Big problem with NIV and some modern translations

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Which is why there are errors in all translations, and using the KJV as the benchmark for all english translations is equally wrong.

Idioms, words and culture all change the meaning of words.

Yup, words change the meaning of words. Idioms, time and culture all change the meaning of words.
What they're translated from is.
 
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The problem with the KJV is that it was translated from Jerome's Latin Vulgate, which had errors in it. The more modern translations are done as the result of the range of manuscripts that are available, and so the best translations possible are made. Also, in many cases, the Greek words carry several meanings that can alter the sense of a passage depending on which meaning is chosen. This is why modern translators also consult the writings of the Church fathers to see how they interpret the passages. Then the translators have to make decisions on what they believe are the best meanings.

Of course, the Early Church Apostles in the First Century did not have the New Testament written down. At best, they had a collection of Paul's letters and the Torah. But they had the added advantage of being present when Jesus was on earth and had received His teaching verbatum. Paul was not part of that group, but he received his teaching by direct revelation from the Holy Spirit in a way that no-one else had or ever will have. That is why his writing is considered Scripture now.

I think that it is good to consult as many of the available versions as possible when trying to interpret difficult or hard-to-understand passages. Having a Greek New Testament also helps. I have an interlinear Greek NT, KJV, Revised, NASB, Jerusalem Bible, NIV, and Amplified, plus some commentaries. Among those, I can get a pretty good understanding of what is meant.
 
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The problem with the KJV is that it was translated from Jerome's Latin Vulgate, which had errors in it. The more modern translations are done as the result of the range of manuscripts that are available, and so the best translations possible are made. Also, in many cases, the Greek words carry several meanings that can alter the sense of a passage depending on which meaning is chosen. This is why modern translators also consult the writings of the Church fathers to see how they interpret the passages. Then the translators have to make decisions on what they believe are the best meanings.

Of course, the Early Church Apostles in the First Century did not have the New Testament written down. At best, they had a collection of Paul's letters and the Torah. But they had the added advantage of being present when Jesus was on earth and had received His teaching verbatum. Paul was not part of that group, but he received his teaching by direct revelation from the Holy Spirit in a way that no-one else had or ever will have. That is why his writing is considered Scripture now.

I think that it is good to consult as many of the available versions as possible when trying to interpret difficult or hard-to-understand passages. Having a Greek New Testament also helps. I have an interlinear Greek NT, KJV, Revised, NASB, Jerusalem Bible, NIV, and Amplified, plus some commentaries. Among those, I can get a pretty good understanding of what is meant.

The KJV was translated from the Greek Textus Receptus not the Latin Vulgate. The TR contains about 5 isolated readings from the Vulgate but rest is representative of the Byzantine Majority Text.
 
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The KJV was translated from the Greek Textus Receptus not the Latin Vulgate. The TR contains about 5 isolated readings from the Vulgate but rest is representative of the Byzantine Majority Text.

I accept that, no problem. I think then that the same Greek text used to compile the Vulgate was the one used for the KJV. Since the KJV, there have been new Greek manuscripts discovered that shows differences. But overall, I don't think the differences are major across all the manuscripts that are existing.

I have just finished preparing a sermon on an exposition of a passage in Colossians. It looked complicated at first, but when I went through it verse by verse, the overall message turned out to be very simple. Christ is our Head and we are the body. If the body loses connection with the head, in the same way a person has an accident and breaks his neck and becomes totally paralysed, then our religion becomes dysfunctional. It would not matter what translation I use to come to that conclusion. Most times our mapping of God's will and purpose for our lives is done with a road marker instead of a drafting pencil. The whole New Testament points to us having faith in Christ, and if the translation achieves that, then we can ignore the minor errors that appears in each one.

The only translation that I would never touch with a barge pole is the New World Translation put out by the JWs. There were no Greek scholars in that translation committee, and passages were deliberately written to agree with Russelite theology.
 
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I accept that, no problem. I think then that the same Greek text used to compile the Vulgate was the one used for the KJV. Since the KJV, there have been new Greek manuscripts discovered that shows differences. But overall, I don't think the differences are major across all the manuscripts that are existing.

I have just finished preparing a sermon on an exposition of a passage in Colossians. It looked complicated at first, but when I went through it verse by verse, the overall message turned out to be very simple. Christ is our Head and we are the body. If the body loses connection with the head, in the same way a person has an accident and breaks his neck and becomes totally paralysed, then our religion becomes dysfunctional. It would not matter what translation I use to come to that conclusion. Most times our mapping of God's will and purpose for our lives is done with a road marker instead of a drafting pencil. The whole New Testament points to us having faith in Christ, and if the translation achieves that, then we can ignore the minor errors that appears in each one.

The only translation that I would never touch with a barge pole is the New World Translation put out by the JWs. There were no Greek scholars in that translation committee, and passages were deliberately written to agree with Russelite theology.
I believe the Vulgate on the whole is representative of the Western Text type so is different from both our Byzantine translations (KJV, NKJV) and our Alexandrian ones (NASB, ESV, NIV etc). It contains the shorter version of the Lord's prayer in agreement with the Alexandrian translations, I remember this from growing up Catholic.
 
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