Verses that are not clearly scripture are placed in footnotes rather than the main text. The NASB also restricts scripture to the oldest and best manuscripts available. Most Bible scholars agree, as the NASB is generally agreed to be the most literal of the English translations, reflecting Hebrew and Greek grammar and style the best. It is a 'literal' translation, holding to the formal equivalence school of thought that the translation should be as literal as possible. The New American Standard Bible holds the reputation of being the most accurate Bible translation in English. Here is a list of the 'closest' Bible translations in English: And thought-for-thought often make great devotional Bibles. Word-for-word often make great study Bibles. Due to this, it is often helpful not to pick just 'one' translation to read, but to find several good ones that have different strengths. (There are also 'paraphrases', like the Message Bible or NLT, but as faithfulness to the text is not a main concern for them they would not make a list of 'most accurate' translations.)

To overcome this hurdle, English translations generally run from the spectrum of word-for-word literal translations, that try their best to translate words into their closest counterparts even if some meaning is lost, to thought-for-thought translations that seek to express the meaning of the original passage in a new language, which allows Hebrew and Greek idioms to be better expressed in English. It is actually impossible to perfectly translate one language into another, due to each language having different grammar, cultural idioms, and words that are not always directly synonymous with a counterpart in a different language. This has led to most translations being based primarily on either Byzantium manuscripts or Alexandrian texts.

This school of study is called 'textual criticism'. Jennifer Rothnie Supporter Housewife, Artist, Perpetually Curious Since we no longer have any original manuscript, scholars have to compare later transcriptions and translations to determine what the most likely original reading was.

Aramaic bible in plain english online