Q: What Bible would you recommend for personal study? There are so many versions to choose from!
A: The very best Bibles to study are the Hebrew and Greek versions since those were the original languages in which the Bible was written! But since most people can’t read Hebrew or Greek, it is important to use a Bible translation that is literal, meaning that the English words are a word-for-word translation from the Hebrew and Greek.
There are three main categories of Bible translations: (1) literal, (2) dynamic equivalents, and (3) paraphrases. As mentioned above, literal translations strive to exactly translate each word from the original languages of the Bible. Some of the best literal translations are the King James Version (KJV), New King James Version, and Young’s Literal Translation.
Unlike literal translations, dynamic equivalents focus on conveying the overall message of the text with special attention to the cultural context in which it was written; they are sometimes referred to as thought-for-thought translations. This category includes the New International Version, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation, New Living Translation, and Contemporary English Version.
Paraphrases, such as The Living Bible and The Message, could be thought of as more loosely rendered dynamic equivalents. They focus on giving the meaning (interpretation) of Bible passages in modern language and can be shaped by the theological views of the paraphrasers.
Dynamic equivalents and paraphrases can make for nice devotional reading, but they fall short in deeper Bible study when we want to interpret the Bible as close to the original as possible. We want to uncover truth through correct principles of interpretation instead of relying on someone else’s interpretation or understanding of the Bible.
In conclusion, though God can speak to us through any Bible when we search for Him with all our hearts, using a literal translation is the best for deeper Bible study. Some other great tools to have on hand are Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible and Hebrew-English and Greek-English lexicons (such as Thayer’s). Strong’s provides an index of every English word used in the KJV along with the original Hebrew or Greek used in particular passages, while the lexicons further define the words. Many excellent resources are also available via the internet or phone apps.
