Question:
How many translations of the Bible are there in English?
No one knows for sure. Those who try to count them
do not always agree on what should be counted and how they should count them.
For examples, some Bibles are just revisions of previous Bibles, some are
paraphrases rather than translations, and some are only partial Bibles. Wikipedia’s
List
of English Bible translations charts record 108 complete Bibles, 34
partial Bibles, and 18 early incomplete Bibles – for a total of 160.[i]
After discussing “the difficulty of determining
what should be defined as a new translation,” the question of “how we should
count translations” that are not complete, and “the difficulty of sheer numbers,”
an American
Bible Society article online states “With all these caveats in mind,
the number of printed English translations and paraphrases of the Bible,
whether complete or not, is about 900.”[ii]
While the English language may have thousands of Bibles, there are thousands of
languages that have no Bible![iii]
There are real differences in and reasons for
different translations – for example, different source material, different
translation methodologies and adaptation to changes in the English language. Nevertheless,
the proliferation of English Bibles affirms an abundance about the
individuality, fickleness, and divisiveness of English-speaking Christians.
This is a particular indictment on American Christians, who are most often the drummers
of the beat for newer and better translations. It is also an
indictment of Bible publishers whose continual offering of new products (new
translations and niche study Bibles) appears to be driven as much by the “almighty
dollar” as by any quest for the Almighty’s truth. Translators and publishers
could better put their talents, time and money into translations of the Bible
where it is not currently available rather than expanding the 900-something
Bibles we already have. Paul told Timothy that the time would come when fickle
folks with itching ears would amass piles of teachers to help them fulfill
their own desires (2
Timothy 4:3). That time is now, and the drumbeat for new Bibles is
part of the itch. Perhaps it is what we already know in the Bible that really
troubles us, especially of obeying the truth in the Bible we already have!
[i] As of 9:10:00 am, 13 June
2017; There are some errors in these charts. For example, Lexham English Bible is listed as “partial,” but has been complete
as Old and New Testaments since 2011. The Third
Millennium Bible which has the OT, NT and even the Apocrypha, is listed as “partial.”
On the other hand, several that are Old Testament only are listed as complete
Bibles, which Christians would not recognize as complete. I am aware of a few
others that did not make the list. Nevertheless this gives some idea of the
status of English Bibles.
[ii]
They recommend Catalogue
of English Bible Translations: a Classified Bibliography of Versions and
Editions Including Books, Parts, and Old and New Testament Apocrypha and
Apocryphal Books by William J. Chamberlin (Greenwood Press, 1991) as
the most comprehensive English bibliography of the subject.
[iii] In some cases, perhaps
many, they may have no Christians as well.
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