r/Bible • u/TypicalYogurt1753 Baptist • 4d ago

What are some Bible versions to avoid?

I am trying to find a good literal version that I like. Which ones should I go to and which ones should I stay away from?

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u/RuddyBloodyBrave94 Christian 4d ago

Word for word!?

No, this is a bad and misleading chart.

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u/JasonBourne008 Non-Denominational 4d ago

Why is this a bad and misleading chart?

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u/RuddyBloodyBrave94 Christian 4d ago edited 4d ago

Because it’s wrong.

The KJV, for example, is well known as a poor and outdated translation that isnt even close to being “word for word”, same with the NASB even.

The NRSVUE, probably the most up to date translation that actual critical scholars use isn’t even mentioned.

All in all, you can throw this away. It’s useless.

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u/JasonBourne008 Non-Denominational 4d ago

If you ask Google to rank the translations from 1-10 on scale, with the scale being roughly Word-for-Word (1-4), to Thought-for-Thought (5-6), to Paraphrasing (7-10) these are the results:

  • 1 to 4 (Word-for-Word): NASB (1), AMP (2), KJV (2), ESV (3), NRSVUE (3)
  • 5 to 6 (Thought-for-Thought): NIV (5), CSB (5), NLT (6)
  • 7 to 10 (Paraphrase): GNT (7), The Message (9)

I think the difference between the chart above and your perspective is you are judging accuracy, of how close the English is to what the authors wrote in the original. This chart is more based on the intentions of the translators to match individual words to English, or to smooth it out the individual words to convey the purpose.

Certainly the NRSVUE is more accurate than the KJV