Love Letters: How Many Ways
#3 in the Series: Daddy, It's Me--Conversations of an Ordinary Person with an Extraordinary Heavenly Father
In our electronic
society, is it now easier than ever to have access to many translations of
God’s love letter to us. Comparing these
translations can give us new insights and depths of meaning that we might
otherwise miss. In my own exploration in
the the original languages it seems that one translator chooses
one shade of meaning, while another has a different preference. By comparing the translations it gives you
nuances in meaning that you might otherwise be unaware of. (No, I am not a Hebrew or Greek scholar, I use Strong’s Concordance,
but that is a subject for another time.)
Here is a list of
some of my favorite translation and versions of God's love letter:
KJV—I grew up with
the King James Version and much of the scripture that I have committed to
memory is in that version. When I’m looking for a particular scripture I often have to use the King James to find it
because of the specific words I’m looking for.
NASB—While I was in
college the New American Standard Bible became popular and that was the one
that I became familiar with. This was
the version which I read completely through, year after year for five years or
more. This was the version that gave me the overall picture of the Bible.
NIV—When the New
International Version came out, I really loved its clarity and more
understandable language and it was touted as more accurate than the American
Standard. I used it for many, many years and still often default to it.
TLB—The Living Bible
is a paraphrase that was especially helpful when I was raising my two boys. It used contemporary language and even
American metaphors to convey the ideas.
It was not an actual translation.
NLT—The New Living
Translation has a lot of the advantages of the Living Bible’s contemporary
language while still being a translation.
TPT—My
new favorite contemporary language translation is The Passion Translation. It
really does reveal the passionate feeling that is present throughout much of
scripture which is missing in many of the other English translations. At this time it is only available for the New
Testament and Psalms and Proverbs.
ESV—Most recently I
have learned of the English Standard Version. It is supposed to be one of the
most accurate translations of the original languages. It is often very similar to the New
International Version.
AMP—I frequently
enjoy the Amplified Version because it presents a translation and then some
embellishments or multiple shades of meaning, all in one place.
It used to be that
one would have to either have multiple Bibles open or purchase a Parallel Bible
to be able to compare translations.
Now with the many apps available it is a simple matter of pushing a button
to select which translations you want to compare. My favorite apps for this purpose are YouVersion and The Blue
Letter Bible. Both have apps available
for Apple and Android.
Take for example 1
Corinthians 3:4
NIV: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not
envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.”
AMP: “Love endures with patience and serenity,
love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag
and is not proud or arrogant.”
TPT: “Love is large and incredibly patient. Love
is gentle and consistently kind to all. It refuses to be jealous when blessing
comes to someone else. Love does not brag about one’s achievements nor inflate
its own importance.”
ESV: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy
or boast; it is not arrogant”
JUB (Jubilee Bible): “Charity
suffers long and is benign; charity envies not; charity does nothing without
due reason, is not puffed up,”
EASY
(Easy English Bible 2018). “If I love, I will be patient. I will be kind. I
will not want to be like other people so much that I get angry with them. I
will not tell people how good I am. I will not think that I am better than
other people.”
There are many, many
others. According to the internet there are 450 English translations and over
2000 translations around the world.
Enjoy comparing your favorites to get a deeper meaning of God’s love
letter to you.
Then let me know what you found out!
