[MR] English translation from original Greek and Aramaic

[C. Brian Towey]

Dear Amie,

Nearly every Bible translation uses the oldest and most reliable texts
available at the time.  Even the King James Bible that you mentioned used
the most notable Greek text of its day.  So, in that sense, the answer to
your question is "any of them."   You would have to look hard to find one
that had been translated twice (for example an English Bible based on the
Latin Vulgate). 

Of course, your question begs other questions of its own.  

First, what do you mean by "original?"  We have more and older manuscripts
for the Bible than for any other ancient text, but none of them date back to
the early first century.  They are all copies; that's how it was done.  To
the great credit of ancient scribes (and to the great relief of historians)
there are amazingly few discrepancies among Biblical manuscripts, regardless
of age or location.

Second, how can any translation be value neutral?  If you have done any
translation, you know that rendering idioms is more art than science.  

Finally, what do you mean by English?  One might reasonably argue that the
King James Version is written in an ancestor of modern English, in which
many words have dramatically different meanings than in current usage.

Selecting the "ideal" Bible translation depends on your views of these and
other subtle questions.

I have two suggestions that might help.  One is to visit the Bible Gateway
(www.biblegateway.com) and look up a given passage in a dozen different
translations.  (That site, by the way, includes no Catholic translations, so
be aware that it sees the Bible through a distinctly Protestant lens.)  

The other suggestion is to look for literal, rather than more figurative
translations.  That would steer you to something like Young's Literal
Translation, or perhaps the Jerusalem Bible.  The more literal the
translation, the less room there is for doctrine to influence the word
choice.

Your servant,

Charles Fleming

...Who would be happy to continue this discussion off line, since most of
the Bibles you want post-date the SCA time period.