The Bible version cage match: Round 1

Are you confused by all the different English versions of the Bible?  Do you wonder which translation is most accurate and easiest to understand.  Well, step right up, folks, and prepare to see a wonder.  In this post we are going to witness Round 1 of a no-holds-barred smack-down cage match between the best of the best in Bible translations.  The CEV and NLT translations were recently chosen tops for standard English out of 14 popular English translations. We’re going to set them loose in the ring and see who survives.

Standard English Bibles

In February, Wayne Leman at Better Bibles Blog published a comparison of English Bible versions.  According to Wayne, the study “evaluated whether or not specific wordings in several English Bible versions were in standard English.” Notice that he doesn’t say that the study was determining which versions were most accurate or which one your pastor likes or which version has the best marketing campaign.  It’s simply a study of standard English, that is English that most people would say is “proper.”

Some of the posts at Better Bibles Blog about this study are:

• Evaluating Standard English in Bible Versions
• Evaluating standard English in Bible versions: Part 2
• Timely Bible translation
• Comparing the NIV and TNIV for standard English

What I’d like to do in this post is begin taking a look at two of the versions that score above 90% on Wayne’s scale and try to address some concerns that people have about “idiomatic” or “paraphrase” translations.  The two translations that I’m going to look at are:

• The Contemporary English Version (CEV) with a score of 94%
• The New Living Translation (NLT) with a score of 91%

I’m going to compare these translations on one hand with the New International Version (NIV) with a score of 68% and The Message translation which wasn’t analyzed in Wayne’s study. 

I’ve also asked my blog sparring partner Rick Mansfield to join me in this series.  Rick and his wife are fans of the NLT and will be a helpful balance to my bias for the CEV.  Rick is a seminary student, English major, Sunday School teacher and soon-to-be father. Despite such conservative credentials, he shamelessly attempts to drive traffic to his blog by making comments about Britney Spears and Paris Hilton’s Kinkajou! Ironically, a photo of Rick’s ankle features prominently on one of the most popular posts on my blog.

If you’re wondering about my qualifications, I also am an English major and Sunday School teacher.  I’m a father of four and I work in Mozambique with a really huge Bible translation organization that forbids me to identify myself publicly as a member (Don’t even guess or I’ll delete your comment!!!).  I’m also a “Rev.” with a denomination that is normally associated with “classic Pentecostalism” so if you think only feminist, evolutionist liberal weirdos use “idiomatic” translations, think again! 

A Look At Psalm 7: Boring vs. Bizarre

Without further ado, let’s jump into our analysis of the CEV and NLT with a look at Psalm 7. The first thing you notice when reading Psalm 7 in either of these version is that they both are very easy to read.  With a few exceptions there is very little here that you wouldn’t say is standard English.  Here’s verse 1:

CEV: You, Lord God, are my protector. Rescue me and keep me safe from all who chase me.

NLT: I come to you for protection, O Lord my God. Save me from my persecutors–rescue me!

Now look at that verse in NIV and The Message:

NIV: O Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me.

The Message: God! God! I am running to you for dear life; the chase is wild.

All of these versions use what I would say is standard English.  The only possible exception might be “save and deliver me.” It would be more natural to say, “save me and deliver me.” But that is a minor quibble.  What is more important here is to consider our reaction to each of these versions.  While all of them are good English, the CEV and NIV seem just a little bit… boring.  That “rescue me!” in the NLT and the “I am running to you for dear life” in The Message communicate a sense of urgency and danger that is lacking in the others.  You can read the CEV and NIV versions on the other hand without sensing the Psalmist’s anxiety.

And this is one of my major struggles that I have had with reading the CEV.  I love the Psalms.  I read them everyday.  But CEV, while clear and natural and accurate just lacks poetry.  In comparison, imagine my reaction when I first read the Psalms in The Message.  Now, that is poetry!  Here’s the rest of verses 1 and 2 in The Message:

If they catch me, I’m finished:
ripped to shreds by foes fierce as lions,
dragged into the forest and left
unlooked for, unremembered. 

While such poetry is exhilarating it can leave you a bit uneasy.  Is this really an accurate translation of God’s Word?  Let’s take a look at a later example from verse 10:

CEV: You, God, are my shield, the protector of everyone whose heart is right.

NLT: God is my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right.

NIV: My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.

The Message: God in solemn honor does things right, but his nerves are sandpapered raw.

Wow, you were probably reading along on each of these versions and then, screeeech! Wait a minute!  What in the world is The Message talking about?!? I think the business of “nerves sandpapered raw” might be referring to  verse 11: “God who expresses his wrath every day” (NIV). This is the problem with poetic translations: they can sometimes go to far and make us question their reliability. 

So on one hand a translation written in standard English can be either too boring or too bizarre.  Let’s look at verse 14:

CEV: An evil person is like a woman about to give birth to a hateful, deceitful, and rebellious child.

NLT: The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies.

NIV: He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment.

The Message: Look at that guy! He had sex with sin, he’s pregnant with evil. Oh, look! He’s having the baby-A Lie-Baby!

I have to confess I love The Message translation of verse 14.  It really grabs you with “the message” even if it departs freely from the form of the original.  But while I can appreciate an idiosyncratic translation for helping us look at the word of God in a fresh way, my primary concern is in finding a Bible that is consistently clear and easy to understand.  For that reason, I can’t endorse The Message for use as a family Bible.  But on the other hand I find NIV to be really too difficult for my kids to understand.  What does “gives birth to disillusionment” mean? I suppose if I thought about it I could probably make some sense out of it but in my opinion you are much better off with a translation like CEV or NLT that is consistently easy to understand.  A few weeks ago, I was reading from the book of Proverbs.  There was a part my kids didn’t understand so I said, “Let’s see what it sounds like in NIV.” When I read it, they started laughing.  “What’s so funny?” I asked.  Our youngest, Ben, said, “They use funny words.” That in my opinion is the problem with an overly formal translation like NIV on one hand, and an overly free translation on the other: they both sound funny. And that’s no laughing matter.

Well, round 1 of our Bible version cage match has ended.  CEV took a licking for being boring.  The Message was accused of being bizarre.  NIV comes off looking like a guy in a tuxedo at a picnic and NLT hits it just about right.  Round 2 is going to be hosted by Rick at This Lamp.