One major advantage of the KJV, if you’re using it for study purposes, is that it is the Bible translation that has influenced Western cultue for the last 400 years. Like the joke about the philistine who watches a production of Hamlet for the first time and says “I don’t see why Shakespeare was so great–all he did was string a bunch of famous sayings together,” so many famous phrases and sayings derive that the KJV that you’ll pick up a lot more cultural knowledge from it than any other translation. For example, Heinlein’s book “Stranger in a Strange Land” derives its title from words uttered by Moses in Exodus, which the NIV inartfully renders as “I am an alien in a foreign land.” Ugh! But other than that, the KJV really doesn’t have much going for it though. So I’d recommend a more modern translation if you’re interested in what the Bible itself has to say, rather than how it has influenced the Western world.
I just have to say I was literally just beginning to formulate this very question in my head as I’m scrolling down the page - and three threads lines here’s this thread. Weird. And what’s was even weirder is that you are looking for exactly what I’m looking for - translation accuracy.
Oh well you had to have been there.
Anyway one book I’m reading keeps referencing the Anchor Bible. Which on Amazon doesn’t seem to be sold as a complete bible but book by book at heinously expensive prices. In fact I’m not even sure these are books of the Bible - may be just commentaries. Can anyone enlighten me about it?
Okay, I see now that mine is the New Revised Standard Version.
The Anchor Bible is not so much of a translation as an overall study/reference work. Each book of the bible is contracted out to a particular scholar who does tanslate the work, then includes a tremendous comentary on that book. (Some books have required more than one volume to address).
The advantage is that one has a lot of scholarship on each book. The disadvantages are that it cost too much to attempt simultaneous volumes, so some books still have not been addressed and some of the earlier works reflect scholarship that may have been surpassed since they were first published forty years ago.
If you need a particular Anchor Bible volume, (Greenberg’s Ezekiel or Brown’s John) check it out of your local college library, otherwise wait until you hit the lottery before you worry about buying it.
Just as an aside – the Anchor Bible isn’t the only one to do it this way. I have a copy of Exodus from another (much older) publisher. And I have the Pelican Bible Commentaries for the four evangelists.
In both cases, the “translation” takes each line and, after rendering it, gives you exhaustive and exhausting commentary on it. Not for casual reading.
The translation you get depends upon what you want. You can get the King James version if you want – it has, as noted above, been heavily influential in forming the English language. But it ain’t english as she is spoke now, and if it’s clarity you’re after I’d recommend one of the other versions. If it’s as faithful a rendering as is cionsistent with a readable text, then I’d recommend the New English Bible. If it’s religious commentary, then there are several options, depending on your own religious beliefs.