Comparison of Various Tranlstaions

The linguistic scholars apply these rules to all of the manuscripts and identify every spelling error, every letter and word that is omitted, every vowel that is wrong and even grammatical errors. So just one Greek word can account for multiple variants as the different manuscripts are compared.

Are Variants Significant? The New Testament has 200,000 spelling, grammatical, and omission variants. These variants occur in only 10,000 places in the New Testament. This may seem high, but this is small when we compare this to the New Testament with its 184,590 words or 838,380 letters. Of those 10,000 places, only 400 words are in question. Of those 400 words, only 50 are significant and none of them affect anything we believe. This translates to a Bible that is 99.9% accurate. There is no other ancient book in existence with so many copies and with so little error. The Bible is really unique. The Bible is very accurate! The Bible very accurately reflects what the Prophets and the apostles wrote.

Today’s English Bibles. We have been describing the original Hebrew and Greek translations of the Bible. The question we need to ask now is, “How accurate are the English translations to the original languages? The answer depends on which translation we are talking about.

The New King James Version (NKJV) is the best Bible for Bible study, with the New American Standard Bible (NASB) being next. For Bible study you want a Bible that is as close to the Greek language as possible. The NKJV and NASB do that. I do not recommend the New International Version. Here are the reasons why:

English Bibles vs Greek Example. In order to explain, we will start with a passage from the New Testament and then compare the English translations to the Greek text. The scripture below is Acts 14:23. The English words have already been substituted for the Greek words.

Having appointed and for them in every church elders, praying with fastings they committed them to the Lord in whom they believed. (NASB) Acts 14:23

And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and with prayer and fasting committed them to the Lord in whom they had put their trust.

Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church and prayed for them with fasting, turning them over to the care of the Lord to whom they trusted.

And when they had appointed and ordained elders for them in each church with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in Whom they had come to believe [being full of the joyful trust that He is the Christ, the Messiah].

They chose elders for each church, by praying and giving up eating for a certain time. These elders had trusted the Lord, so Paul and Barnabas put them in the Lord’s care.

They had the disciples in each church choose spiritual leaders, and with prayer and fasting they entrusted the leaders to the Lord in whom they believed.

Comparisons. The NASB, KJV and NKJV are very close to the actual wording of the original Greek version of the book of Acts. This is typical for these Bibles. The other Bibles differ substantially.

The last one, God’s Word, is the worst because it says the disciples of each church selected the elders and that is not true. The Greek does not say that. The actual Greek word for “appoint” means “to select.” The translators of this Bible used an older, out of date meaning (400 B.C.) of the word which meant “to elect by show of hands.” The translators either did not know the word had changed meaning by the time of Christ or they wanted to convey the thought that a congregational form of selecting leaders was biblical. This is an old, errorenous meaning historically given to this verse.

The NIV, The Secret Kingdom New Testament Bible, and Living Bible added to the Word of God when they add the words, “Paul and Barnabas.” These words are not in the Greek. They did this to make the Bible more readable. Unfortunately, they are adding their own opinions. For some who want to study the Word of Truth, this is unacceptable. This example is typical of these Bibles.

A knowledge of the original languages is needed by someone who seriously desires to know what the Bible really says. It will take study, but the benefits are rewarding.

Conclusion. Jesus said, “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished” (NASB) Matthew 5:18.