Bible translation preferences

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Jersey Girl
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Re: Bible translation preferences

Post by Jersey Girl »

Dr. Shades wrote:
Mon Jan 09, 2023 6:20 am
I'm guessing a "daily devotional" is a short written spiritual or inspirational message followed by scripture references for further study?
Sorta kinda, yes. Devotionals could be in small booklet form, calendars, whole books, and there are plenty online these days. I found this one for men. I am not endorsing it, just using it as an example.

NIV Devotions for Men - Week of January 3
https://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/n ... s-for-men/

So the one I've been using for the past, I dunno, 3 years or so has a phone app and also a website. I almost never use the phone app. The website has a place for comments but I don't post comments. I like it and have benefited from it. I just need a break from it. It typically goes through a book of the Bible for 6 weeks or so and seems to stay mainly in the Old Testament with cross references to the New Testament. I'm kind of stuck by the Old Testament coverage.

I noticed when I searched for one for men that Billy Graham ministries has an online devotional. I'll probably check it out. For right now, as I stated previously, I'm interested in just reading the Book of John from the KJV.
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Re: Bible translation preferences

Post by Jersey Girl »

Res Ipsa wrote:
Mon Jan 09, 2023 6:24 am
When I want to look up a Biblical reference, I'll often refer to a couple of translations. I usually include the KJV because that's the version I was raised on. But I'll also read one or more of the more modern translations.
Do you look up the refs online or do you own the various translations? And see...you also go to the KJV. I guess we revert back to the familiar. Thanks, RI!
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Re: Bible translation preferences

Post by Vēritās »

NASB or the Amplified Bible
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Re: Bible translation preferences

Post by Res Ipsa »

Jersey Girl wrote:
Mon Jan 09, 2023 9:05 am
Res Ipsa wrote:
Mon Jan 09, 2023 6:24 am
When I want to look up a Biblical reference, I'll often refer to a couple of translations. I usually include the KJV because that's the version I was raised on. But I'll also read one or more of the more modern translations.
Do you look up the refs online or do you own the various translations? And see...you also go to the KJV. I guess we revert back to the familiar. Thanks, RI!
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Re: Bible translation preferences

Post by ajax18 »

Jersey Girl wrote:
Fri Jan 06, 2023 9:38 am
Hey Folks,

I was just thinking about this before turning in for the night. I engage in Bible Study and do daily devotions. Sometimes I skip around between the two. Sometimes I skip days entirely. Sometimes I just read what I want to go over. Anyway, regardless what study tool I am using, I always revert back to the KJV that I was raised up on. It's reflex. I'll stop in the middle of study and look up the same verses in the KJV. It's just more familiar to me and I'm used to the language.

I know that many or most here probably don't read the Bible. But if you do, I have similar questions for differing sides of the house here.

1. If you are ex-LDS and want to reference the Bible or simply look something up, do you find yourself reading from the KJV as you did when you were LDS, is there another version you use, or does it matter to you what version you use?

2. If you are a mainstream type Christian believer. What versions of the Bible are your preference? If you, like me, were raised up on the KJV and now use a different version...how did you decide on a different version? Did the new version seem strange to you at first? Does it still?

3. If you are an active LDS believer do you ever use other versions besides the KJV? If so, what are they and do you think it makes any difference in your reading and interpretation of what you read? Do you make comparisons between the two?

These are serious questions. I'm going to ask you guys from the get, not to post disparaging comments or mockery in this thread. Please let folks answer the questions put forth...if anyone actually does. If you want to make disparaging or mocking comments, please do so in a new topic thread of your own and feel free to reference the posts from this thread.

If there are any posts after this one.

Jersey
I've always used the King James version in English and Joseph Smith's inspired translation of the Bible. I read the Bible in Spanish, my second language, then some in Russian my third language, which are obviously different versions than King James. I often read commentaries on the original Hebrew (Old Testament), Greek (New Testament), and parts of the Latin version as well. I'm into linguistics and love picking up tidbits from all European languages both modern spoken languages and their dead ancestral languages. They say Joseph Smith's favorite version of the Bible was in German. I love looking at the difference between the Lord's prayer in Old English, Middle English, and then the King James English.
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Re: Bible translation preferences

Post by Res Ipsa »

ajax18 wrote:
Mon Jan 09, 2023 6:05 pm
Jersey Girl wrote:
Fri Jan 06, 2023 9:38 am
Hey Folks,

I was just thinking about this before turning in for the night. I engage in Bible Study and do daily devotions. Sometimes I skip around between the two. Sometimes I skip days entirely. Sometimes I just read what I want to go over. Anyway, regardless what study tool I am using, I always revert back to the KJV that I was raised up on. It's reflex. I'll stop in the middle of study and look up the same verses in the KJV. It's just more familiar to me and I'm used to the language.

I know that many or most here probably don't read the Bible. But if you do, I have similar questions for differing sides of the house here.

1. If you are ex-LDS and want to reference the Bible or simply look something up, do you find yourself reading from the KJV as you did when you were LDS, is there another version you use, or does it matter to you what version you use?

2. If you are a mainstream type Christian believer. What versions of the Bible are your preference? If you, like me, were raised up on the KJV and now use a different version...how did you decide on a different version? Did the new version seem strange to you at first? Does it still?

3. If you are an active LDS believer do you ever use other versions besides the KJV? If so, what are they and do you think it makes any difference in your reading and interpretation of what you read? Do you make comparisons between the two?

These are serious questions. I'm going to ask you guys from the get, not to post disparaging comments or mockery in this thread. Please let folks answer the questions put forth...if anyone actually does. If you want to make disparaging or mocking comments, please do so in a new topic thread of your own and feel free to reference the posts from this thread.

If there are any posts after this one.

Jersey
I've always used the King James version in English and Joseph Smith's inspired translation of the Bible. I read the Bible in Spanish, my second language, then some in Russian my third language, which are obviously different versions than King James. I often read commentaries on the original Hebrew (Old Testament), Greek (New Testament), and parts of the Latin version as well. I'm into linguistics and love picking up tidbits from all European languages both modern spoken languages and their dead ancestral languages. They say Joseph Smith's favorite version of the Bible was in German. I love looking at the difference between the Lord's prayer in Old English, Middle English, and then the King James English.
Hats off to you for learning Russian. I took some conversational Russian classes in advance of a trip to the Soviet Union years ago. The differences in the alphabet alone were pretty daunting. The most useful phrase I learned was "I don't speak Russian." The most useful word was "ice cream." I really enjoyed the ice cream there. If you've traveled there, I'd be interested in hearing sometime about your impressions. (In a separate thread, to avoid the hijack.)
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Re: Bible translation preferences

Post by ajax18 »

Hats off to you for learning Russian. I took some conversational Russian classes in advance of a trip to the Soviet Union years ago
Well I don't speak it as well as I speak spanish. I think Duo Lingo is a good start for beginners. It's a lot better learning technology than we had to work with when I was a missionary.
The differences in the alphabet alone were pretty daunting.
Especially when it's cursive Cyrillic on a shop sign. But it is similar to the Greek alphabet that most scholars know when trying to interpret ancient texts.
The most useful phrase I learned was "I don't speak Russian." The most useful word was "ice cream." I really enjoyed the ice cream there. If you've traveled there, I'd be interested in hearing sometime about your impressions. (In a separate thread, to avoid the hijack.)
It's definitely a language you learn more in simple phrases to start. Learning all the cases, their suffix endings, and conjugations is just too much for most of us to memorize in a classroom so we just try to get a feel for it by repetition.
And when the Confederates saw Jackson standing fearless like a stonewall, the army of Northern Virginia took courage and drove the federal army off their land.
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Re: Bible translation preferences

Post by Res Ipsa »

ajax18 wrote:
Mon Jan 09, 2023 7:13 pm
Hats off to you for learning Russian. I took some conversational Russian classes in advance of a trip to the Soviet Union years ago
Well I don't speak it as well as I speak spanish. I think Duo Lingo is a good start for beginners. It's a lot better learning technology than we had to work with when I was a missionary.
The differences in the alphabet alone were pretty daunting.
Especially when it's cursive Cyrillic on a shop sign. But it is similar to the Greek alphabet that most scholars know when trying to interpret ancient texts.
The most useful phrase I learned was "I don't speak Russian." The most useful word was "ice cream." I really enjoyed the ice cream there. If you've traveled there, I'd be interested in hearing sometime about your impressions. (In a separate thread, to avoid the hijack.)
It's definitely a language you learn more in simple phrases to start. Learning all the cases, their suffix endings, and conjugations is just too much for most of us to memorize in a classroom so we just try to get a feel for it by repetition.
Thanks!
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Re: Bible translation preferences

Post by Brack »

Jersey Girl wrote:
Mon Jan 09, 2023 8:55 am
Brack wrote:
Sat Jan 07, 2023 10:03 pm
I like the 1995 edition of the NASB.
Bracki what do you like about it?
The 1995 edition of the NASB is considered one of the best translations of the Bible from the 20th century. It doesn't really add or change words that are not really supported by the Hebrew or Greek texts like the NIV Bible does. The NASB doesn't have the word "Lucifer" within its text like the KJV and NKJV does. Isaiah Chapter 14 is about the fallen King of Babylon not about a fallen angel.
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Re: Bible translation preferences

Post by Chap »

I had never heard of the NASB before! But I checked the Bible Gateway website, which says:

https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/N ... ible-NASB/
The NASB does not attempt to interpret Scripture through translation. Instead, the NASB adheres to the principles of a formal equivalence translation. This is the most exacting and demanding method of translation, striving for the most readable word-for-word translation that is both accurate and clear. This method more closely follows the word and sentence patterns of the biblical authors in order to enable the reader to study Scripture in its most literal format and to experience the individual personalities of those who penned the original manuscripts.
I have just read Isaiah 14 in NASB, and the level of scholarship shines through. As I conceive of translation, it is good to aim at giving the reader an experience as close as possible to what they would experience if they knew the source language. So the NASB approach sounds good to me.

(By the way, the KJV's 'Lucifer' in verse 12 is simply a translation of the word underlying the NASB's 'star of the morning' (Hebrew 'Helel ben Shachar,'). 'Lucifer' (light-bearer) is a Latin name for the 'morning star', i.e. the planet Venus seen just before sunrise, first used in this context in Jerome's Latin translation of the Hebrew in the Vulgate. Of course later people interpreted references like this as what Christians call 'Satan', but that is not what the writer of the Hebrew text was thinking about.)
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