Consider the Text

First, look for a reliable underlying original language text. When God inspired the Bible, he did not use the English language. Instead, he used the common language of the day. The Old Testament writers wrote mostly in Hebrew with a little Chaldean to reflect the time of the Babylonian exile. The New Testament writers used Greek, the most common language of the first century.

After inspiration, the scribes painstakingly copied the books of the Bible to preserve, protect, and proliferate them for generations to come. They went to great lengths to provide accurate copies of each book. However, because of human fallibility, the copies were imperfect. Sometimes other scribes reproduced those errors, and other times they corrected them. The discipline of textual criticism examines the surviving documents and attempts to recreate the original reading. Less than three percent of the Bible is questioned (an amazingly low percentage considering it went through 1400 years of hand copying), and scholars have done an excellent job reconstructing the original readings of that small percentage. In the end, we have great confidence in the underlying texts of both the Old and New Testaments.

Some translations, however, do not rely on the best foundational texts. Some rely more on tradition than scholarship. Some translations focus on later readings, or readings from certain geographical locations. Still others rely on only a few texts and ignore the thousands of witnesses discovered in the last 400 years. When looking for a new Bible, look for one that is based on a critical text. The preface usually discloses the translation’s base text, like the Nestle-Aland or United Bible Society text.

Consider the Technique

Another important guideline to consider when choosing a new Bible is the translation philosophy. Translators often use the preface to explain their translational philosophy or technique. There are two basic techniques: dynamic equivalence and formal equivalence.
Sometimes we hear people say, “We need a word for word” translation. However, that is a misnomer as no translation can be word for word. There are too many variables, such as syntax, word order, idioms, and definitions, to consider. However, formal equivalence is an attempt to translate word for word as possible and still produce a readable English translation.

In contrast, dynamic equivalence seeks to capture the thoughts of the original writers. They consider historical background, language usage, and theology to give modern readers the meaning of the text. The problem with this technique is that it opens the door to the biases of the translators. If one group of translators does not believe in the necessity of baptism for salvation, they may distort the intent of a passage dealing with baptism. It also minimizes the words in favor of the intent, but God didn’t inspire thoughts; he inspired words (2 Tim 3:16-17).