Word Choice

Only God knows how many times Lana Davis has read the Bible from cover to cover, she said.

Davis committed her life to Christ in 1968 while watching a Billy Graham program on television, she said.

"I realized I made a huge mistake in my life and gave my heart to the Lord," the retired grandmother said. "At that point, I couldn't really read the Bible. I would try, and it just was so hard."

After a few years of struggling, she prayed to God, promising she would continue reading the Bible if he would help her understand it, she said. Today, Davis, a Fayetteville resident and member of Fellowship Bible Church of Northwest Arkansas in Rogers, estimates she's read the Bible front to back 25 to 35 times in numerous translations.

Her favorite is the Amplified Version, which provides synonyms for some words of Scripture to help the reader better understand the meaning. For example, Genesis 1:1 in this version reads: "In the beginning, God (prepared, formed, fashioned, and) created the heavens and the earth."

In 2013, Davis read the Everyday Life Bible, which used the Amplified text and provided study notes from Joyce Meyer, a best-selling author and president of her own Christian ministry. This year, Davis is reading a New King James Version of the Bible that is organized chronologically. Next year, she plans to read the New American Standard Bible using an inductive study method.

"You can't know God unless you read his word. And all the different versions make it fun," Davis said with a laugh.

THE RIGHT CHOICE

"We have almost an embarrassment of riches when it comes to Bible translations," said James Blankenship, associate professor of Biblical studies at John Brown University in Siloam Springs. "It's counterproductive to find one magic translation."

The Bible has at least 39 translations available in English alone. Of those translations, some Bibles include extensive study notes, maps, outlines and commentary, while others provide only references to related material. Still others are geared toward specific audiences: police officers, military personnel, sports fans, outdoorsmen, women, students.

"It's like buying a car. You can choose one with a radio, or you can choose one with a sound system," said Keith Newton, manager of LifeWay Christian Store in Rogers. "You've got to choose the one that works for you."

Newton recommended reading passages from several translations to figure out which one sounds the best and makes the most sense to the reader. Some Bibles read more eloquently, and some use more modern language but all have the same message, he said.

For example, the meaning of the well-known Bible verse John 3:16 doesn't change, even though the words and the sentence flow do in these three translations:

• "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." -- New International Version

• "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." -- King James Version

• "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." -- New Living Translation

After choosing the translation, the choice becomes whether to get a study, reference or niche Bible -- or all three. Newton encourages people to select a Bible they will use and read daily, he said.

"The knowledge is good, but the relationship is what you are looking for," he said.

If the decision becomes too difficult -- especially for a new Christian -- Newton recommended choosing the same version as one's church pastor.

"It's going to make more sense to you until you get to that point where you can say, 'It's the same thing,'" he said.

TRANSLATION PHILOSOPHIES

"Every Christian ought to have a good word-for-word and a good thought-for-thought translation," said Jeff Crawford, president of Cross Church School of Ministry and teaching pastor at Cross Church in Springdale. "A word-for-word translation is really good for personal study -- to study the word of God and know what it means. But sometimes you just want to read the Bible and enjoy it with as few barriers to understanding as possible. You're not trying to dissect. You just want to enjoy it as a story. That's where the thought-for-thought is very beneficial for a Christian."

The Bible was originally written in Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament). To reach the maximum number of people of the world, it has thus far been translated into more than 500 languages, according to youversion.com, a website that offers the Bible for free as an app for computers, smartphones and tablets.

The ancient languages don't translate perfectly into English -- or any other language -- so translators must choose whether they want to convey the exact words (word-for-word or "formal equivalence") or the central idea (thought-for-thought or "dynamic equivalence") of the original text, according to a Bible selection guide from LifeWay.

Crawford doesn't require a particular translation for the small group class he teaches Sunday mornings, he said. He used the Holman Christian Standard Bible in a study of Revelation and uses the English Standard Version in the current study on Moses, he said.

"All the translations are close enough you can follow along," Crawford said. "Some find it beneficial to have different versions in hand to see the nuances," he said of his small group members.

Blankenship at John Brown doesn't recommend a particular translation. He does, however, suggest choosing a translation that meets the following criteria: It comes from a large and varied committee, it prints poetry as poetry and it prints the text in paragraph form.

"When every verse looks like a paragraph, it's easy to take it in isolation," Blankenship said.

Reading only small bits of verse is one problem Blankenship sees with having access to the Bible on Twitter or on small smartphone screens, although he embraces the use of technology personally and for his students.

"More people can have more of the Bible with them more often," he said. "On the other hand, we shouldn't lose track that most of the books of the Bible are composed as books. I make a point to read one to three paragraphs at a time to get as full of a picture as I can. I don't want to lift just one line as if it isn't part of the larger book, as if it's not part of a larger presentation, as if it doesn't play a role in the whole book."

For Bible study, Blankenship suggests reading both word-for-word and thought-for-thought Bibles.

"If you're not going to learn the original language, this is a good way to go," he said. "The question is not 'Which one is right?,' the question is 'What original text could legitimately give rise to these translations?'"

Robbie Castleman, professor of Biblical studies at John Brown, said, among scholars, the New Revised Standard Version is considered the best English version of the Bible.

The translation team consisted of more than 30 men and women from various Protestant, Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Jewish backgrounds, and they used the oldest manuscripts available. The first version of this translation was published in 1989, and it is the most widely "authorized" translation by churches, including Protestant, Catholic and Greek Orthodox, according to biblegateway.com.

"It stands in the tradition of the Revised Standard Version, which came down to us from the original translation," Castleman said.

The Revised Standard Version -- published in parts during the mid-20th century -- is an authorized revision of the 1901 American Standard Version, which was a revision of the 1611 King James Version, according to biblegateway.com.

"The changes between the translations are small," Castleman said of the New Revised Standard Version and the Revised Standard Version. "The average Bible reader wouldn't notice. It never changes the story. There's never been an issue of big theological conundrum."

The changes include such things as grammar and sentence structure, she said.

The use of the ancient manuscripts -- the discoveries of which began in the mid-1800s -- sets the New Revised Standard Version apart from the others, Castleman said, even from the venerable King James Version.

"For its day, the King James Version was a pretty good translation, but the modern translations have a much better basis of original text, at least the (use of the) oldest documents. (Modern translations are) just more accurate," Castleman said.

"(The King James) has its nobility, and it reads beautifully," she added. "It was not the Bible Jesus used."

KING JAMES VERSION ONLY

Some Christians believe the modern translations of the Bible are inferior to the King James Version of the Bible. Their reasons include corrupt source material and a desire to hold on to the old ways and traditions, according to an essay by James R. White, author of "The King James Version Only Controversy."

Dennis Richards, pastor of Trinity Full Gospel Church in Springdale, said he prefers the King James Version of the Bible to the modern translations.

Those translations "took the strength out of the Bible to make it sound better," Richards said.

The softer wording of the modern translations doesn't put the fear of God in people as much as the King James Version does, he explained.

"If something is scary, people don't want anything to do with it," he said. "They don't want to change their ways. ... People keep doing (bad) things and keep asking for forgiveness."

Although it's his preference, Richards said using the King James Version isn't required for the congregation. Some members of his congregation use the New International Version, he said.

"It's great to use the NIV for studying to get an idea, but I tell them to come back to the King James Version. It's true to the real beginning of Jesus," he said.

Davis, who is on track to have this year's Bible read by the end of the year, said reading more than one translation has given her new insights to the Bible.

"I find something new in the Bible, not every day, but so often it's amazing since I've read it so much," she said.

Her advice to anyone having trouble reading the Bible, in any translation, is: Plow through it.

"Keep reading. Pray, and ask God to show you. He showed me and gave me a love for the Bible," Davis said.

"It's not religion; it's not denomination; it's not about memorizing scripture. It's a relationship. It's having a day-to-day walk with the Lord Jesus.

"Little by little, he's brought me closer and closer to him, to be able to rely on him and pray to him. And he answers my prayers. That's what's so astonishing. It is so overwhelming because you know he is really listening to you and he is watching over you.

"That's why we need to read the Word. We need to know him, and we need to know his character. That's the only place you can really get it. You can pick up a lot by going to Sunday school and going to church. That's essential, but reading it puts you on the fast track to knowing who he is," Davis said.