I’m a bit of a Bible translation nerd. Not a Bible nerd, though I am a bit of that, too, but specifically a Bible translation nerd. I love seeing how different translations differ, what their reasonings are, and what insights we can glean through those difference (not to mention what biases can be revealed!). Turns out there’s someone who’s an even bigger Bible nerd than me and his hobby of reviewing Bibles led to this guide: Bible Translations for Everyone: A Guide to Finding a Bible That’s Right for You. 

 

The author is Tim Wildsmith and his goal in his book is to teach readers how Bible translations work, how each of the major translations came to be, how they compare, and what translations fit various contexts. After two chapters covering a brief basics and history of English-language Bible translation, Bible Translations for Everyone gives a breakdown of ten major translations, followed by a quick chapter of “Other translations,” then a discussion of Catholic translations. (So when Wildsmith says Bible Translations for Everyone there is an implicit asterisk that “everyone” means English-speaking Protestants.) The book covers the following translations: 

 

·       King James Version 

·       Revised Version/American Standard Version 

·       Revised Standard Version 

·       New American Standard Bible 

·       New International Version 

·       New King James Version 

·       New Revised Standard Version 

·       New Living Translation 

·       English Standard Version 

·       Christian Standard Bible 

 

Each chapter is between 10-12 pages and goes through the background, textual basis, and translation philosophy of each translation before ended with a selection of verses from the translation. There are also short paragraph-long treatments of the Message, New English Translation, Legacy Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, Modern English Version, Common English Bible, Douay-Rheims, Jerusalem Bible, and New American Bible. 

 

Unfortunately, I never felt like Bible Translation for Everyone did what it claimed to set out to do. There’s a lot of historical discussion with an emphasis on how translations came to be. There’s much less discussion about how one finds a translation that fits their context and even less direct comparison of translations. 

 

The answer to “What translation should you choose?” Comes in a six-page concluding chapter that suggests using the ESV, NIV, and KJV if you are a more seasoned believer or the NLT, NASB, and CSB if you are newer. The reasoning basically comes down to the readability of the text based on familiarity with theological concepts. 

 

The lack of cross-comparison between translations or a discussion of how and why different translations translate the same passages differently is a real weakness to the book. In the end, I just don’t think it answers with robustness the single question it claims to answer. If you’re looking for a Wikipedia-style overview of Bible translations, this will suffice. If you actually want to understand the reasons for and differences in Bible translations and what they mean for you, then look elsewhere.