How many versions does the Bible have?

Well no but I think Suni and Al-Quaeda have their unpublished translations.

There have been many people over the years that felt it was their duty and calling, to create a new version, however, the ones that I have read, all pretty much say the same thing, I think the King James Version, is widely read and accepted by most in the faith, along with many more. When I first got saved, I cut my teeth, so to speak, on the King James Version, and it continues to be my favorite today, however, I enjoy reading other versions from time to time. I even bought a bible with 4 versions in it, so that I could compare what the others were saying, and I found them all to go right along together. With a very few exceptions. I think there may have been some newer ones that try to change the basic wording to suit themselves, but, if you are familar with the earlier versions, you can quickly spot the errors. If I were new to this, I would go along with what most of the older Christians reccomend. Many in the early church died for what they believed, so, the word has been safely guarded and passed down, from generation to generation. I have no problem trusting it.

versions are just interpretions for people to understand it better. Yet some versions take out some of the real meaning. So yes, there are a lot of versions.

There are dozens of versions. However, the dead sea scrolls & similar are old texts that validate much of the modern work.

Even so, with any old text (try reading Don Quixote in old Spanish) you’ll see issues between word usage of 500 years ago and today.

Translate Spanish to English, for example, and there are nuances and meanings that can’t convert. Same with other languages and English. Generally, for any given religious text, it’s the ultimate “truth” of the text that matters, and not the nuances of the translation or historical shifts in meaning.

The ‘versions’ are just translations into our own languages - once the Bible was read in Latin, which most people couldn’t understand. That kept the word of God from the majority of the people. Now, the goal is to translate the Bible into every world language, so that everyone can get to hear it/read it in their own language.

I assume that you speak Arabic, so you have the privilege of understanding the Quran. I had Muslim friends in Britain who spoke English and Urdu or Bangladeshi, so they basically recited prayers and the Quran in a language which meant little or nothing to them. It is this problem which, for Christians, has lead to the Bible’s translation into so many languages. It leads to a few problems (are all the translations absolutely accurate?) but it solves more of them (people know for themselves what they believe and why).

Filletofspam, your reply is good so it’s been moved to the top of the page by this ‘bug’ thing, so now this won’t look like a reply, but it is…

You’re absolutely right.

I guess I skipped the history to talk about what’s relevant these days, but as I was writing about the problems of not being able to read and make up your own mind, that’s exactly what I was thinking about. And it was all men, too…

some where around… elevendy billion I believe

there are a lot and they are not same of course

Are you asking english Versions or world wide?

Personally, the NIV (New International version) is the easiest to comprehend.