Choosing a Translation - Andy Naselli

Yesterday Greek scholar Andy Naselli shared a post on choosing Bible Translations. In it he weighs a number of resources which seek to help readers pick a version of the Scriptures, and ends up favoring one in particular.

“...one book stands out as the best all-around resource on Bible translation that I’m aware of:

Gordon D. Fee and Mark L. Strauss. How to Choose a Translation for All Its Worth: A Guide to Understanding and Using Bible Versions. 

It has at least seven strengths:

1. It’s accurate. It’s sufficiently nuanced, and it’s linguistically informed. (The authors have written on Bible translation and worked on Bible translations—most recently the updated NIV as members of the prestigious CBT.)
2. It’s clear. It’s easy to understand.
3. It’s accessible. A seventh-grader could easily understand it (as Bruce Waltke notes below).
4. It’s concise. It’s not wordy, and it’s short—only 170 pages. And it has many logical headings (see the outline below).
5. It’s fair. It courteously explains different views without mocking them or their opponents.
6. It’s thoughtful. Its tone is appropriately sober without being alarmist.
7. It’s practical. It’s filled with common-sense observations and applications.”

You can read the rest of this post here.