I rejoice to see…

that many of my brethren are apply themselves diligently to Bible study, preaching and teaching. I am also seeing more and more brethren who are buying English Bibles as well as Bibles in their home languages. There are so many different English versions of the Bible, choosing which one to buy might be very confusing. The purpose of this article is to help you choose wisely.

1. Choose a good translation.

The men who wrote the Old Testament spoke are wrote in their language, mainly Hebrew. The men who wrote the New Testament wrote in the most common language of that time which was Greek. As we here in South Africa know very well, a person who translates from one language to the other must be excellent in both languages. Even so, he can still make mistakes. The is why good translations were done by groups of men. These men checked each other to make sure that none of them made mistakes. They were also of different religious beliefs so that no one could get away with putting his false doctrine in to the translation. The only men who were allowed to work on these translations were men who believed that EVERY word of the Bible was given by the Holy Spirit and that EVERY word must be translated EXACTLY. These translations, called versions, are:

The King James Version (KJV) was translated in 1611. Because it was translated so long ago, some of the English words, such as “thee” and “thou” are no longer used today. These Bibles are usually inexpensive, but they can be difficult to understand, even for a person whose first language is English.

The New King James Version (NKJV) is a modern revision of the old King James Version. Most of the Bibles in African languages that I have seen, for example the 1959 Zulu, follow the word order of the New King James Version – and that makes it easier to compare the English with that African language when studying. I suggest that if you can visit a bookstore, take your home language Bible with you and compare it to this version and the other versions mentioned below to see which English Bible best “fits” your home language Bible.

The New American Standard Version (NASV) is another more modern translation that is very good. When this Bible was translated, some more ancient Greek manuscripts had been discovered that were not known of when the KJV was translated. This causes some very slight differences between it and the KJV/NKJV in a few verses. The word order is also slightly different – more in line with the English spoken in the USA. The older Northern Ndebele Bible of Zimbabwe follows the word order of this Bible. (The newer Ndebele Bible is based on the NIV. See below.)

The English Standard Bible is the most recent modern translation. I myself am not very familiar with it, but I know many brethren who find it very good. It is available for free download on your computer or phone. The word order of this Bible seems to be similar to the NKJV.

The New International Version (NIV) and International Children’s Bible (NCV) are different to the other versions I have mentioned up to now. The translators of these Bibles are serious Hebrew and Greek scholars who have tried to follow the same principles as those who did the other versions, only making the English simpler and/or easier to understand. However, in order to do this, they sometimes felt that they needed to translate more what they thought the Hebrew or Greek means more than what it actually literally says. Or perhaps, as in the Children’s Bible, they used several simple English words instead of one more difficult word. This makes it difficult to use Bible study tools such as Bible dictionaries and concordances with these Bibles. They are nice to have and to read as an aid to understanding, particularly in understanding difficult Old Testament passages, but in my opinion, they should not be the Bibles that you study from or preach from; it is best to focus on what God actually says!

If English is not your first language, I would recommend that you buy a Bible in your home language and compare it to the English as you study. If you find any differences, you can be pretty certain that the English is correct. Unfortunately, there are just not enough people in all the different language groups of Africa who know Hebrew, Greek and the relevant African language well enough to always do a really excellent job of translating.

2. Do not choose a paraphrase such as the Good News Bible, The Living Bible, The Amplified Bible, The Message Bible, etc.

A version is a strict translation of Hebrew and Greek into English. A paraphrase is a restatement in simpler English or an explanation of what someone believes the Hebrew and Greek is saying. Therefore, many errors creep in to paraphrases. For example, in Acts 20:7, the Good News Bible says that the disciples came together on “Saturday night” for a “fellowship meal,” whereas the Greek actually says that the disciples came together “on the first day of the week” to “break bread.” I personally would not use these Bibles. Many of the later southern African translations are based on the Good News English Bible. Please be careful, check what it says on the inside cover.

3. Do not use a “Bible” that was translated by men of just one denomination.

You can be sure the errors taught by that denomination are included in their “Bible”! For example, The New World Translation was done by the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

4. Study Bibles.

A study Bible is an ordinary Bible that comes with additional study aids. Study Bibles come in all the major versions. They are usually more expensive than plain Bibles, but are also usually made with a better binding such as leather or imitation leather that will last for many years. If you have the money, this is a wonderful investment. However, I want to stress that a study Bible is helpful, but not necessary. The power of God actually lies in the words He has spoken, Heb.4:12, Rom.1:16.

Here are some study aids that you might find in a study Bible.

In my opinion, the most valuable aid in a study Bible is cross-references. Next to the verses, there is, in small type, other Scriptures listed which tell about the same thing. For example, Mark 16:15 – “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature…” has this cross-reference: Mt.28:19. If you look up Mt.28:19, it says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” It is important to know everything that God says about a certain subject before coming to a conclusion about what one should believe and teach.

Another valuable aid to study is a concordance, found at the back of many study Bibles. Concordances help you find scriptures when you can remember a few key words, but do not remember where it is found. For example, if you look up baptized, you may find scriptures such as Mark 16:16 and Acts 2:38. However you may not find, for example, Acts 22:16. Unfortunately, there simply is not enough space to list every reference to baptism. At a later stage you may want to buy a separate, complete concordance, such as Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, which lists every Scripture reference for every word in the Bible, as well as giving you the corresponding Greek or Hebrew word.

A Bible dictionary is also found in the back of some Bibles. This gives the meaning of difficult Bible words. For example, my Bible’s dictionary lists the word covenant and says the it is “a binding agreement.” It also tells about Bible places such as Gethsemane: “A garden on the Mount of Olives where Jesus prayed and where He was betrayed by Judas (Mt.26:36, Mk.14:32).”  Again, due to lack of space, not every word will be listed.

In recent years, really comprehensive Study Bibles have been developed such as Nelson’s KKJV Study Bible, Holman’s study Bible, the ESV Study Bible, the Open Bible, the Life Application Bible, etc. They include historical and archaeological notes, charts, maps, pictures, time-lines, and introductions to the books (such as author, recipients, time of writing and the major points). Unfortunately, they also tend to contain “study notes,” which is actually a brief commentary. (A commentary is a man’s view of what certain scriptures mean, especially scriptures that seem hard to understand.) Commentaries tend to explain how the meaning of certain scriptures can be twisted so that they fit the doctrinal bias of the person writing them. For example, the Nelson NKJV study Bible attempts to explain why women can speak in churches when 1 Cor.14:34 says women are to keep silent. For a detailed review of the ESV Study Bible, view this website: https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/1456-english-standard-version-study-bible-a-review-the

I would really suggest that you buy a study Bible that does not contain study notes, or if you do buy one with study notes, use the charts, maps, etc., but do not even look at the notes until you have studied properly: you have looked up the meanings of words you do not understand, looked up cross-references to see what else God says about this subject, and have come to a conclusion on what God is actually saying. Personally, I use an ordinary Bible with cross-references, use the concordances and Bible dictionaries on E-Sword for Bible study, and look up map information on the internet. For more information on how to do this, please click here.

Brethren, I hope this article will help you spend your money wisely. Most of all, I hope it will encourage you to spend your time wisely by studying God’s word every day.

Les Maydell 1996, revised 2019.