Re: First time buying a Bible.... which one to get?

THE OLD TESTAMENT

Rudolph Kittel's Biblical Hebraica**

Dead Sea Scrolls consulted

From the Translator's Preface in the NIV:

"Sometimes a variant Hebrew reading in the margin of the Masoretic Text was followed instead of the text itself."

"The translators also consulted the more important early versions-the Septuagint; Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion; the Vulgate; The Syriac Peshitta; the Targums; and for the Psalms the Juxta Hebraica of Jerome. Readings from these versions were occasionally followed where the Masoretic Text seemed doubtful and where accepted principles of textual criticism showed that one or more of these textual witnesses appeared to provide the correct reading."

**The modern versions use Rudoplh Kittel’s Biblia Hebraica for the Old Testament. The King James uses the 1524-25 Bomberg edition of the Masoretic Text known as the Ben Chayyim text. There were two editions of Biblia Hebraica in 1906 and 1913. In the third edition, changes took place, 20,000 to be exact from the Ben Chayyim text, when the editors incorporated the readings of the Leningrad Codex (circa 1008 A.D. and believed to be written in Egypt) in his 1937 edition (completed by Albrecht Alt and Otto Esselte - Stuttgart, 1937), and it is also used in the 1977 edition of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Their text was the Ben Asher text which they exchanged from the Ben Chayyim text and it contained the readings of a few minor Hebrew manuscripts.

THE NEW TESTAMENT

30-95----------Original Autographs
150-------------Tatian's Diatesseron
200-------------Clement's Manuscripts
225-------------Origen's Hexapla
331-------------Vaticanus (B) - Believed to be one of Constantine's Bibles by Eusebius
331-------------Sinaiticus (Aleph) - Believed to be one of Constantine's Bible by Eusebius
400-------------Jerome's Latin Vulgate (official bible of Roman Catholic Institution for over 1,000 years)
450-------------Codex Alexandrinus (circa)
450-------------Codex Ephraemi (circa)
450-------------Codex Bezae (circa)
1481-----------Discovery of Vaticanus (B) Manuscript in Vatican Library
1582-----------Douay-Rheims New Testament
1592-----------Clementine Bible (By Pope Clement VIIII 1592-1605)
1610-----------Douay-Rheims Complete Bible (Jesuit Bible)
1657-----------Brian Walton's Polyglot
1707-----------John Mill's Edition
1729-----------The New Testament in Greek and English (Unitarian tendencies) by Daniel Mace
1745-----------The Primitive New Testament - William Whiston
1750-----------Holy Bible translated from the Latin Vulgate - Richard Challoner
1764-----------A new and literal translation of all the books of the Old and New Testament; with notes critical and explanatory by Anthony
Purver - Otherwise known as the Quaker Bible
1768-----------A Literal Translation of the New Testament - Edward Harwood
1774-----------Griesbach's Greek New Testament
1790-----------An Exposition of the New Testament - William Gilpin
1791-----------A Translation of the New Testament - Gilbert Wakefield - He was a Unitarian
1795-----------A Translation of the New Testament from the Original Greek - Thomas Haweis
1796-----------An Attempt toward revising our English Translation of the Greek Scriptures - William Newcome (Unitarian)
1798-----------A Translation of the New Testament from the Original Greek - Nathaniel Scarlett (A Unitarian Version)
1808-----------The New Testament, An improved version upon the basis of Archbishop Newcome's new translation with a corrected text
and notes critical and explanatory. A Revision of Newcome's 1796 Unitarian version
1808-----------The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Covenant based upon the Septuagint - Charles Thomson
1823-----------The New Testament in Greek and English based upon the manuscript of Greisbach
1826-----------The Sacred Writing of the Apostles and Evangelists of Jesus Christ, Commonly Styled The New Testament. Translated
from the Original Greek by Alexander Campbell
1828-----------The Gospel of God's Anointed, the Glory of Israel, and the Light of Revelation for the Gentiles by Alexander Greaves
1828-----------The New Testament in the Common Version by John Gorham Palfrey
1833-----------A New and Corrected Version of the New Testament by Rodolphus Dickinson
1836-----------The Book of the New Covenant of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by Granville Penn
1840-----------The New Testament translated from the text of J. J. Greisbach by Samuel Sharpe
1841-----------The Holy Bible, containing the Authorized Version ... with twenty thousand emendations - John Conquest, Editor
1842-----------Carl Lachmann's New Testament
1844-----------Discovery of Sinaiticus (Aleph) in garbage pail at St. Helens Monastery in Sinai
1850-----------The Commonly Received Version of the New Testament ... With Several Hundred Emendations by Spencer Cone and
William Wyckoff
1851-----------The New Testament translated from the Syriac Peshitta - James Murdock
1856-----------A Translation of the Gospels - Andrews Norton
1857-----------Tregelle's New Testament
1858-----------New Testament translated from the Original Greek based on Tischendorf's text by Leicester Ambrose Sawyer
1859-----------Tischendorf's 7th Edition New Testament
1862-----------The Life and Epistles of St. Paul - W. J. Conybeare & J. S. Howson
1863-----------A Literal Translation of the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ based on the Vaticanus Manuscript by
Hermann Heinfitter - Real name Frederick Parker
1864-----------The Emphatic Diaglott - Benjamin Wilson
1867-----------The Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Book of Revelation: Commonly called the New Testament by J. N. Darby
1867-----------The Holy Scriptures, Translated and Corrected by the Spirit of Revelation, by Joseph Smith, Jr. the Seer - Mormon
1869-----------Alford's New Testament
1869-----------The New Testament - George R. Noyes (Unitarian)
1872-----------Tischendorf's New Testament
1872-----------Rotherham Version - Translated from Tregelles Text - Joseph Bryant Rotherham
1875-----------The New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
1876------------The Holy Bible ... translated literally from the original tongues by Julia Evelina Smith Parker
1881-----------The Revised Version of Hort & Westcott
1888-----------The New Covenant - J. W. Hansen
1890-----------The Holy Scriptures - John Nelson Darby
1899-----------Douay-Rheims American Edition
1900-----------Epistles of the New Testament - Henry Hayman
1901-----------The American Standard Version - Phllip Schaff - Editor
1901-----------Modern American Bible - Frank Schell Ballentine (Revised in 1909)
1901-----------Moffatt's Historical New Testament - James Moffatt
1901-----------Way's Epistles - Arthur Way
1901-----------Young People's Bible or the Scriptures Corrected - Harriet Jones
1902-----------The Emphasized Bible - Joseph Bryant Rotherham (4 Volumes)
1902-----------Translation of the New Testament from the Original Greek - W. B. Godbey (Based on Codex Sinaiticus)
1902-----------Twentieth Century New Testament (Revised 1904)
1903-----------The Holy Bible in Modern English - Ferrar Fenton
1903-----------The New Testament in Modern Speech - Richard Weymouth
1904-----------Worrell's New Testament - A. S. Worrel (A mediocre revision of the ASV of 1901)
1904-----------Century Bible (Contains both KJV text and RV of 1881)
1905-----------LLoyd's New Testament - Samuel LLoyd
1906-----------Forrester Translation - Henry Forrester
1907-----------Bourne's Gospel - A. E. Bourne
1907-----------Moulton's Modern Reader's Bible - Richard C. Moulton
1908-----------Rutherford's Epistles
1909-----------Bible in Modern English
1909-----------Weaver's New Testament - S. Townsend Weaver
1910-----------The Cunard's by F. W. Cunard
1912-----------The Improved Bible Union Version - American Baptist Publishing Society
1913-----------The New Testament: A Translation in Modern Speech by James Moffatt (Revised 1917)
1914-----------The Numeric New Testament - Ivan Panin (Revised 1935)
1914-----------Cunnington's New Testament - E. E. Cunnington (Based on the Western Texts in the 4th Edition Greek nestle Text)
1916-----------The McFayden Psalms in Modern Speech - John McFayden
1917-----------The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text - Jewish Publication Society Bible
1918-----------Anderson New Testament from the Sinaiticus Manuscript - Harry Tompkins Anderson
1919-----------The Messages of the Bible - Frank Sanders & Charles Kent
1921-----------Common Speech by T. W. Pym
1921-----------The Shorter Bible - Charles Foster Kent
1921-----------A Plain Translation of the New Testament by a Student - Bird McCarron
1922-----------The Plainer Bible - Chaplain Frank Valentine
1923-----------The New Testament: An American Translation - Edgar Goodspeed
1923-----------The Riverside New Testament - William G. Ballenteen
1923-----------The Robertson Translation - A. T. Robertson
1924-----------The Labor Determinative Version
1924-----------Centenary Translation of the New Testament - Helen Barrett Montgomery
1925----------- Askwith's Psalms - E.H. Askwith
1925-----------People's New Covenant -Arthur E. Overbury
1925-----------Children's Bible - Charles Foster Kent and Henry A. Sherman
1926-----------The Moffatt Bible: A New Translation of the Bible - James Moffatt
1926-----------Concordant Version - Adolph Ernst Knoch
1927-----------Kent's Student Old Testament
1927-----------Smith's and Goodspeed's Translation
1928-----------The Christian's Bible - George LaFever
1928-----------Good News according to Matthew for use by "Christian Spiritualists" - J. W. Potter
1928----------- Czarnomska Version - Elizabeth Czarnomska
1929-----------The Galwyn's Psalms
1930-----------The Loux Mark Edition - Dubois Loux
1931-----------The Wales Psalms - Frank Wells
1932-----------The Chaplain Ballenteen Edition - Frank Shell
1932-----------The Kleists Memoirs of St. Peter - James Kleist
1933-----------Torrey's Four Gospels - Chaplain Cutler Torrey
1934-----------Royd's Epistles and Gospels - Thomas Fletcher Royd
1934-----------The Old Testament in Colloquial English
1934-----------The Wade Translation - G. W. Wade
1935-----------The Westminster Version of the Sacred Scriptures (A Roman Catholic Version) - Revised 1948 - NT Only
1937-----------The Cornish Translation of St. Paul - Gerald Warre Cornish
1937-----------Greber's New Testament - Johannes Greber
1937-----------Martin's New Testament - William Wallace Martin
1937-----------21 Canonical Epistles
1937-----------Spencer's New Testament - Francis Spencer
1937-----------The New Testament: A Translation in the Language of the People - Charles B. Williams
1938-----------The Book of Books - United Society for Christian Literature
1938-----------Buttonweiser's Psalms - Moses Buttenweiser
1938-----------Clementson's New Testament - Edgar Lewis Clementson
1939-----------The Osterley Psalms - W. O. E. Oesterley
1940-----------Dakes's Gospels - John A. Dakes
1941-----------St. Mark in Current English - Mary Matheson
1941-----------The New Testament of our Lord and Savior (Translated from Jerome's Latin Vulgate)
1944-----------The Callan's Psalms - Charles J. Callan
1944---------- Wand's New Testament Letters - J. W. C. Wand
1945---------- Stringfellow's New Testament - Erwin Edward Stringfellow
1946-----------Lenski's Interpretation - by R. C. H. Lenski
1946-----------The Revised Standard Version of the NCC - Luther Weigle, Editor
1947-----------Eerdman's Psalms - B. D. Erdman
1947-----------Swann's New Testament - George Swann - Translated from the Greek of Hort and Westcott
1948-----------The Letchworth New Testament - Thomas and Ralph Ford
1949-----------The Basic Bible containing the Old and New Testament in Basic English - S. H. Hooke, Editor
1949-----------The Leslie Psalms - Elmer A. Leslie
1950-----------The Sacred Name New Testament - Angelo Traina
1951-----------The Authentic Version - Brotherhood Authentic Bible Society
1951-----------The New Testament in Modern English - Olaf Morgan Norlie (Reprinted in 1962 as the Children's Simplified NT
1951-----------Vernon's Mark - Edward Vernon
1951-----------The Sacred Writings of the Apostles and Evangelists of Jesus Christ commonly styled the New Testament by G. Campbell,
J. MacKnight, P. Doddridge
1952-----------The Revised Standard Version update
1952-----------The New Testament, a New Translation in Plain English - Charles Williams
1952-----------The Penguin Bible - Emil Victor Rieu & C. H. Rieu
1952-----------The Four Gospels, A new Translation from the Greek - Emil Victor Rieu
1954-----------The New Testament rendered from the original Greek with Explanatory Notes by James A. Kleist and Joseph L. Lilly
1954-----------Kleist and Lynam's Psalms - James Kleist & Thomans Lynam
1954-----------The Kissane's Psalms - Monsignor Edward J. Kissane
1954-----------St. Paul's Shorter Letters - Hobart G. Hoerber
1954-----------The Moore's New Testament - George Albert Moore
1954-----------The Amplified Gospel of John
1955-----------The Holy Bible; A Translation from the Latin Vulgate in the Light of the Hebrew and Greek Originals by Ron Knox
1955-----------The Authentic New Testament, edited and translated from the Greek for the General Reader by Hugh J. Schonfield
1956-----------The Inspired Letters in Clearest English - Frank C. Laubach
1957-----------The Concordant Version - Concordant Publishing Concern
1957-----------The Lamsa Translation - Translated from the Peshitta - George M. Lamsa
1958-----------The Amplified New Testament
1958-----------The Hudson Translation - James T. Hudson
1958-----------The Meissner's Gospels - Lawrence Meissner
1958----------- Tomanek New Testament - James L. Tomanek
1958-----------Phillips New Testament in Modern English - J. B. Phillips
1959-----------Mark - Annie Cressman
1959-----------The Berkeley Version in Modern English by Gerrit Verkuyl and other translators
1959-----------The Modern Language Bible
1960-----------Reina-Valera Revision (Spanish)
1960-----------The New American Standard Version
1960-----------The Children's King James
1961-----------The New English Bible New Testament - C. H. Dodd
1961-----------The New World Translation (Jehovah's Witnesses) - Revised from the 1950 edition
1961-----------Noli's Greek Orthodox New Testament - Fan Noli
1961-----------One Way Bible
1961-----------Simplified New Testament - Olaf M. Norlie
1961-----------Wuest Expanded New Testament - Kenneth Wuest
1962-----------The Children's Version
1962-----------The New Jewish Version - Jewish Publication Society
1962-----------Four Gospels and the Revelation - Richard Lattimore
1963-----------Beck's New Testament - William F. Beck
1963-----------Holy Name Bible - A. B. Traina
1963-----------The New Testament: A New Translation in Plain English - Charles Williams
1963-----------Gelineau's Psalms - Joseph Gelineau
1964-----------The Anchor Bible - William Albright & David Freedman
1964-----------The Hadas Psalms - Gershon Hadas
1965-----------Bruce's Expanded Paraphrase of the Letters of Paul - Frederick Bruce, Moulton, & Scrivener
1965-----------The Complete Amplified Bible - Frances Siwert
1966-----------Today's English Version (Good News for Modern Man) New Testament - Robert Bratcher
1966-----------Jerusalem Bible - Alexander Jones, Editor
1966-----------The Bible in Simplified English - The Liturgical Press
1966-----------The Burke Translation - Carl F. Burke
1966-----------The Living Scriptures - Jay Green
1967-----------Dale's New World Bible - Alan T. Dale
1967-----------The Liverpool Vernacular Gospels - Dick Williams & Frank Shaw
1968-----------The Cotton Patch Version - Clarence Jordan
1968-----------Hanson's Psalms in Modern Speech - Richard Hanson
1968-----------Restoration of Original Name New Testament - Rotherham
1969-----------Barclay's New Testament - William Barclay
1969-----------The Children's New Testament - Gleason H. Ledyard
1969-----------The New Life Testament - Gleason H. Ledyard
1969-----------New Life Version
1969----------- Worldwide English New Testament - Annie Cressman
1970-----------King James II New Testament by Jay Green (1)
1970-----------New English Bible with the Apocrypha - C. H. Dodd
1970-----------New American Bible (Roman Catholic) - Louis F. Hartman and Myles M. Bourke Editors
1971-----------Blackwell Exegetical Translation - Boyce Blackwelder
1971-----------The Living Bible - Kenneth Taylor
1972-----------J. B. Phillips Translation
1972-----------The Bible in Living English - Steven Byington (Jehovah's Witness)
1972-----------The Alba House New Testament - Kevin Condon
1972-----------Today's English New Testament - Don Klingensmith
1973-----------New International Version
1973-----------The Common Bible - RSV plus Apocrypha
1973-----------The Translator's New Testament - W. D. McHardy
1973-----------The Better Version of the New Testament by Chester Estes (Based on Greisbach's Text)
1973-----------The Psalms - Mother Maus
1973-----------A Child's Bible - Anne Edwards
1974-----------Klingensmith New Testament - Don J. Klingensmith
1975-----------The Word Made Fresh - Andrew Edington
1976-----------Train Up A Child - Ben Nutt
1976-----------The Holy Bible in the Language of Today - William F. Beck
1976-----------New Life Testament - Gleason Ledyard
1976-----------The Heart of Paul: A Relational Paraphrase of the New Testament - Ben Johnson
1976-----------Concise Jewish Bible - Philip Birnbaum
1976-----------Good News Bible - both Old & New Testament - Robert Bratcher
1976-----------Renaissance New Testament - Randolph O. Yeager
1977-----------The Gospels in Scouse - Dick Williams and Frank Shaw
1977-----------Marrow Gospels
1977-----------The Psalms - David L. Frost
1977-----------Christian Counselor's New Testament - Jay Adams
1977-----------Holy Bible for Children - Allan Hart Johnson
1978-----------The New Testament for the Deaf - Deaf Missions
1978-----------Holy Name Bible - Scripture Research Association
1979-----------New King James Version
1979-----------English Messianic Jewish Version
1979-----------Ephesians - R. Paul Caudill
1979-----------Lattimore's Gospels and Revelation - Richmond Lattimore
1979-----------Sasson's Ruth - Jack Sasson
1979-----------The Psalms - Bonaventure Zerr
1979-----------Mitchell's Job - Stephen Mitchell
1980-----------The Four Gospels: An Exegetical Translation
1981-----------The Simple English New Testament - International Bible Translators
1982-----------The Messianic Edition of the Living Bible - David Bronstein
1982-----------The Basic Bible
1982-----------Reader's Digest Bible
1985-----------New Jerusalem Bible - Henry Wansbrough Editor
1985-----------The New Testament Recovery Version
1987-----------The Everyday Bible: New Century Version - Ervin Bishop
1988-----------McCord's New Testament Translation of the Everlasting Gospel by Hugo McCord
1989-----------The New Revised Standard Version
1989-----------The Revised English Version with Apocrypha ( A revision of the 1970 New English Bible)
1989-----------Jewish New Testament - David H. Stern
1993-----------The Message - Eugene Peterson
1993-----------The Five Gospels: The search for the authentic words of Jesus - Robert W. Funk
1994-----------The Inclusive New Testament - Craig Smith Editor
1995 ----------New American Standard Version Update
1995-----------Contemporary English Version
1995-----------New Testament and Psalms: An Inclusive Version - Victor Gold
1995-----------God's Word - Eugene Bunkowske
1995-----------The New Testament: An Understandable Version - William Paul
1995-----------Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version - Barclay M. Newman (American Bible Society)
1995-----------The Five Books of Moses - Everett Fox
1996-----------NIV: Inclusive Language Version - London, England
1996-----------The New Testament - Richard Lattimore
1996-----------New Living Translation
1996-----------Bible in Worldwide English
1996-----------New International Readers Version
2001-----------English Standard Version (National Council of Churches production)
2001-----------New English Translation - W. Hall Harris, Editor
2002-----------The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language - Eugene Peterson
2002-----------Today's New International Version
2003-----------Holman Christian Standard Bible
2003-----------Revolve New Testament (New Century Version)
2004-----------The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary - Robert Alter
2004-----------New Living Translation - Second edition - Mark Norton, Editor
2004-----------Good As New: A Radical Retelling of The Scriptures - John Henson of the One Community
2005-----------Today's New International Version (Complete Bible)
2010-----------Lexham English Bible
2010-----------Common English Bible
2011-----------2011 New International Version

(1) Jay Green's translation is listed here because he, like the modern scholars, disputes whether Acts 8:37 & 1 John 5:7 are really in the text. 1 John 5:7-8 has been found in the Old Latin Vulgate (not Jerome's) and early church lectionaries. Acts 8:37 is found in the Old Latin Vulgate Version, a Middle Egyptian Version and a Syriac Version. Tweet