A Good Edition of the Bible

Xander · Post by **Xander** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:15 pm

Can anyone refer me to a good edition of the bible to pick up? That is, one that is translated well and accurately transcribed, or possessing of any other necessary qualities that are desirable. Thanks!

Goat · Post by **Goat** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:17 pm

Xander wrote:Can anyone refer me to a good edition of the bible to pick up? That is, one that is translated well and accurately transcribed, or possessing of any other necessary qualities that are desirable. Thanks!

Although it doesn't have the "new Testament" the JPS study bible will have the Jewish translations with commentary on the original Hebrew in it.

czollers · Post by **czollers** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 5:17 pm

xander,

the NIV study bible is generally accepted as the most reputable, and contains lots and lots of cross reference data, maps, etc.

however, i find it helpful to use a couple of translations and compare them. another of my favorites is 'the message' translation. its a very modern version that attempts to communicate the point of the authors passage over literal word for word translation. the result, while imperfect, is a more accurate way to relay concepts. IMHO.

Xander · Post by **Xander** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:00 pm

Yeah, if I had the time, or, if I have time in the future, I would/want definitely to cross reference different translations. As it is, I think I'll just pick up the best copy and stick with it. At any rate, thanks for the recommendations.

Goat · Post by **Goat** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 10:56 pm

Xander wrote:Yeah, if I had the time, or, if I have time in the future, I would/want definitely to cross reference different translations. As it is, I think I'll just pick up the best copy and stick with it. At any rate, thanks for the recommendations.

If you want an online Jewish translation , with commentary, there is also
the Judaica translation with Rashi and the price is right.

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_c ... -Rashi.htm

czollers · Post by **czollers** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:59 pm

goat wrote:If you want an online Jewish translation , with commentary, there is also the Judaica translation with Rashi and the price is right.

ooooh. i like that. great recommendation. thanks goat!

(by the way, is it wrong that your post makes me think of bob barker more than it does god???

)

cnorman18 · Post by **cnorman18** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:39 pm

The Oxford Annotated Bible is probably the best nondenominational English-language Bible that contains both Old and New Testaments, and has a decent, if sketchy, scholarly commentary.

czollers · Post by **czollers** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 2:13 pm

The Oxford Annotated Bible is probably the best nondenominational English-language Bible that contains both Old and New Testaments, and has a decent, if sketchy, scholarly commentary.

decent, if sketchy? what does that mean?

cnorman18 · Post by **cnorman18** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 2:53 pm

czollers wrote:
The Oxford Annotated Bible is probably the best nondenominational English-language Bible that contains both Old and New Testaments, and has a decent, if sketchy, scholarly commentary.
decent, if sketchy? what does that mean?

There isn't much of it. Notes at the bottom of each page. The Jewish Study Bible's notes are much more extensive, with lengthy introductions for each book, but that is of course written from a Jewish point of view and does not contain the NT.

A good "Study Bible" would be better, but one must be careful. Many, e.g. The Scofield Study Bible, are written from a very conservative perspective. The Dake's is positively Neanderthal; it defends racial segregation from Scripture, for instance. Take a look at the notes on Genesis 1 to get an idea of where a Bible is coming from.

If a Bible's commentary on the first 5 books talks about the J, E, P and D sources and the Ugaritic texts, it's written from a liberal perspective; if it only talks about Moses as the author, it's conservative or fundamentalist. A good commentary should acknowledge both.

GentleDove · Post by **GentleDove** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 12:05 am

Xander wrote:Can anyone refer me to a good edition of the bible to pick up? That is, one that is translated well and accurately transcribed, or possessing of any other necessary qualities that are desirable. Thanks!

IMO, the Message Bible, the Living Bible, and similar "paraphrase" Bibles should be avoided. They are not translations, but paraphrases in "modern lingo." They are an irreverent treatment of the Word of God and depart from the original texts too much. I wouldn't even recommend these paraphrases to someone who was almost illiterate. Better to become more literate by reading an actual Bible, with the help of a seasoned Christian, if necessary.

The Authorized Version (AV), a.k.a. King James Version (KJV), is accurate; however the translation is in older English, which doesn't always translate well, especially if you're not used to that type of language. I personally really like the KJV, but the New King James Version (NKJV) might be easier to start off with and is also quite good.

I also like the New American Standard Bible (NASB). This is probably the most "literal" translation of the original Hebrew and Greek texts. It can be a bit clunky sometimes, unlike the KJV, which is almost poetic and easy to memorize.

If you have difficulties with any of those, the New International Version (NIV) or the English Standard Version (ESV) would be all right for accuracy and readability.

A good site to compare the various versions/translations of the Bible before you buy is BibleGateway.

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