Favorite translations

The God Pill

Well-known member
Any translations you've found particularly helpful in study or enjoyed? I favor the 1980's NWT over the 2013 trust it more, American standard is pretty good, I often read OT passages in interlinears of both Masoretic and Septuagint, kingdom interlinear is good for the NT, downloaded the Cepher recently giving it a shot. When I was a child family had a layman's parallel bible I remember comparing John 1 in the translations been years but I remember hating how much the living bible messed around with the text to push trinitarianism.
 

יהוה_saves

Well-known member
Any translations you've found particularly helpful in study or enjoyed? I favor the 1980's NWT over the 2013 trust it more, American standard is pretty good, I often read OT passages in interlinears of both Masoretic and Septuagint, kingdom interlinear is good for the NT, downloaded the Cepher recently giving it a shot. When I was a child family had a layman's parallel bible I remember comparing John 1 in the translations been years but I remember hating how much the living bible messed around with the text to push trinitarianism.
i’ve been reading out of the NIV lately. my sister got me one and i like it. i still use the NWT though. I use both.
 

tonydepledge

New member
Aside from the NWT, which I do find a bit erm.. pedantic? (is that the right word?) in places, I like the way the New English Translation (NETBible) puts some things, although obviously it's trinitarian and uses Lord, not Jehovah. My favourite at the moment is the 2001 Translation ( 2001translation.org ) which uses Jehovah where appropriate and is not trinitarian (e.g. John 1:1 reads "The Word was with The God (ton theon) and the Word was a god (theos)." It also has some good scriptural commentaries
 

Watchman

Moderator
Staff member
I used to read the Catholic New Jerusalem Bible and the NIV. Now I almost exclusively use the NWT because, for one thing. I can't see the print on paper books and I need to read what JWs read so as to speak to them in the same language.
 
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TravellinRox

Well-known member
Any translations you've found particularly helpful in study or enjoyed?
I have to say, I absolutely love roaming about in different translations! But it’s like what they say about motorcycles …you’ve got to have a shed full of them since there isn’t one perfect motorcycle. They all have different things that they’re great at but none are great at everything. So with that in mind, I’m like Asadour for my general reading Bible. The NIV has a good mixture of readability, faithfulness and a nice format. I also enjoy when a translation has an introduction to the Bible books, which the NIV does have.

My favourite Bible for extensive footnotes is the New English Translation (NET with notes) The translators go into a lot of detail about their reasons for choosing one way of translating the text over another. They also reference works that agree, disagree or just give more info regarding the details they are discussing. It’s also interesting that whenever I’ve looked into their footnotes on the typical ”trinitarian proof texts”, I’ve noticed that they are very balanced in their explanations and will often say that the trinity idea is not indicated. That’s been a plus in my books! My second choice for study footnotes is the NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition). It also has plenty of cross reference scriptures which a lot of versions don’t seem to bother with. Out of all the bibles I’ve perused through, I do like the NABRE”s Book Intros the best; they are quite comprehensive.

Recently, I had been looking through a couple of Jewish Bibles in my quest to differentiate between all the terms that are usually just translated Lord and God. I got the bright idea to look at the list in the appendix of the NWT for translations that use Jehovah extensively. I found two real gems amongst that list. The first was the RNKJV (Revised Name King James Version) Oh my goodness! That was exactly what I was looking for!! It puts the actual Tetragrammaton (yes, the four Jewish letters) where it’s supposed to be. SUPER interesting is that they also decided to put the Tetragrammaton in some places in the NT😳 It also puts the specific terms that denote God …such as when Elohim is used. I was practically jumping for joy when I found that version!! I had no clue such a KJV existed. Of course, that’s also it’s downfall lol …most of us don’t enjoy reading the archaic language of the KJV😅 But it’s a wonderful reference, for sure!

The other gem from that list was the 2001 Translation; An American English Bible. It is a modern translation that uses Jehovah’s name throughout the entirety of the Bible. That alone was enough for me to look into it. But it also has some other features that seem really unique. It’s a completely non-denominational Bible that goes out of its way to translate what you might call “loaded” religious terms in a neutral way. The reason they give for this choice is to actually get a true sense of the words the Bible writers used without the common associations attached to them by religions. They also have extensive footnotes and great articles about biblical issues hyperlinked right into the text. They have other interesting features that they list on their website. It’s completely free and only online. It’s worth checking out!

There are a few others that are exceptional in certain aspects. The Berean Study Bible (BSB) is one of my faves for easily finding pertinent or parallel accounts elsewhere in the Bible text. They are bolded and bracketed right above the portion of text that it pertains to. It’s ease for this purpose, I think is unparalleled. The GNT (Good News Translation; practically the same as the GNB Good News Bible) I often use for a good breakdown of each of the Bible books’ contents. It breaks it down in an easy to remember and concise way, for those of us that like to have an overall outline of what the book is about before we delve in. It’s located in the Intro to each Bible book …which is a nice addition as well. I do also enjoy checking out what the Amplified Bible has to say as regards verses I’m trying to figure out. It expands on the verses by giving alternate translation phrases in brackets. Both versions of the Amplified Bible (AMP, AMPC C standing for Classic) can actually be quite different in the phrases they choose to use so I like to check them both.

And lastly of all, there are times I just want to know how old time translations render verses. I don’t like reading them for my Bible reading for obvious literary reasons but they are great for reference. The ones I use most often are the DARBY (Darby’s Translation 1890), YLT98 (Young’s Literal Translation 1898) and WBMS (Wycliffe’s Bible with Modern Spelling). I would be amiss if I didn’t mention the MSG (The Message) bible. If I’m in the mood for a chuckle, I pull that one out. The pastor who translated it really wanted the reader to get the “oomph” of the Bible passages, hence it’s quite a dramatic reading!😂 Its a “version” so it’s definitely not meant to be a literal word for word translation by any means. But what I do appreciate it for is it’s ability to break you out of a particular mindset mold. SollaSollew had mentioned in a comment that he read through 5 different translations of the NT for that purpose. It breaks the patterns of thought that you’ve built up over the years by expressing the Bible’s message in completely different terms than your brain is used to. So if you want to get the same results with just 1 Bible, I’d suggest The Message bible or something similar. Just don’t use it for literal accuracy, cause that’s not its strength by far. I will almost guarantee that you’ll come out with at least a little smile from its dramatic presentation haha …or you might just hate it😅

Almost all of these translations can be found in a free app. Just search “Youversion” (yes, just one word) in your App Store of choice. It should come up from the developer Life.Church. I find it a very useful app that includes a side by side compare feature. One of the gems I found above can be found at 2001translation.com or 2001translation.org (for the beta version) You can also find the RNKJV free online through a bit of google searching. Another excellent resource for bible translations is biblehub.com. The UI is kinda clunky but don’t let that put you off if you really want to dig, especially if you want to get into interlinears or commentaries😁👍🏼

…Oh and don’t forget there’s some professional audio bibles out there! Obviously stay away from computer type voices😝 But taking the Bible in in an auditory fashion can make you ”see” the accounts in a whole new way! The Breathe Bible is good for the NT and The Bible Experience by Zondervan is quite good for the entire Bible. It is voiced by all African American actors so it gives it an enjoyable flavor😜

So I hope this can help y’all in your studies! Happy hunting!!🤓
 
Last edited:

SusanB

Well-known member
I have to say, I absolutely love roaming about in different translations! But it’s like what they say about motorcycles …you’ve got to have a shed full of them since there isn’t one perfect motorcycle. They all have different things that they’re great at but none are great at everything. So with that in mind, I’m like Asadour for my general reading Bible. The NIV has a good mixture of readability, faithfulness and a nice format. I also enjoy when a translation has an introduction to the Bible books, which the NIV does have.

My favourite Bible for extensive footnotes is the New English Translation (NET with notes) The translators go into a lot of detail about their reasons for choosing one way of translating the text over another. They also reference works that agree, disagree or just give more info regarding the details they are discussing. It’s also interesting that whenever I’ve looked into their footnotes on the typical ”trinitarian proof texts”, I’ve noticed that they are very balanced in their explanations and will often say that the trinity idea is not indicated. That’s been a plus in my books! My second choice for study footnotes is the NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition). It also has plenty of cross reference scriptures which a lot of versions don’t seem to bother with. Out of all the bibles I’ve perused through, I do like the NABRE”s Book Intros the best; they are quite comprehensive.

Recently, I had been looking through a couple of Jewish Bibles in my quest to differentiate between all the terms that are usually just translated Lord and God. I got the bright idea to look at the list in the appendix of the NWT for translations that use Jehovah extensively. I found two real gems amongst that list. The first was the RNKJV (Revised Name King James Version) Oh my goodness! That was exactly what I was looking for!! It puts the actual Tetragrammaton (yes, the four Jewish letters) where it’s supposed to be. SUPER interesting is that they also decided to put the Tetragrammaton in some places in the NT😳 It also puts the specific terms that denote God …such as when Elohim is used. I was practically jumping for joy when I found that version!! I had no clue such a KJV existed. Of course, that’s also it’s downfall lol …most of us don’t enjoy reading the archaic language of the KJV😅 But it’s a wonderful reference, for sure!

The other gem from that list was the 2001 Translation; An American English Bible. It is a modern translation that uses Jehovah’s name throughout the entirety of the Bible. That alone was enough for me to look into it. But it also has some other features that seem really unique. It’s a completely non-denominational Bible that goes out of its way to translate what you might call “loaded” religious terms in a neutral way. The reason they give for this choice is to actually get a true sense of the words the Bible writers used without the common associations attached to them by religions. They also have extensive footnotes and great articles about biblical issues hyperlinked right into the text. They have other interesting features that they list on their website. It’s completely free and only online. It’s worth checking out!

There are a few others that are exceptional in certain aspects. The Berean Study Bible (BSB) is one of my faves for easily finding pertinent or parallel accounts elsewhere in the Bible text. They are bolded and bracketed right above the portion of text that it pertains to. It’s ease for this purpose, I think is unparalleled. The GNT (Good News Translation; practically the same as the GNB Good News Bible) I often use for a good breakdown of each of the Bible books’ contents. It breaks it down in an easy to remember and concise way, for those of us that like to have an overall outline of what the book is about before we delve in. It’s located in the Intro to each Bible book …which is a nice addition as well. I do also enjoy checking out what the Amplified Bible has to say as regards verses I’m trying to figure out. It expands on the verses by giving alternate translation phrases in brackets. Both versions of the Amplified Bible (AMP, AMPC C standing for Classic) can actually be quite different in the phrases they choose to use so I like to check them both.

And lastly of all, there are times I just want to know how old time translations render verses. I don’t like reading them for my Bible reading for obvious literary reasons but they are great for reference. The ones I use most often are the DARBY (Darby’s Translation 1890), YLT98 (Young’s Literal Translation 1898) and WBMS (Wycliffe’s Bible with Modern Spelling). I would be amiss if I didn’t mention the MSG (The Message) bible. If I’m in the mood for a chuckle, I pull that one out. The pastor who translated it really wanted the reader to get the “oomph” of the Bible passages, hence it’s quite a dramatic reading!😂 Its a “version” so it’s definitely not meant to be a literal word for word translation by any means. But what I do appreciate it for is it’s ability to break you out of a particular mindset mold. SollaSollew had mentioned in a comment that he read through 5 different translations of the NT for that purpose. It breaks the patterns of thought that you’ve built up over the years by expressing the Bible’s message in completely different terms than your brain is used to. So if you want to get the same results with just 1 Bible, I’d suggest The Message bible or something similar. Just don’t use it for literal accuracy, cause that’s not its strength by far. I will almost guarantee that you’ll come out with at least a little smile from its dramatic presentation haha …or you might just hate it😅

Almost all of these translations can be found in a free app. Just search “Youversion” (yes, just one word) in your App Store of choice. It should come up from the developer Life.Church. I find it a very useful app that includes a side by side compare feature. One of the gems I found above can be found at 2001translation.com or 2001translation.org (for the beta version) You can also find the RNKJV free online through a bit of google searching. Another excellent resource for bible translations is biblehub.com. The UI is kinda clunky but don’t let that put you off if you really want to dig, especially if you want to get into interlinears or commentaries😁👍🏼

…Oh and don’t forget there’s some professional audio bibles out there! Obviously stay away from computer type voices😝 But taking the Bible in in an auditory fashion can make you ”see” the accounts in a whole new way! The Breathe Bible is good for the NT and The Bible Experience by Zondervan is quite good for the entire Bible. It is voiced by all African American actors so it gives it an enjoyable flavor😜

So I hope this can help y’all in your studies! Happy hunting!!🤓
Wow, you’re a bible GEEK!!! :love:
 
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