Bible Versions Explained

New American Standard Bible Story

In the 1880s the King James Version became the basis for the English Revised Version. The American counterpart was published in 1901 as the American Standard Version. A product of both British and American scholarship, the ASV has been highly regarded for its scholarship and accuracy.

By the middle of the twentieth century, The Lockman Foundation, a non-profit Christian corporation of La Habra, California, felt an urgency to preserve these and other lasting values of the ASV by incorporating recent discoveries of Hebrew and Greek textual sources and by rendering them into more current English.

The Lockman Foundation published the Gospel of John in 1960, all four Gospels as a unit in 1962, the New Testament in 1963, and the entire Bible in 1971. Sixteen translators worked on each Testament. More than 50 scholars in various capacities devoted more than 25,000 hours of research to the New Testament alone.

The NASB represented a conservative, literal approach to translation. While this translation followed the principles used in the ASV, the NASB should be viewed as a new translation rather than merely an update of the ASV.

The Lockman Foundation completed an update of the NASB in 1995. More than 20 translators (conservative Bible scholars representing a variety of denominational backgrounds) spent nearly three years completing the project. The team carefully adhered to the principles of literal translation and made no attempt to interpret Scripture through translation. This method of translation stands in contrast to the thought-for-thought method known as dynamic equivalence. The result was a word-for-word translation that is both accurate and readable.

The 1995 update makes several important refinements with regard to the original NASB: 1) It no longer uses “Thee” and “Thou” in reference to Deity; 2) phrases have been smoothed out; 3) words that have changed meaning have been updated; 4) verbs that have a wide range of meaning have been updated to better account for their use in the context; 5) punctuation and paragraphing have been formatted to fit today’s standards; and 6) notes about the ancient manuscripts have been revised to include more new and interesting facts.


New International Version Story

The New International Version (NIV) is a translation made by more than one hundred scholars working from the best available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. It was conceived in 1965 when, after several years of study by committees from the Christian Reformed Church and the National Association of Evangelicals, a trans-denominational and international group of scholars met at Palos Heights, Illinois, and agreed on the need for a new translation in contemporary English. Their conclusion was endorsed by a large number of church leaders who met in Chicago in 1966. Responsibility for the version was delegated to a self-governing body of fifteen Biblical scholars, the Committee on Bible Translation; and in 1967, the New York Bible Society (now International Bible Society) generously undertook the financial sponsorship of the project.

The translation of each book was assigned to a team of scholars, and the work was thoroughly reviewed and revised at various stages by three separate committees. The Committee submitted the developing version to stylistic consultants who made invaluable suggestions. Samples of the translation were tested for clarity and ease of reading by various groups of people. In short, perhaps no other translation has been made by a more thorough process of review and revision.

The Committee held to certain goals for the NIV that it be an Accurate, Beautiful, Clear, and Dignified translation suitable for public and private reading, teaching, preaching, memorizing, and liturgical use. The translators were united in their commitment to the authority and infallibility of the Bible as God’s Word in written form. They agreed that faithful communication of the meaning of the original writers demands frequent modifications in sentence structure (resulting in a “thought-for-thought” translation) and constant regard for the contextual meanings of words.

In 1973 the New Testament was published. The Committee carefully reviewed suggestions for revisions and adopted a number of them, which they incorporated into the first printing of the entire Bible in 1978. Additional changes were made in 1983.


New International Reader’s Version Story

In August, 1991, Zondervan Publishing House wrote guidelines for developing a simplified version of the Bible to be based on the New International Version (NIV). The new version would be at a readability level of third or fourth grade and would be intended as a stepping-stone to the New International Version. The board of the International Bible Society voted to begin the project early in 1992.

In March, 1992, a committee met in Colorado Springs to set up the working guidelines. Once the “simplifiers” had been recruited, training sessions were held and the process began. Fourteen denominations were represented by the forty translators and simplifiers of the Bible. Many of the translators had also worked on the NIV. All work went through a final review by an Old Testament scholar, a New Testament scholar, and an educator.

While constant reference was made to original manuscripts, the translators used the words of the NIV wherever possible. When questions arose, Greed and Hebrew scholars were consulted to help formulate what the earlier texts said and meant. The team used synonyms for some words and explained words that might not be easily understood. They also worked hard to use shorter and simpler sentences.

The initial simplification of all of the books of the Bible was completed in early 1994. In March of that year the New Testament was completed, and the painstaking review and proofing process began. The name New International Reader’s Version (NIrV) was announced by the International bible Society in august, 1994. The Old Testament was completed by the end of 1995, and the complete Bible was published in the fall of 1996. A revised edition was published in the fall of 1998, incorporating more traditional use of gender language and thus more closely matching the NIV.

Readability studies have verified that the NirV was translated at a third grade reading level, making it the ideal choice for children and adults who are learning to read, adults who are unacquainted with the Bible, and readers for whom English is a second language.


King James Version Story

In 1603 James I, already king of Scotland, ascended to the throne of English. He was presented with a petition containing grievances of the Puritan party. A conference was called at Hampton Court in 1604 to hear the complaints. At this conference Dr. John Reynolds, an Oxford scholar and Puritan leader, raised the subject of the imperfections of available Bibles. King James himself became interested in the idea of a new translation, to be done by university scholars, reviewed by bishops, and ratified by himself. James was displeased with the Geneva Bible, which he felt undermined the theory of divine right of kings and contained marginal notes that made it unacceptable to the church leaders.

King James appointed six panels of translators (about fifty men) to revise and translate assigned portions of the Old Testament, Apocrypha (which was at the time included in all Bibles), and the New Testament. The complete work was reviewed by a group of twelve, consisting of two men from each panel, after which the work was sent to bishops and leading churchmen for approval. Among the translators were some of the finest scholars of the day. The revisers/translators, while not paid for their efforts, were granted free room and board.

The Bishops’ Bible was used as the basis for this revision/translation, but it was also examined in the light of Hebrew and Greek documents, as well as compared with all other contemporary translations in various European languages. The work began in 1607, and in 1611 the new bible was published. The Authorized Version – commonly referred to in America as the King James Version (KJV) – was dedicated to King James.

The AV was printed three times during the year of initial publication. The early editions contained a significant number of misprints and variations in wording and spelling. During the course of time the spelling in the earlier editions was modified, the chapter summaries were reduced, and the marginal references expanded. Revisions were made in 1613, 1629, and 1638, but it was the revisions made at Cambridge in 1762 and at Oxford in 1769 that modernized its spelling so that it may be read with relative ease in our day.

Two things made the KJV (AV) trustworthy: It was developed by a committee of scholars, and it represented a majority point of view. The scholars were able to build on the labors of many generations of Bible translators, and the revisers were able to draw from the recent growth in literary standards in the English language. The result was a work of excellent English prose.

But far greater than the literary significance has been the religious significance of this translation. The KJV has been the standard translation of millions for several hundred years. Despite its merits, however, the KJV would not remain unchallenged forever. Not only did the English language continue to develop, but early manuscripts of the Bible were discovered that have led to great improvement of the Biblical texts, especially in the Greek New Testament.