The books of the Bible originally were written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. The Old Testament was in place during the time of Jesus. But the New Testament canon, or official grouping of books, was debated until almost 400 AD. During the last 1,500 years, the Bible has been translated over and over again into local, common languages, making it available for people everywhere, not just for biblical scholars or clergy.
Jerome translated the Bible into Latin in the 4th century, much to the delight of the Christians living in the Roman Empire. John Wycliffe, whom we call “the morning star of the Reformation,” was persecuted for translating the Bible into English a thousand years after Jerome (1380s). The Puritans produced a version known as the Geneva Bible in 1560. The King James Version first published in 1611, is-still a favorite among many English-speaking Christians (a fact which often causes tension between older church members who prefer the KJV and younger members who want a newer version).
Twentieth century translations include the Revised Standard Version (1946-1952), the New English Bible (1961-1970), the New International Version (1973-1978), and the New King James Version (1982). Popular paraphrases include The New Testament in Modern English by J. B. Phillips (1958, revised 1972), The Living Bible (1971) and The Message Bible (1993).
Three Reasons to Read a New Version of the Bible
1. To honor the spirit of the Reformers.
The great, inspired goal of the Bible translators of the Middle Ages was to bring the Bible to the people in the everyday language of the time, in order that we all might understand the Bible through the experiences of our lifetime.
2. To keep from segregating the spiritual life.
When the source of our religious experience speaks to us in a language form that we never use in any other area of our lives, we subconsciously receive the message that the spiritual dimension belongs in one compartment of our life, and that the other dimensions have little to do with the spiritual.
3. To allow the Holy Spirit's impressions.
Sometimes we’re so familiar with a passage that we don’t even think about its meaning. We need to take fresh, new looks at the Scriptures, allowing the Holy Spirit to impress us anew with the marvelous meaning in the passages we read.
Five Versions – Same Verse (2 Corinthians 2:14)
- King James Version: “Now thanks be unto God which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place.”
- New Jerusalem Version: “Thanks be to God who always gives us in Christ a part in his triumphal procession, and through us is spreading everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of himself.”
- New International Version: “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”
- Phillips: “Thanks be to God who leads us, wherever we are, on Christ’s triumphant way and makes our knowledge of him spread throughout the world like a lovely perfume!”
- The Message Bible: “In Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance.”
Exploring Bible Versions
1. Ask your youth group to read a Bible passage in several different versions. Discuss the similiar ties and differences. How do the nuances of the different phrases help us better understand the passage? Do you think it’s most helpful to stick to, just one version or to explore several?
2.Take a Bible passage that is built on observation or description (for example, Proverbs 15:17 or 24:3, 4). Discuss the meaning of the passage. Now ask each of your youth group members to paraphrase the passage, to write it again, but in their own words, making the meaning come to life in their own setting. Then ask each member to share his or her paraphrase. Discuss the different applications of the meaning. Explore why there are such different versions among your group of the same passage.
From: ABZ’s of Adventist Youth Ministry
© 2000 John Hancock Center for Youth&Family Ministry
Permission to copy for use in the local congregation or group.
