Biblical translation: is the art and practice of rendering the Bible into languages other than those in which it was originally written (Britannica).
The Bible was originally written in 3 languages – Hebrew, Aramaic for the Old Testament and Greek for the New Testament. Since a huge proportion of people do not speak these languages, it became necessary for the Bible to be translated into other languages for a wider reach of the gospel.
But if you’ve been in church or around Christian stuff for a while, you’ll realise that there are many translations of the Bible. There’s the King James Version (KJV), Amplified, ASV, ESV and many other translations. Each translation has a different way of wording the original text. Some are easier to read than others, some use many words to convey what others would use few words.
John 3:16 (KJV)For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16 (NIV)For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (MSG)"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.
Why are they different if they are all translating the same thing?
To find the answer to this, we would have to examine the types of Biblical translations we have. The goal of translators is
1. Faithfulness to the original text.
2. Readability of the new (English) text.
· Literal/word-for-word translation
As the name goes, the translators try as much as possible to translate the text word for word from the original to the new. This translation can be accurate though not void of mistakes.
One downside is that translating word for word can make the passage stiff and difficult to understand. Examples are; the King James Version (KJV), New King James Version (NKJV), English Standard Version (ESV), and American Standard Version (ASV).
· Meaning-to-meaning (thought-for-thought)
This translation helps to break down ancient idioms in the original language to help us understand them. They focus on the text's overall meaning and try to convey it without necessarily translating each word.
It is easier to read and understand, but a downside is that the translator usually decides for you what the passage means since they try to convey the meaning of the text.
Examples of such versions are the New International Version (NIV), and the Goodnews Bible.
· Paraphrased
It rewords the Bible into plain modern English. They convey the Bible in a simple, easy-to-understand language without regard to word-for-word or even thought-for-thought expressions of the original languages. An example is The Message translation
The truth is usually most translations are a mixture of the types of translations.
I don’t remember where but I read somewhere that the best Bible translation is the one you actually read.
For the best experience, it will be good to use different translations in order to get the full meaning of the text as the original writer wrote it.
Regardless of the translation you use, your study will be fruitless without the help of the author of the Word-the Holy Spirit.
Thanks for the light. God richly bless you