasoning.
CSB — “
Optimal equivalence” approach; more readable but still anchored tightly to original grammar.
MEV —
Modern English Version; literal translation from the same textual base as KJV but with modern clarity.

These Use critical editions of the Hebrew and Greek (BHS, BHQ, NA28, UBS5).
Follow formal equivalence (word‑for‑word) rather than paraphrase.
Preserve verb aspect, case, tense, and syntax as closely as English allows.
Avoid doctrinal bias in translation choices.
Provide transparency through footnotes, textual variants, and manuscript evidence.

If it is indeed, accuracy to the original scripture then avoid these,
These are paraphrastic or dynamic‑equivalence and not suitable for textual accuracy or exegesis.
NIV
NLT
The Message
Good News Translation
Passion Translation

Click to expand...

OMC said:

“Our modern Bibles are translated from ancient manuscripts preserved across centuries — Hebrew and Aramaic texts for the Old Testament, and Greek manuscripts for the New Testament.
These manuscripts were copied by Jewish scribes and early Christian communities long before any modern ‘world system’ existed.
The oldest manuscripts we possess — such as the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Old Testament and early papyri like P52, P66, and P75 for the New Testament — predate medieval theology, denominational influence, and modern ideological systems.
These early witnesses form the textual foundation scholars use today, and it is from these historically rooted manuscripts that I share the biblical text with you.”
Dead Sea Scrolls (150 BC–70 AD) — oldest OT witnesses
Masoretic Text (7th–10th century) — stable OT tradition
Greek papyri (2nd–4th century) — earliest NT witnesses
Codex Sinaiticus & Vaticanus (4th century) — complete NT manuscripts
No “world system” influenced these early texts — they predate modern ideologies by centuries

Failing to consult the original text when fact‑checking your Bible is dangerous because it leaves you vulnerable to errors introduced by translation choices, doctrinal bias, and modern assumptions that the ancient writers never intended.
Without checking the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, you can mistake an English rendering for the inspired wording, build doctrines on mistranslations, miss verbal aspect, ignore grammar that changes the meaning, and accept interpretive decisions made by translators rather than the text itself.
This is how people end up defending ideas the apostles never taught, rejecting truths the prophets clearly wrote, or dividing over issues that disappear the moment you look at the original language.
The manuscripts anchor you to what God actually said, not what a committee thought He meant — and without that anchor, you’re trusting a filter instead of the source.

These are the most accurate English Bibles to the original texts.

NASB 1995 —
The gold standard for literal, word‑for‑word translation. Extremely close to Hebrew and Greek syntax. Used in seminaries for exegesis.
NASB 2020 —
Same philosophy as NASB95, slightly smoother English, still highly literal.
ESV —
Essentially literal, based on the best critical texts (BHS, NA28). Strong balance of accuracy and readability.
LSB —
Legacy Standard Bible; extremely literal, restores “Yahweh” in the OT, tight adherence to original grammar.
NKJV —
Uses the Majority Text/TR tradition but updates archaic language. Very stable textual base.
NRSV —
Critical‑text based, academically respected, very close to original languages.
NET Bible —
Noted for 60,000+ translator notes explaining every textual decision. Excellent for checking Hebrew/Greek reasoning.
CSB — “
Optimal equivalence” approach; more readable but still anchored tightly to original grammar.
MEV —
Modern English Version; literal translation from the same textual base as KJV but with modern clarity.

These Use critical editions of the Hebrew and Greek (BHS, BHQ, NA28, UBS5).
Follow formal equivalence (word‑for‑word) rather than paraphrase.
Preserve verb aspect, case, tense, and syntax as closely as English allows.
Avoid doctrinal bias in translation choices.
Provide transparency through footnotes, textual variants, and manuscript evidence.

If it is indeed, accuracy to the original scripture then avoid these,
These are paraphrastic or dynamic‑equivalence and not suitable for textual accuracy or exegesis.
NIV
NLT
The Message
Good News Translation
Passion Translation

Click to expand...

Freed18 said:

I'll stick to the KJ version of God's word...thanks.

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OMC said:

“Our modern Bibles are translated from ancient manuscripts preserved across centuries — Hebrew and Aramaic texts for the Old Testament, and Greek manuscripts for the New Testament.
These manuscripts were copied by Jewish scribes and early Christian communities long before any modern ‘world system’ existed.
The oldest manuscripts we possess — such as the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Old Testament and early papyri like P52, P66, and P75 for the New Testament — predate medieval theology, denominational influence, and modern ideological systems.
These early witnesses form the textual foundation scholars use today, and it is from these historically rooted manuscripts that I share the biblical text with you.”
Dead Sea Scrolls (150 BC–70 AD) — oldest OT witnesses
Masoretic Text (7th–10th century) — stable OT tradition
Greek papyri (2nd–4th century) — earliest NT witnesses
Codex Sinaiticus & Vaticanus (4th century) — complete NT manuscripts
No “world system” influenced these early texts — they predate modern ideologies by centuries

Failing to consult the original text when fact‑checking your Bible is dangerous because it leaves you vulnerable to errors introduced by translation choices, doctrinal bias, and modern assumptions that the ancient writers never intended.
Without checking the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, you can mistake an English rendering for the inspired wording, build doctrines on mistranslations, miss verbal aspect, ignore grammar that changes the meaning, and accept interpretive decisions made by translators rather than the text itself.
This is how people end up defending ideas the apostles never taught, rejecting truths the prophets clearly wrote, or dividing over issues that disappear the moment you look at the original language.
The manuscripts anchor you to what God actually said, not what a committee thought He meant — and without that anchor, you’re trusting a filter instead of the source.

These are the most accurate English Bibles to the original texts.

NASB 1995 —
The gold standard for literal, word‑for‑word translation. Extremely close to Hebrew and Greek syntax. Used in seminaries for exegesis.
NASB 2020 —
Same philosophy as NASB95, slightly smoother English, still highly literal.
ESV —
Essentially literal, based on the best critical texts (BHS, NA28). Strong balance of accuracy and readability.
LSB —
Legacy Standard Bible; extremely literal, restores “Yahweh” in the OT, tight adherence to original grammar.
NKJV —
Uses the Majority Text/TR tradition but updates archaic language. Very stable textual base.
NRSV —
Critical‑text based, academically respected, very close to original languages.
NET Bible —
Noted for 60,000+ translator notes explaining every textual decision. Excellent for checking Hebrew/Greek reasoning.
CSB — “
Optimal equivalence” approach; more readable but still anchored tightly to original grammar.
MEV —
Modern English Version; literal translation from the same textual base as KJV but with modern clarity.

These Use critical editions of the Hebrew and Greek (BHS, BHQ, NA28, UBS5).
Follow formal equivalence (word‑for‑word) rather than paraphrase.
Preserve verb aspect, case, tense, and syntax as closely as English allows.
Avoid doctrinal bias in translation choices.
Provide transparency through footnotes, textual variants, and manuscript evidence.

If it is indeed, accuracy to the original scripture then avoid these,
These are paraphrastic or dynamic‑equivalence and not suitable for textual accuracy or exegesis.
NIV
NLT
The Message
Good News Translation
Passion Translation

Click to expand...

Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

OMC said:

You’re naming the truth most people never face: no English translation will ever perfectly capture the inspired Hebrew and Greek, because Hebrew is a metaphor‑driven, verb‑heavy language with a semantic range English simply cannot mirror, Latin is idiomatic and structurally foreign to us, and the Greek textual tradition we possess is a preserved echo rather than the autographs themselves. Jerome’s Vulgate stands as the oldest complete witness we have, and the Dead Sea Scrolls confirm that his Old Testament base was astonishingly stable, proving that God’s providence guarded the text even through imperfect hands. The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy rightly reminds us that inspiration applies to the autographs, not the copies, and that preservation does not require perfection in every manuscript line. Your point about early copying practices is historically accurate: personal scrolls, uneven space, omitted closings, marginal notes drifting into the text, and relocations like the Pericope Adulterae show that transmission was human, messy, and yet mysteriously faithful. And your final point is the heart of the matter: we squeeze the Bible so hard trying to perfect the mechanics that we forget the weightier command — loving our neighbor — which is the very thing the text itself says we still fail to do. Accuracy matters, but obedience matters more; and the God who preserved His Word through imperfect scribes can certainly guide imperfect readers into the life it commands

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timf said:

There are differences between the critical text and the majority texts. For example, the end of Mark 16 is missing in the critical text. Most modern translations use the critical text which I consider inferior, but not cataclysmicly so.

I find it sad that the reason for many modern translations is to make it easier. I suspect that changing the word of God to be easy may not accrue the rewards that some imagine.

I use the KJV but am not a KJV only. There are some flaws in the KJV such as using the English word "repent" to translate two different Greek words one meaning a change of mind and the other meaning to regret.

The free computer program esword is useful to quickly look up the Greek or Hebrew words. There are also bible dictionaries. However, I find the Thayer dictionary often more helpful than the Strong's.

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