How to Read Your Bible 101Sample

As a pastor, one of the questions that comes up frequently is about Bible translations. Which one should we read? Why is there more than one translation? Is one good and the others evil? I normally smile and tell them to read the one they have. But to answer the question, the Bible wasn’t originally written in English. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was written in Greek. Most of us don’t speak Hebrew or Greek, so a translation is required for us to read our Bible. When translating, there are challenges in language, sentence structure, and culture. There are two primary philosophies that translators have to use or balance when translating. They are balancing word-for-word accuracy and clarity of meaning. This is often referred to as word-for-word translations and thought-for-thought translations. To help understand the difference between these let's look at a simple Spanish to English translation. As a kid, I was told how to say thank you in Spanish. The answer was “gracias”. So the following question is how do you say “you are welcome”? The answer I was given was “De Nada”. While that is true, it has a different actual meaning “of nothing” or “it’s nothing”. Which is much closer to the Australian response of “no worries”. So what is the proper way to translate De Nada? Do I translate it functionally as “you’re welcome” or literally as “it’s nothing”? When translating the Bible they are trying to decide on the meaning of the verse and the literal meaning of each word. Translations like KJV, NKJV, NASB, and ESV aim to be word-for-word translations while NIV, NLT, TLB, and many others are thought-for-thought translations. Most of them aim for a blend of the two methods. Sometimes going word-for-word catches details that would otherwise be lost in translation, while other times the thought-for-thought can make the picture much clearer so that we can catch it. If you want to study deeply, look for a word-for-word translation. If you want an easier read and understanding, then a thought-for-thought can be a good option. As you read in YouVersion, you have access to many different translations. If you read a passage and want to dive deeper into it, checking different translations can be helpful.

As we mentioned yesterday, Matthew is a great place to start. If you are new to the Bible, the first 17 verses are a list of names and you may not know who they are. After reading the Old Testament they become a powerful fulfillment of prophecy and a lesson on God’s grace. But for now, you can start in verse 18. As you read through Matthew, mark any spot where you see a prophecy fulfilled or mentioned. It is really amazing how much God had spelled out for His people to recognize Jesus when He came.