What is Veeky Forums's preferred translation of the Bible and why?

The King James and the Geneva Bible.

If I needed to use a modern translation I would use the NKJV. The NASB is also good but I am not a fan of the critical text.

About the reason why: is the most aesthetically agreeable Bible available in portuguese, the original translation is made from the original texts in Hebrew and Greek by an a scholar specialized in Hebrew poetry.

Portuguese and Spanish are very close, both in structure and vernacular expressions, so the second hand translation could arguably conserve the efforts made by the Spanish scholar to maintain and approximate the poetical flavor of the sacred texts.

Pic related: It's her.

The bible holds a lot of value here in the west, so while I'm irreligious (raised catholic), I want to see what I can get out of a reading of the whole thing, whether that be values for my own life or an understanding of the people around me. I also plan to self-study some philosophy later, and I'm to understand people like Aquinas, Kirkegaard, and other thinkers referenced the Bible in their writings.

I'm reading slowly and taking notes on the KJV (w/ apocrypha) right now, but I will probably branch out to the suggestions here to get other readings. Sometimes I check the New International Version if the vernacular's a little muddy.

Looks like that'll have to wait until I get to the New Testament. Are there any translations of the Old Testament on the same level?

As I'm reading the KJV right now, I'm having some trouble feeling the aesthetics. It's much more plain than I was expecting, but it's still enjoyable. I was expecting a grand, epic style like the Iliad or the Knight in the Panther's Skin, but I suppose that's the wrong expectation for a religious text.

That's actually pretty convenient, as I'm trying to master Portuguese at the moment. I'll read that side-by-side with KJV and/or the other suggestions in the thread. Obrigado!

im i would suggest catholic editions given your previous background and the philosophers you want to read. so, KJV would be a no-no. since you're not reading a modern bible, i'm assuming you also want something that holds literary value. so, my suggestion would be the douay-rheims bible. its the first english translation of the bible and its NT translation was influential on the production of the KJV. just note that its based on the vulgate rather than greek and hebrew manuscripts. however, the vulgate is the official latin translation of the bible by the catholic church and both douay-rheims and vulgate translations are quite literal from what i've heard

Check out Robert Atler's old testament translation

Yes, literary value is paramount to me, but doesn't the KJV have some merit as a piece of literature? It seems to me that it's the most renowned version.

I'll definitely check out Douay-Rheims, though I should note that Sir Thomas Aquinas and Augustine of Hippo are the only medieval philosophers I plan to read. I'm more interested in the German idealist philosophers and the modern analytical philosophers, so for their works, would Douay-Rheims still be the best option?
As I'm thinking about it, I think I'll find myself reading the above suggested versions all in parallel (Peregrino, Atler, Lattimore, Geneva, etc.) to get the most varied interpretations and styles.

Read Confessions before City of God. Thought I'd give you a heads up considering you mentioned Augustine. I stopped City of God 500 pages in to read Confessions.

>reading the bible

Will do. I plan on reading pretty much everything in chronological order, since I'm to understand that it's best to learn these thinkers' ideas in the order they were developed and published.

You're not planning on reading his whole bibliography, right? That's gonna take 3 years. I'd just stick to his two most famous works.

books.google.com.au/books?id=GqCXdIpMyi0C&pg=PA733&lpg=PA733&dq=worldzhong&source=bl&ots=sxcNQLcols&sig=KERtOvzR24VHxHB2kE2TMadJoL4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi-wcbaxtTSAhUCvbwKHVElB3w4ChDoAQgwMAc#v=onepage&q=worldzhong&f=false

because Book of Susan and Book of Hairdryer.

Elberfelder

No no no, I'm only reading the essentials of each author, especially considering how lengthy their works tend to be. Unless I become deeply infatuated with his style or his way of thinking, those are the only two works I plan to read from Augustine.

When I say "everything in chronological order", I mean everything I have on my list from the authors I've selected. I'm not reading every philosophical work ever written.

Another heads up, Thomas Aquinas references Plato and Aristotle a ton. You pretty much need to be familiar with their philosophy to fully grasp the Summa. The first time I read it I was miserable since I didn't understand a lot of what he was saying. There are some companions to the Summa that help bridge this gap if you don't want to read the greeks. Sorry for giving unsolicited information; I know it's sometimes annoying.

Esv for study though I'm very comfortable with KJV. I also have Greek NT and Hebrew OT

I'm an NASB guy but I've heard they're very similar with the ESV being a bit less wooden. Apparently it's pretty great.

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i didnt recommend KJV as its protestant. while augustine is widely revered in the protestant intellectual tradition, aquinas is largely disparaged. catholics respect both, hence my recommendation. if protestantism interests you more, then go KJV. like i said, douay-rheims influenced the KJV and is also a delight to read

on the idealists and analytics, wittgenstein read augustine quite often and hegel liked the neoplatonists, which influenced christian thought tremendously

Textus Receptus. No, really. It's worth the effort. I've found many, many discrepancies between the Koine Greek and the KJV version (And other translations are even worse). Also, you also lose a lot of language context, where words have more subtle connections or theological implications than a direct translation can ever fully convey.

Even if you're not going to properly learn Greek, do yourself a favour and search for the "interlinear" of verses you are ever curious about. You'll be very surprised at the true meanings.

As for the Old Testament, only a few books are worth reading really, namely the wisdom books and the psalms. The histories are very savage and almost entirely lacking in good moral/philosophical material.

>God created great sea monsters
yeah, no.

>implying there haven't been giant, monstrous reptiles and fish in the ocean.

>so the second hand translation could arguably conserve the efforts made by the Spanish scholar to maintain and approximate the poetical flavor of the sacred texts.

Are there any spanish translations you'd recommend?

Also. What are some relevant history books or bible commentaries if I want to get the whole historical and artistic context and don't care too much about the myths and morals?