The Bible is a collection of sacred texts or scriptures. In other words, it's a wonderful compilation of 66 books and letters consisted of 1,189 chapters divided by the Old Testament and the New Testament and written by more than 40 authors.
It's widely agreed that the bible has been written in three different languages. Hebrew and Aramaic are the languages of the Old Testament, and Koine Greek is the language of the Christian New Testament.
Over time there were many people who participated in the process of the bible translation from these three languages to various languages throughout the world. For instance, it's well known that, in 1534, Martin Luther, the most influential figure of the protestant reformation, translated the bible from Latin to German, giving common people access to the sacred scriptures which, before that time, were only understood and read by clerics who mastered Latin, a language that hadn't been in use since the 8th century.
Currently, there are about 50 main versions of the English Bible and it's a fact that makes us wonder why there are so many bible translations.
1. Well, let's start it off by introducing the first reason why it happened: the number of manuscripts. There are thousands of ancient manuscripts that originated from diverse regions in the world. For this reason, they had to be divided into two families: the neutral text and the majority text. These manuscripts have different text styles and they are so numerous that make it impossible to conceive a perfect and exact translation of the books that compose the Bible.
2. The second reason is the translation method chosen for the process. There are two main methods: Word-for-word (literal translation) - which focuses on accuracy. The translation must remain loyal to the original text.
Meaning-for-meaning (functional translation) - which focuses on the message. The original text may be modified in order to make the reader understand easily what the text conveys.
3. The third reason is that the English language has suffered drastic changes over time. So, the language used in the King James Version (the first complete English version from 1611) is no longer part of modern English speaker's daily language use. It makes most native English speakers struggle to read a single verse of this bible. That's why many modern versions emerged. They came to facilitate biblical understanding.
Nonetheless, whether you have to use one or another, it divides opinions. Most biblical scholars would recommend you to use the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version), whereas others would tell you that the most accurate and trustful one is the KJV (King James Version) as it follows word-for-word translation. Others would tell you to use the NIV (New International Version) if you really want to understand the message of the bible and its history.
Compare the three versions cited above:
Mark 12:30-31 King James Version (KJV)
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Mark 12:30-31 New International Version (NIV)
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:30-31 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
You probably noticed that the KJV uses archaic words, such as "THOU", "THY", "SHALT", "THYSELF". It makes the text a little difficult to understand.
Thou = You
Thy = Your
Thou shalt = You shall/will
Thyself = Yourself
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