ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS:
1. Some translations are almost like commentary
2. Most of the translations are just like King James Version in modern English
3. A few of the translations sometimes push the line almost into what I describe as the "human opinion" zone.
It's a never ending question of "what bible translation do you prefer or recommend." My answer is both specific and broad. Specific because most of my early memory verses were from the King James Version. Broad because I was lucky enough to briefly study Greek at age 19 and by the end of that year, I not only read but studied every available English translations I could lay my hands on. I compared side by side to see if I can figure out why so many English translations. This curiosity was: (a) good by showing that the basic truth about THE GOSPEL was not compromised; (b) bad for me as an individual because this made most of the words of my memorized verses mixed up. It did prove to be beneficial overall by clarifying why understanding the scriptures is way better than just memorizing words - not to discourage memorization of verses by any means.
The biggest take away from it all was that I saw most of these translations like the individual apostles on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. They all spoke in tongues. They spoke God's truth in different languages and everyone understood them in their own languages. The words from their mouth were not exactly the same. The noun, pronouns, verb, adverbs etc may not all have sounded exactly the same. But the ultimate message that mattered the most was understood by all and about 3,000 people responded to it. This is one of the reasons I often talk about using the bible as it's own dictionary or commentary. This way, if your favorite translation seem to have a questionable word, you are able to cross reference other parts of the scriptures to reach a conclusion.
DO I NEED TO KNOW GREEK?
GREEK is like the highway that gets you there faster and CROSS REFERENCING is like the streets with the traffic lights but still gets you there but may take a few minutes longer. When you have two options to go from point A to B, you would usually want the fastest route. As you already know, the fastest route is not always the shortest route. Example - The highway, interstate or express road may be like 12 miles from point A to B but it may get you to point B faster because there are no traffic lights; thus allowing increased speed limits in designated areas. The regular roads to the same destination with traffic lights may be about 10 miles in distance but slower in arrival time because of the reduced speed limit combined with other possible factors like stops at the red lights. This is the same with choosing between learning Greek or not.
I personally prefer cross referencing the scriptures and it even becomes a faster way to study when you look at the bible from one big picture. Cross referencing (for me) is like knowing the back roads or shortcuts to your local store. You don't rely on a GPS and it comes to a point when you know what traffic lights or streets to avoid in order to get from point A to B in less time. Nothing wrong with knowing Greek or how to use both methods. Greek can be a little "tough" sometimes depending on how well you do with languages that are not native to you. It also creates some disagreement among those who like to pick on little things like the difference in ancient and modern Greek spellings. Whatever method you choose, your focus should be on being open minded to learn from God.Before any bible study (individually or collectively) I always say a short silent prayer that I call my "FIOM" prayer. It works for me and has worked for decades. "FAITH INTACT with OPEN MIND in Jesus name, Amen." The number of times I say this prayer a day is dependent upon the number of times I study, listen or discuss the bible. It's like saying "Lord, bless this food in Jesus name, Amen" before each meal you eat. FIOM to me means more than just the words and it's also the fastest prayer I can pray without missing a bit just in case I walked into a bible discussion already in progress.
FAITH INTACT = Help me Lord to always have faith in you as the creator of the universe. Show me the wisdom of your ways to keep my soul anchored and steadfast.
OPEN MIND = Help me Lord to have an open mind even if this is the one thousandth time I'm reading or hearing this scripture. But do not let anything, anyone or my open mindedness cause me to deny your existence.
Bible knowledge is for you, not for God. Your knowledge of God's word will NOT save you because we are saved by Grace through Faith in Christ. Understanding God's word helps you fight the battle through prayers. The devil is not going to stop trying so Get Equipped! If we know it all, then we don't need God but far be it from us. When we give His message as it is written in love, people can take it or leave it. Bible passages have to reconcile themselves or the bible becomes meaningless. This is why cross referencing is VERY important. Sticking with content and context alone can only get you so far with the MILK until you hit the MEAT of the scriptures. I personally prefer to see each verse as a piece of what I call the bible puzzle. It fits in perfectly somewhere but it makes the picture look complete because each verse is connected to something that is also connected to something else.
Always remember: "If knowledge is power, Understanding is Superpower." - Abraham Inetianbor
