Summary of American King James Version [AKJV]
This Bible is the American King James Version.
English Bibles
American Standard Version [ASV]
The American Standard Version
Summary
The Revised Version, Standard American Edition of the Bible, more commonly known as the American Standard Version (ASV), is a version of the Bible that was released in 1901. It was originally best known by its full name, but soon came to have other names, such as the American Revised Version, the American Standard Revision, the American Standard Revised Bible, and the American Standard Edition. By the time its copyright was renewed in 1929, it had come to be known by its present name, the American Standard Version. Because of its prominence in seminaries, it was in America sometimes simply called the “Standard Bible”.
Webster Bible Translation [Webster]
Webster Bible Translation [Webster]
Summary
Noah Webster’s 1833 limited revision of the King James Bible focused mainly on replacing archaic words and making simple grammatical changes. For example: “why” instead of “wherefore”, “its” instead of “his” when referring to nonliving things, “male child” instead of “manchild”, etc. He also introduced euphemisms to remove words he found offensive: “whore” becomes “lewd woman”. Overall, very few changes were made, and the result is a book which is almost indistinguishable from the King James Bible. It has sometimes been called the “Common Version” (which is not to be confused with the Common Bible of 1973, an ecumencial edition of the Revised Standard Version).
Modern critics are surprised by just how little Webster changed the King James Bible. His revision was very light, as he did not want to make the language wholly contemporary, but rather wanted to correct flaws he disagreed with as an educator. Other, less orthodox Americans were bringing out their own versions of the New Testament, but he had no interest in theologically motivated changes. One notable change that was beyond just revising language flaws was a correction changing the word “Easter” in Acts 12:4 to the word “Passover”.
It is noteworthy that throughout Webster’s revision of the King James Bible, the lexicographer replaced “Holy Ghost” with “Holy Spirit”. Webster did so because he knew that in the Scriptures this expression did not mean “an apparition”. In the preface of his Bible, Webster wrote: “Some words have fallen into disuse; and the signification of others, in current popular use, is not the same now as it was when they were introduced into the version. The effect of these changes is, that some words are not understood by common readers, who have no access to commentaries, and who will always compose a great proportion of readers; while other words, being now used in a sense different from that which they had when the translation was made, present a wrong signification or false ideas. Whenever words are understood in a sense different from that which they had been introduced, and different from that of the original languages, they do not present to the reader the Word of God.”
The problem with the older books was confusion on the part of readers as the language styles had been evolving over the years and a lot of meaning of the text in this Bible was being lost on the average reader. Some passages were misunderstood. Grammar had evolved as well and the above changes made an easier read while purifying the language and making it more delicate. From Wikipedia.org Continue reading
Smith’s Literal Translation [SLT]
Smith’s Literal Translation [SLT]
Summary
The Julia Evelina Smith Parker Translation is considered the first complete translation of the Bible into English by a woman. The Bible was titled The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments; Translated Literally from the Original Tongues.
Julia Smith, of Glastonbury, Connecticut had a working knowledge of Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Her father had been a Congregationalist minister before he became a lawyer. Having read the Bible in its original languages, she set about creating her own translation, which she completed in 1855, after a number of drafts. The work is a strictly literal rendering, always translating a Greek or Hebrew word with the same word wherever possible. Smith accomplished this work on her own in the span of eight years (1847 to 1855). She had sought out no help in the venture, even writing, “I do not see that anybody can know more about it than I do.” Smith’s insistence on complete literalness, plus an effort to translate each original word with the same English word, combined with an odd notion of Hebrew tenses (often translating the Hebrew imperfect tense with the English future) results in a translation that is mechanical and often nonsensical.
In 1876, at 84 years of age some 21 years after completing her work, she finally sought publication. The publication costs ($4,000) were personally funded by Julia and her sister Abby Smith. The 1,000 copies printed were offered for $2.50 each, but her household auction in 1884 sold about 50 remaining copies.
The translation fell into obscurity as it was for the most part too literal and lacked any flow. Jer. 22:23 was given as follows: “Thou dwelling in Lebanon, building as nest in the cedars, how being compassionated in pangs coming to thee the pain as in her bringing forth.” Continue reading
Voice in the Wilderness Bible [VW]
Voice in the Wilderness Bible – 2008, A [VW]
Voice in the Wilderness Bible
Summary of Voice in the Wilderness Bible [VW]
Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus. Edited 2003.
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