Bible Versions

What the world needs is yet another translation/version/paraphrase of the Bible.

Of course you know I’m kidding. I just now took stock: I have nine print versions -- not counting The Interlinear Bible (literal Hebrew/Greek/English translation). Several additional ones are available on a CD reference I bought.

I use them all (except the CD documents) -- some more than others. Probably my favorites are the good Old King James Version, the New King James Version (the preference of my late older brother, who was a Methodist preacher) and Kenneth Taylor’s Living Bible paraphrase. I’m in the habit of keeping one version handy for a few weeks or a month, then replacing it with another. The idea is that this gives me an always-fresh approach to scripture reading.

But while it’s interesting to compare wording and it’s probably useful to “stay fresh,” I’ve begun rethinking the practicality of my “biblical diversity.” I perceive sensible rationale for being a one-Bible Christian. A problem I’ve encountered with using multiple editions comes in underlining and marginal note taking. I have passages emphasized in all nine versions -- which means I probably never will rediscover a lot of my marked verses. It also means I lose time trying to locate passages I know I’ve marked . . . somewhere. I might recall that I once highlighted a salient verse in a certain book of the Bible, and that the verse occurs early or late in the book, but I can’t recall which version of the Bible I marked it in.

Another dilemma comes during group studies of the Bible and books with biblical subjects. It’s occasionally helpful for us to scrutinize the wording of central study passages among varied translations, but as often as not it’s distracting and confusing.

Which is why, when the next version of the Bible is announced, I’ll be less than eager to add it to my collection.