

We need to have a solid relationship with God, so that we know how, through our lives, we can bring Him honor and glory. And it’s the instructions for living a life close to our Heavenly Father. Let’s face it, the Bible is not meant to be read on a lazy Sunday afternoon for entertainment. He is the author and finisher of our eternal security. That’s a small price to pay for the best education by the Creator of this universe that you can get. I have scoured the interweb to find you 10 of the best Bibles for women that are not only best-sellers, but they’re also affordable too.Įvery study Bible on this list has an ✅ affordable price tag of less than $60. That’s why having a really great study Bible is important. I like to call it my guidebook for living. We learn about our Lord and Savior by spending time in His Holy Word. This means there is less emphasis on using the actual words of the Hebrew and Greek and is often not considered an official translation of the Bible (example: The Message).Building a home that’s centered on Jesus Christ is one of the most important things you can do for your family. Paraphrased - A paraphrased version of the Bible focuses more on capturing the thought-for-thought behind the text instead of word-for-word. Readable/Dynamic Translations - Attempts to convey the original meaning and to be readable in contemporary English, using language and idioms that would be understood by modern readers (examples: NIV and NLT). Readability and understandability are not the primary focus (examples: KJV and NASB). Literal/Formal Translations - Attempts to keep the form and meaning of the original language in words, grammar and structure as close as possible to the author’s original intent. Bible translators can focus on either a literal or readable translation and many fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum.

So when a person is translating the Greek biblical text from the original manuscripts into English, there may be many words to choose from to communicate the author’s intended message. For example, there are often multiple English words for just one word in Greek. Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic languages have different complexities compared to the English language. confirming the reliability of the ancient texts. Remarkably the scrolls were found to be practically identical with the Masoretic text–most variants being minor spelling differences and none that impacted the meaning. In fact, since then, New Testament transcripts have been found dating as far back as the 2nd century A.D.

The Dead Sea Scrolls helped translators get much closer to the date the text was originally written. In 1947, caves were discovered that held 900 ancient scrolls–the Dead Sea Scrolls–which dated back to the 2nd century B.C., well before Jesus was born. Until the mid-twentieth century, the oldest copies of the Old Testament were known as the Masoretic text, which were manuscripts translated between 500 and 950 A.D. Because of the multiple languages of the original text, all English versions we read today are a translation. Translations exist because the Bible was originally written in Hebrew, with some Aramaic (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament). Translations exist because (1) most people are not fluent in the original languages in which the Bible was written, and (2) the English language has evolved and changed over time. Below are some insights that will help as you choose a Bible version for yourself. When starting to study on your own, we recommend using a study Bible in a translation/version* that you can easily read and understand.
