Why So Many Translations? · Handout
The many English translations are not a reason to doubt your Bible. Faithful scholars toiled over them, their differences come from four illuminating reasons, and a few translations side by side help you see God's Word more clearly.
Published October 17, 2026 · Updated October 17, 2026
Lesson Big Idea
If the Bibles don't agree, which one can I trust? Different translations aren't a reason to doubt. They're more guides beside you, and a few of them side by side help you see more of what God has said.
Core Thesis
The many English translations are not a reason to doubt your Bible. Faithful scholars toiled over them, their differences come from four illuminating reasons, and a few translations side by side help you see God's Word more clearly.
The Three Action Pairs
- Meditate and Obey
- Study and Apply
- Hear and Do
Key Scriptures
- Acts 8:26–35
- Ezra 7:10 and Nehemiah 8:8
- Luke 9:43–45 and Amos 4:6
- Psalm 8:3–6
- Colossians 1:13–14 and Ephesians 1:7
- 1 Peter 2:11–12
- Acts 2:5–11
What This Lesson Teaches
1. Translators are guides.
An official reading Isaiah asked Philip, "How can I ... unless someone guides me?" (Acts 8:31, BSB). Unless you read Hebrew and Greek, someone carried every word on your page into English.
2. The people behind your Bible.
- Nothing new: "even Jesus and the apostles utilized the Greek Septuagint in their reading of the Old Testament." Mark keeps Jesus' Aramaic, "Talitha koum!" and then gives its meaning (Mark 5:41, BSB).
- Teams of experts in the original languages, the old copies, translation and English, from many traditions: "a hedge of protection from theological prejudice."
- Ezra "had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, to practice it, and to teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel" (Ezra 7:10, BSB).
3. Four reasons translations differ.
| Reason | What it means |
|---|---|
| 1 · Approach | Word for word or thought for thought. |
| 2 · Interpretation | The same words, read two ways. |
| 3 · Manuscripts | A different Greek or Hebrew text. |
| 4 · English | Our language has changed. |
A big difference is a clue: it becomes one of your questions for the passage.
4. Word for word or thought for thought.
Translations sit along a translation spectrum: word for word (LSB, NASB, ESV, KJV, NKJV), balanced (BSB, CSB), thought for thought (NIV, NLT, NET). "Also, “literal” doesn’t necessarily mean “accurate.”"
| Luke 9:44 | Amos 4:6 | |
|---|---|---|
| BSB | "Let these words sink into your ears" | "cleanness of teeth and all your towns with lack of bread" |
| NIV | "Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you" | "I gave you empty stomachs in every city" |
| NLT | "Listen to me and remember what I say" | "I brought hunger to every city and famine to every town" |
The good eye (generosity; a bad eye is envy):
| Matthew 6:22 | Matthew 20:15 | Mark 7:22 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| KJV | "if therefore thine eye be single" | "Is thine eye evil, because I am good?" | "an evil eye" |
| NKJV | "If therefore your eye is good" | "Or is your eye evil because I am good?" | "an evil eye" |
| LSB | "if your eye is clear" | "Or is your eye envious because I am generous?" (footnote: Lit evil) | "envy" (footnote: Lit an evil eye) |
| BSB | "If your eyes are good" | "Or are you envious because I am generous?" | "envy" |
| ESV | "if your eye is healthy" | "Or do you begrudge my generosity?" | "envy" |
| NIV | "If your eyes are healthy" | "Or are you envious because I am generous?" | "envy" |
| NLT | "When your eye is healthy" | "Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?" | "envy" |
Paraphrases such as The Message sit past the far end: "Therefore, if you consult a paraphrase, treat it as you would a commentary."
5. The same words, read two ways.
The Hebrew elohim can mean God or other heavenly beings.
| Psalm 8:5 | Translations |
|---|---|
| "a little lower than the angels" | BSB, KJV, NKJV, NIV (LSB footnote: Or God) |
| "a little lower than the heavenly beings" | ESV |
| "only a little lower than God" | NLT |
"Clearly, any of the three translation choices could work, and a good argument can be made lexically and contextually for any of them." Hebrews applies the psalm to Jesus, "who was made a little lower than the angels" (Hebrews 2:9, BSB).
6. Different manuscripts, and why we can trust them.
"But don’t be dismayed; variants are usually exegetically insignificant, and no area of Christian doctrine rests upon a textual variant."
| Greek text | What it is | Translations |
|---|---|---|
| Critical text | Weighs the readings of all the manuscripts verse by verse | Most modern translations |
| Majority Text | The reading found in most surviving manuscripts | MSB |
| Textus Receptus | "Received Text": the printed Greek text of the 1500s | KJV, NKJV |
| Colossians 1:14 | |
|---|---|
| BSB (MSB the same) | "in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." |
| KJV | "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" |
| NKJV | "in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." |
The phrase "is found in only a few late New Testament manuscripts yet is represented in the Textus Receptus." It is secure in Ephesians 1:7: "In Him we have redemption through His blood" (Ephesians 1:7, BSB).
7. English keeps changing.
| KJV (1611) | BSB | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Peter 2:12 | "Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles" | "Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles" |
| 2 Corinthians 8:1 | "Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia" | "Now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the churches of Macedonia" |
The King James translators: "Therefore, as S. Augustine saith, that variety of Translations is profitable for the finding out of the sense of the Scriptures."
8. Your translation toolbox.
Keep a Bible you love, and read its preface. For study, open three or four from different parts of the Translation Map (on the Translation Toolbox sheet, free at bensonacademy.com).
| The Scholar's Set | The Devotional and Discipleship Set |
|---|---|
| LSB or NASB: close study of words and grammar | ESV or BSB: daily reading and study |
| CSB or NIV: your reading Bible, to follow the argument | NKJV or KJV: keeps the words and idioms; follows the Textus Receptus |
| KJV or NKJV: shows where the Textus Receptus differs | NIV: the main idea, after a close reading |
| NET: translators' notes explain the hard choices | NLT: natural English; read it like a commentary |
| TLV: Jewish names, idioms and setting | |
| AMP: a word's range of meaning, spelled out |
At Pentecost each heard "in his own native language" (Acts 2:8, BSB): "we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" (Acts 2:11, BSB).
Main Takeaways
- Different translations are more guides, not a reason to doubt.
- Careful scholars, checking one another, made the Bible you hold.
- Translations differ for four reasons: the approach, the interpretation, the manuscripts and the English.
- No area of Christian doctrine rests on a disputed reading.
- Keep a Bible you love; study with three or four from different parts of the map.
Reflection Questions
- Which Bible do I read most, and where does it sit on the Translation Map?
- Which of the four reasons was new to me?
- What did I notice when I read across the good-eye table?
- Who could I help this week to trust their Bible more?
This Week's Response
How is God inviting you to live out this abiding principle this week?
- Read the full lesson page on your own; it covers more than the class had time for.
- Read the preface of the Bible you use most.
- Choose three or four translations and read Ephesians 1:3–14 in all of them. Mark one difference and ask which reason is at work.
- Write one step of obedience you will take this week: ______________________________________
Memory Line
Meditate and Obey. Study and Apply. Hear and Do.
This is how we abide in Christ. This is how we demonstrate our love for God.
Scripture quotations marked Berean Standard Bible (BSB) or Majority Standard Bible (MSB) are taken from texts that have been dedicated to the public domain. Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version, public domain in the United States.
Scripture quotations marked "ESV" are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright © 2014, Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked LSB are taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc.