NIV Study Bible, Large Print Indexed

Rating:
Summary: Best Currently Available
Review: The notes of the NIV Study Bible are helpful for average Bible readers. The maps and time lines are also very helpful.

The NIV is one of a number of "dynamic equivalent" translations of the Holy Scriptures. There is no perfect translation, since translation is inherently interpretation, but the NIV does a pretty good job of bringing the Scriptures, originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek, to modern English. I prefer the NRSV for more serious study, but the NIV is a great devotional Bible.

The King James Bible was the best in its day. In today's world, it is NOT closer to the original Scriptures as some think, but as its translators say in the forward, it is a revision of a revision and was meant to be improved upon as the English language evolved. That is what translations like the NIV and the NRSV attempt to accomplish. We have uncovered better Greek manuscripts now and understand the language better.