Comparing Translations
FORMAL
Interlinear
TSB NASB
ESV
1901 ASV
NET Bible
RSV
DYNAMIC
NAB
NRSV
KJV NIV
JB
NLT
NCV/ICB
NKJV TNIV
NJB
Tanakh
CEV
LB
Message
Two Approaches to Bible Translation:
Formal: Very literal. Matching the English closely to the original language. Results in bad English; hard to read, but good for close study.
Dynamic: Capturing the sense or main idea of the original language, but not bound to its exact wording. Results in good English; great for reading,
but not the best for close study.
ASV = American Standard
CEV = Contemporary English Version
ESV = English Standard Version
JB = The Jerusalem Bible (Catholic)
KJV = King James Version
LB = The Living Bible
NAB = New American Bible (Catholic)
NASB = New American Standard Bible
NCV/ICB = New Century Version /
International Children’s Bible
NET Bible = New English Translation
NIV = New International Version
NJB = New Jerusalem Bible (Catholic)
NKJV = New King James Version
NLT = New Living Translation
NRSV = New Revised Standard Version
RSV = Revised Standard
Tanakh = Jewish Publication Society
TSB = The Schocken Bible (Jewish)
TNIV = Today’s New International Version
Bible in the Making - Blackhawk Church
Timeline: The New Testament
Erwin Nestle /
Kurt Aland
Rome/Syria/Asia Minor/Egypt: Major centers where NT manuscripts were copied in great amounts. Asia Minor’s copies ended up
outlasting all the other locations.
Erasmus: One of the protestant reformers; produced the first scholarly edition of the Greek New Testament.
Tyndale: Also an early protestant reformer; produced the first complete English translation of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew.
KJV: The King James Translation
Erwin Nestle/Kurt Aland: NT scholars who headed an international team to restore the text of the NT from all available manuscripts.
Bible in the Making - Blackhawk Church
Timeline: Hebrew Bible
Leningrad Codex
1008 AD
Masoretes: Jewish Scholars who preserved the biblical text with meticulous care from around 500-1000 AD.
Leningrad Codex: The oldest complete Hebrew Bible in one volume; the basis of all English translations today.
LXX = The Septuagint: A Translation of the Hebrew Bible made into Greek around 200-100 BC.
DSS = The Dead Sea Scroll: Biblical manuscripts from a Jewish sect in the desert of Judah from around mid-200 BC–70 AD.
Bible in the Making - Blackhawk Church