Expert: Pastor Don Carpenter - 10/31/2011

Question
Thanks for your time. My question is which bible translation is the closet to the Greek that the new testament was written in? Which translation is the most accurate?  And What is your thoughts on commentaries and study bibles vs just reading the bible for yourself?

Answer
Hi Josh,

THanks for this great question.  I will try to be brief and to the point.  You can ask follow up questions if you want to.  In finding an accurate translation you need to also make sure that it comes from a perfect uncorrupted text.  The Bible tells us that God has promised to protect every word in the Bible... even though many men have copied it through out the years.  If there are corruptions ( and there are) you can be sure that somewhere there will be a perfectly preserved word for word copy of the text in the original languages.

Psalm 12:6–7 (AV)
6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.


There are copies coming our of Alexandria, Egypt that are few in number, but older than anything else that exist.  These copies, however contradict each other 3000+ in the gospels alone.  There are passages where basic doctrines are watered down.  This is known as the Critical Text.

The vast majority of existing manuscripts (5000+) come from Antioch.  These all speak as one voice and have no contradictions.  This would seem to fit the promise given in Psalm 12... God has preserved every word.  This is called the Textus Receptus or the T.R.


The only English translation coming from the T.R. is the Kind James Bible.  Other translations can be accurate enough, but accurate translations of corrupted text.  It is for this reason that I recommend using the King James Bible in your study and Christian walk.  It is an accurate translation coming from a preserved set of manuscripts.

A great study tool on line is e-sword.com.  You can download a free program and load it with great commentaries and study tools... it is all free.  Some of my favorite commentators are Wiersby, John R. Rice, and Geisler.

I hope that this helps you.

In Christ
Pastor Don