Have you ever wondered where we get translations of the Bible from? Or hear someone claim that the Bible can’t be trusted because it has been changed or things have been lost through out the years of it being passed down? Well lets look at the order of things and see where we get our translations from(At least for the English speaking world)
(Original Manuscripts)... These do not exist or if they do we have no idea where they are.
Starting with the oldest copies, we have:
(Most Ancient Copies) Date back around the 2nd Century.
(Ancient Copies) People keep finding older ones all the time.
The Septuagint: This is the Old Testament translated into Greek around 285 B.C.
Vulgate: Old and New Testament translated into Latin around 400 A.D. It was used for 1,000 years for the Catholic Church.
Wycliffe: New Testament into common English from the Latin around 1380 A.D.
Tyndale: New Testament into English around 1525 A.D. and the Pentateuch around 1530 A.D. these did not lean upon the Latin as much as the Greek from the (Ancient Copies).
The Great Bible: Was made around 1539 A.D. and was based on other Bibles like the Mathews, Coverdale, and Tyndale Bibles. The Matthews leaned on the Tyndale translations and so did the Coverdale. Out of those three only the Tyndale was based on some of the Greek.
The Geneva Bible: Made around 1560 A.D. and heavily leaned upon the Matthews Bible, which was based on Tyndale's translation.
The Bishop's Bible: Made around 1568 A.D. and was based upon the Geneva Bible. It was not in this Bible, but the Council of Trent in 1500s is when the Roman Catholic Church added the Apocrypha.
King James Bible: Made in 1611. This was not based from the (Original Manuscripts), (Most Ancient Copies), or the (Ancient Copies) but was based upon the Bishop's Bible and Geneva Bible. A lot of people hold that the KJV is the best of the best Bibles because “it holds to the Greek and Hebrew” but this is not necessarily true because it is mostly based from the Bishop's Bible and Geneva Bible. The Dead Sea scrolls were not found until 1947 and 1956.
The Revised Version: was made around 1881-85 it had a great advantage over the rest because they had contact with the (Most Ancient Copies) of the Original Copies.
Later when they found the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 and 1956 much better copies were able to be made, but the most fascinating thing about all of this is when they found the Dead Sea Scrolls all of the Bibles that are mentioned above, that are based on the Greek and Hebrew, hold true to the Greek and Hebrew... and now we can enjoy versions like NASB, NKJV, ESV, and NIV. God’s word has never been lost even when checked against the recent finds of ancient articles everything has stayed the same.
Verses that sometimes cause question:
John 7:52-8:11 was not fully accepted in the book of John until the 12th century.
1 John 5:7 with the words FATHER, WORD, AND HOLY SPIRIT" is a disputed verse rather it should be accepted most newer versions of the bible take those words out because they were not added until the 12th Century
MARK 16:9-20 was not accepted until 2-4 Century. Compared it to (Hebrews 2:1-4; Romans 15:19; 2 Corinthians 12:12). There are many other "endings" that were made up to "fix" the book of Mark. The reason for all of this is because Mark never really finished his book.
"The ending" of the LORDS prayer "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen." is not found in early manuscripts of the Greek but can be found in 1 Chronicles 29:11-13
Besides those few things here are some of God’s own promises to us about His Word.
Matthew 5:18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.- Jesus
Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.- Jesus
But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void. (Luke 16:17)
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:8)
Rev 22:18-19 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
I personally would stay within these four translations: NASB, NKJV, ESV, and NIV. These particular translations stay true to the Hebrew and Greek. They are what we call a “word for word” translation or “thought for thought” translation.
Order of manuscripts to translation:
Thompson, Frank Charles. "The Origin and Growth of the English Bible." The New Chain-reference Bible: Containing Thompson's Original and Complete System of Bible Study, including a Complete Numerical System of Chain References, Analyses of Books, Outline Studies of Characters, and Unique Charts. To Which Has Been Added a New Valuable Series of Pictorial Maps, Archaeological Discoveries, Together with Many Other Features. Self-pronouncing Text. Compiled and Edited by Frank Charles Thompson. Fourth ed. Indianapolis: B.B. Kirkbride Bible, 1964. pages 180-81. Print.
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