The Most Accurate Bible Translations (According to Scholars)

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

The Bible is the most-read and translated book in history, with countless editions published annually to meet global demand. According to widely cited estimates, more than 100 million copies of the Bible are sold or distributed each year. 

This immense proliferation underscores not only the spiritual and cultural significance of the Bible, but the critical importance of its translations. With such widespread circulation, ensuring the accuracy of these translations becomes paramount.

This article delves into the quest for the most accurate Bible translation, a topic of great importance to scholars and lay readers alike. 

We’ll explore the historical trajectory of the best Bible translations, beginning with the earliest renditions and progressing through the rich history of English translations, from John Wycliffe to contemporary versions such as the New International Version (NIV) and the English Standard Version (ESV).

By examining the sources and methodologies behind these translations, we aim to identify which versions scholars consider the most accurate and why this precision matters in both academic and non-academic contexts. 

Ancient Manuscripts: The Foundation of Biblical Translation

One of the critical challenges in translating the Bible is the absence of the original texts, known as autographs. What we have instead are numerous manuscripts, some of which date back to the early centuries of the Common Era.

Hebrew manuscripts are the primary sources for translating the Old Testament. Among the most significant are:

Discovered between 1947 and 1956 near the Dead Sea, these scrolls date from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE. They include portions of almost every book of the Hebrew Bible. To discover how scholars used innovative technologies to recover these manuscripts, check out an excellent documentary available here. 

The Masoretic Text (MT) is the result of the work by Jewish scribes known as the Masoretes, who, between the 7th and 10th centuries C.E., compiled and preserved the Hebrew Bible. Interestingly enough, they added vowel markings, accents, and annotations to the consonantal text to ensure accurate transmission and pronunciation of the Hebrew Bible.

The Aleppo Codex, dating to the 10th century C.E., and the Leningrad Codex, dating to the 11th century C.E., are among the oldest and most complete manuscripts of the Masoretic Text. That, of course, makes them among the oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible. 

For the New Testament, translators rely on the available Greek manuscripts. Scholars have access to more than 5,800 of them, most of which date from the Middle Ages. However, a substantial number are from earlier periods. 

This extensive manuscript tradition far surpasses that of other ancient texts. For instance, Homer's "Iliad", according to Clay Jones’ article, is preserved in only about 1,800 manuscripts, most from a much later date than the original composition. 

The vast collection of manuscripts allows biblical scholars to compare and contrast variations to reconstruct the most likely original text. 

However, the sheer number of manuscripts doesn’t necessarily equate to the historical reliability or accuracy of the events described. 

In other words, the large quantity of manuscripts facilitates textual criticism but doesn’t inherently validate the historical claims within the texts. In any case, the New Testament manuscripts can be divided in the following manner: 

The earliest New Testament manuscripts are fragmentary and some of them (e.g. P45) date to the first half of the 3rd century. Despite their fragmentary nature, these papyri provide critical insights into the earliest textual forms of the New Testament and help scholars reconstruct the original wording.

However, they are quite different from modern books. For instance, these early manuscripts don’t use small letters, spaces between the words, or even spaces between different sentences. Additionally, they have no chapter-by-chapter division. I remember reading through some of those during my doctoral studies. It was quite a challenge! 

These 4th-century manuscripts are among the oldest complete copies of the New Testament. They are written in the form of a codex which, unlike the scroll, had many practical advantages. Eventually, the codex became the dominant form from which the modern book format emerged. 

Furthermore, Codex Vaticanus reveals another important feature. As Bart D. Ehrman and Bruce Metzger note in The Text of the New Testament: “The oldest system of capitulation that is known to us is that preserved in the margins of Codex Vaticanus (B) of the fourth century. In this manuscript, there are 170 sections in Matthew, 62 in Mark, 152 in Luke, and 50 in John.” (Affiliate Disclaimer: We may earn commissions on products you purchase through this page at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our site!)

By leveraging these ancient manuscripts, translators strive to produce versions of the Bible that reflect the most accurate representation of the original texts. However, the beginnings of the English Bible translations were challenging, often intertwined with resistance to the prevailing Catholic Church and its norms. 

Before we delve deeper into the issue of English translations of the Bible, it's helpful to summarize the key information about some of the most significant versions.

The table below provides an overview of each translation, including the sources used and key features that define them. This information will give us a foundational understanding as we explore their historical and scholarly contexts.

History of English Bible Translations

My students sometimes assume that the task of translating from ancient to modern languages is akin to a mechanical process with clear-cut rules and guidelines. 

However, the reality is far more complex. Each translation inevitably involves a degree of interpretation, given that there is seldom a direct one-to-one correspondence between ancient Hebrew and Greek and modern English.

Before translating a single word, we must interpret its meaning within its proper context. Words derive their nuanced meanings from their dynamic relationships with other words, making context essential. Every phrase, clause, and idiom must be interpreted correctly before it can be accurately translated into English.

As Daniel B. Wallace notes in his article, “The History of the English Bible”: “At every turn, the translator is faced with interpretative decisions in different manuscript readings, grammar, syntax, the specific semantic possibilities of a Hebrew or Greek word for a given context, English idiom, and the like.”

John Wycliffe and the Bible Translation

The first complete version of the Bible in English emerged from the efforts of John Wycliffe (c. 1330-1384), an Oxford theologian known for his outspoken criticism of the Catholic Church. Wycliffe distinguished between a spiritual ("true") Church and a material ("unworthy") Church, advocating for the supremacy of civil authority over ecclesiastical power.

His revolutionary ideas extended to the accessibility of the Scriptures, which, as he claimed, should be available to all people, not just the clergy. 

With the assistance of his colleagues John Purvey and Nicholas of Hereford, Wycliffe embarked on the monumental task of translating the Bible from Latin into English. He firmly believed that "Holy Scriptures is the faith of the Church, and the more widely its true meaning becomes known the better it will be."

Wycliffe's conviction that the Bible should be taught in the vernacular language led to the production of two different translations: The Early Version, a word-for-word translation, and the Later Version, which took a more sense-by-sense approach.

However, Wycliffe's translations weren’t based on the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts but on Jerome's Latin Vulgate (c. 382-405 C.E.).

This reliance on the Vulgate introduced several limitations. For instance, Daniel Wallace highlights a significant issue: Latin grammar lacks the definite article, a feature that occurs almost 20,000 times in the Greek New Testament and is crucial for understanding many passages. The absence of this grammatical element in Latin led to a loss of the original meaning in numerous instances.

Moreover, Wycliffe's Bible inadvertently inherited some of Jerome's doctrinal biases. Jerome was known for aligning his translations with the Church's doctrinal positions. 

A notable example is his translation of Jesus' words in Matthew 3:2. Jerome rendered “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” as “Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” to support the sacrament of Penance.

While Wycliffe's Bible had its shortcomings, it marked a significant milestone in making the Scriptures accessible to English speakers. Its impact was profound and set the stage for future translations that would strive for greater accuracy by returning to the original languages.

William Tyndale's Bible Translation

The greatest figure in the history of translating the Bible into English is undoubtedly William Tyndale (c. 1494–1536), whose pioneering work laid the foundation for all subsequent English translations. Tyndale, an Oxford and Cambridge scholar, was a gifted linguist fluent in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Italian, German, and English.

Unlike his predecessor John Wycliffe, whose translation had been largely suppressed by Tyndale's time, Tyndale had no English precedents to guide him. He was a true pioneer in every sense, as he noted: “I had no man to counterfeit [imitate], neither was helped with English of any that had interpreted the same or such like thing in the Scripture beforetime.” 

Tyndale’s mission to translate the Bible began in 1522. However, the bishop of London refused to permit it, likely due to the recent burning of Martin Luther's works in 1521. Undeterred, Tyndale moved to Germany in 1524 to continue his work.

Crucially, Tyndale worked directly with the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, unlike Wycliffe, who relied on the Latin Vulgate. Tyndale's New Testament was first printed in 1525 and faced immediate opposition in England, with copies being burned in 1526. 

Despite this, he continued his work, translating the Pentateuch and Psalms by 1530 and Jonah by 1531. 

At the time of his death, he had completed translating the New Testament and the Old Testament up to the end of 2 Chronicles, including Jonah. 

Tragically, Tyndale was arrested near Brussels in 1535 and executed in 1536. His final prayer reportedly was: “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.”

Tyndale’s translations were groundbreaking. For the New Testament, he relied on Erasmus’ Greek New Testament, first published in 1516, which itself was based on eight different manuscripts, none earlier than the 12th century.

There is some debate among scholars regarding his Old Testament sources. While some speculate that he used Hebrew manuscripts, others believe he may have depended on the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) 

The historical and linguistic value of Tyndale's work can’t be overstated. C. S. Lewis famously praised Tyndale as "the best prose writer of his age,” thus highlighting the enduring quality of his translations. Tyndale's work not only provided a foundation for subsequent translations but also shaped the very idiom of “Biblical English.”

His influence is particularly evident in the King James Version to which we turn our attention now. 

King James Bible

The King James Version (KJV) of the Bible emerged in response to a chaotic state of English biblical translations in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. During this period, several English versions competed for dominance, leading to a lack of consistency and authority in the texts used. 

Much like how Pope Damasus I tasked Jerome with revising existing Latin versions to create the Vulgate, King James I sought to produce a standardized English version that would be “authorized” and eventually supplant other translations.

The initiative for this new Bible translation was set in motion at the Hampton Court Conference in 1604.

Responding to a petition highlighting the inadequacy of earlier translations, King James I commissioned a new version. Fifty-four scholars from Oxford, Cambridge, and Westminster were organized into teams, each assigned specific sections of the Bible to translate.

The KJV was based primarily on the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament and Erasmus’ edition of the Greek New Testament.

Moreover, In his book Wide as the Waters, Benson Bobrick notes that the translators made extensive use of earlier English versions, with approximately 80 percent of the New Testament aligning with William Tyndale's earlier work.

WHAT IS THE MOST ACCURATE BIBLE TRANSLATION? An Intro to Modern Translations and Sources

Unlike pre-modern Bible translations, modern translations have the significant advantage of access to a far greater number of manuscript sources. One of the most crucial discoveries was made by Constantin von Tischendorf in 1844 when he found the Codex Sinaiticus at Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai.

Additionally, the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought to light ancient papyrus manuscripts, particularly of the New Testament. The Chester Beatty Papyri includes P46, a manuscript from around 200 C.E. that contains Paul's letters, while the Bodmer Papyri includes P66, a portion of the Gospel of John dating from the same period. 

These discoveries have significantly enhanced our understanding of early biblical texts and stimulated efforts to produce the most accurate Bible translation.

Furthermore, the rise of historical-critical scholarship on the Bible in the 19th and 20th centuries spurred a desire among scholars for critical texts of the Bible in the original Hebrew and Greek. A critical edition of the Bible contains a text that, in the judgment of scholars, best approximates the earliest available form of what was written. 

Given the multitude of manuscripts for both the Old and New Testaments, scholars have developed textual methods for deciding between variant readings and interpreting the best bible translation possible.

They include counting the weight, not the quantity, of evidence; preferring shorter readings based on the tendency of scribes to expand texts rather than shorten them; and choosing the harder reading, as scribes often modified texts to align with what they thought they should say. To learn more about these methods, I recommend you check out Bart D. Ehrman’s excellent book The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture. 

The most widely used critical edition of the New Testament is based on the work of Eberhard Nestle (1851–1913). He devised a text based on the agreement of two versions among previous scholarly editions, such as those by von Tischendorf.

This comprehensive approach ensures that modern translations are based on the best available sources and methodologies, thus striving to achieve the most accurate Bible translation possible. Let’s take a look now at the best Bible translations. 

New Standardized Version (NIV)

The New International Version (NIV) is one of the most widely read and respected modern translations of the Bible. First published in 1978, the NIV was produced by an international team of over 100 scholars from various evangelical denominations.

The goal was to create a translation that was both accurate to the original languages and easily comprehensible in contemporary English.

For the Old Testament, the NIV translators primarily relied on the Masoretic Text, as published in the latest editions of the Biblia Hebraica. Additionally, the translators consulted the Dead Sea Scrolls, which contain material reflecting an earlier stage of the Hebrew text. Other sources included the Samaritan Pentateuch and ancient scribal traditions that provided insights into textual changes and variations.

Regarding the sources for the New Testament, Ralph Earl explains in Making of the NIV: "It was basically that found in the United Bible Societies’ and Nestle’s printed Greek New Testaments, which contain the latest and best Greek text available.”

Furthermore, in cases of variant readings, the translators were instructed to carefully weigh the evidence and make informed decisions. This meticulous process aimed to produce the most accurate Bible translation which also reflects the best scholarly consensus on the original New Testament writings.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The New American Standard Bible (NASB) is renowned for its commitment to a literal, word-for-word translation of the Scriptures. First published in 1971 by the Lockman Foundation, the NASB was developed by a team of conservative scholars from various denominations who aimed to provide an accurate and reliable translation that adhered closely to the original languages.

For the Old Testament, the NASB translators relied heavily on the Masoretic Text which was then cross-referenced with other sources, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint.

The New Testament translation of the NASB was based on the critical Greek text — primarily the 26th edition of the Nestle-Aland “Novum Testamentum Graece.” As mentioned, Nestle-Aland’s Greek New Testament utilizes a wide range of ancient manuscripts, including early papyrus fragments and major codices such as the Codex Sinaiticus. 

The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

In his book The English Bible: A History of Translation, Frederick F. Bruce notes that the history of the revised version of the Bible began in England in the late 19th century when Dr. Samuel Wilberforce, the Bishop of Winchester, submitted a motion for the revision of the King James Version (KJV). 

This initiative aimed to address various inaccuracies and outdated language in the KJV, leading to the creation of the Revised Version (RV), published in the late 19th century. Building on this tradition of revision and improvement, the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) was developed to provide a contemporary and inclusive translation of the Bible.

The NRSV, first published in 1989, was developed by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches. It aimed to be a more accurate and accessible translation than its predecessors, including the Revised Standard Version (RSV).

The NRSV is noted for its inclusivity, making deliberate efforts to use gender-neutral language where appropriate to reflect contemporary understandings and sensibilities. This approach has made the NRSV widely accepted in both academic and religious communities.

In crafting the NRSV, the translators used a wide range of ancient manuscripts to ensure the highest accuracy. For the Old Testament, they relied on the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, which is based on the Leningrad Codex

They also consulted the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Septuagint, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and other ancient sources to cross-check and verify the text.

For the New Testament, the NRSV translators used Nestle-Aland’s “Novum Testamentum Graece,” which incorporates a wealth of early manuscripts. 

English Standard Version (ESV)

The English Standard Version (ESV) is a relatively recent Bible translation, first published in 2001 by Crossway. This translation, as James A. Borland notes, is “a revision of the Revised Standard Version (RSV, 1946 NT, 1952 OT). Approximately 9% of the RSV has been modified, so the ESV does not differ greatly from the RSV.”

The ESV is known for its emphasis on "essentially literal" translation philosophy, thus aiming to retain the precise wording and structure of the original texts while ensuring clarity and readability in contemporary English. 

While clarity and readability were the goal, the “essentially literal” translation often creates a complicated style and sentence structures unfamiliar to lay audiences. 

Furthermore, the ESV has a great emphasis on doctrinal purity which means that in the cases of variant readings, theological accuracy is the “measuring stick.” Needless to say, this kind of “theological favoritism” reveals an important devotional bias that can reduce the quality of the translation.

In crafting the ESV, translators relied on the best available manuscripts and critical editions of the biblical texts. For the Old Testament, the primary source was the Masoretic Text, as found in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, based on the Leningrad Codex.

For the New Testament, the ESV was based on the Greek text of the 27th edition of the Nestle-Aland “Novum Testamentum Graece” and the 4th edition of the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament.

Jerusalem Bible

The Jerusalem Bible (JB) is a notable English translation of the Bible first published in 1966. This translation stands out due to its unique origins and methodology. 

Unlike many other modern translations that are directly based on the original Hebrew and Greek texts, the Jerusalem Bible was primarily translated from the French edition, “La Bible de Jérusalem,” which a team of French Dominican scholars completed in 1956.

While this approach means that the English version is not a direct translation from the original Hebrew and Greek texts, it still benefits from the rigorous scholarship that went into the French edition.

The French translators had worked extensively with the original languages, including the Hebrew Masoretic Text for the Old Testament and the Greek Textus Receptus and other critical Greek texts for the New Testament.

Conclusion

In exploring the history and sources of English Bible translations, we see a complex interplay of linguistic scholarship, historical context, and theological intention. Each translation, from Wycliffe's pioneering work to the meticulous efforts of modern scholars, contributes uniquely to our understanding of the Bible.

Among these, the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) stands out, in my opinion, as the most accurate Bible translation. However, it remains crucial for scholars and readers alike to reference the original Hebrew and Greek texts for a deeper understanding and to ensure the most precise interpretation. 

For those interested in further scholarly exploration of biblical texts, I highly recommend the online course “In the Beginning: History, Legend, and Myth in Genesis” by Dr. Bart D. Ehrman.

This course offers a fresh perspective on the book of Genesis, addressing questions such as whether history and archaeology corroborate events like Noah's flood or if these narratives are rooted in legend, myth, or something else.