Customer Reviews

The Holy Bible: New International Version

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I like to see people reviewing a Bible for its use in certain environments(for teaching youth, for adults, for new Christians etc). I like this small, compact Bible for shipping to Bible students in other countries. I am partial to the NIV because it is accurate and understandable without watering down the translation. This NIV is small and affordable. The print is a bit small, but still able to be read. I don't think I would recommend it for younthful readers because they are more likely to make an effort to read a version that is colorful, has a dictionary, and possibly some illustrations. The text in this book would appear overwhelming and uninteresting for a young reader.

Most denominations have a translation of the bible that works best for their faith. It is important to note that different translations take on different meanings to the people who read them. Ever wonder how there can be so much variation in one religion? Translation is a big factor. Here is a list of translations along with the denomination that commonly uses it

Catholics-- NAS, Jerusalem

Liberal Christians (Episcopal, Presbyterians, Congregationalist, ELCA Lutheran) -- NRSV, CEV, Good News (TEV)

Conservative Christians (Baptist, Evangelical, Mormon, Wisconsin and Missouri Lutheran) -- King James, NIV

I should have known at the price that this would be a really cheap version. The print is so small you need a magnifying glass to read it. If the description had included that caveat, I would have opted for the more expensive edition. Just didn't think about it ahead of time.

This is my favourite version of the Bible. The classic King James Version is hard for many people to understand. Although it is the truest translation available I find reading it in conjunction with a NIV clears all the language difficulties people have (you also get a good lesson in olde English). Everyone should have a copy of this modern day bible.

The translation is perfect for the younger Christian and older Christian alike, its important that the bible moves with the times, and as it has been translated into thousands of languages already its only fair it gets translated into modern day English.

A well deserved 5 Stars.

5 Stars.

The Holy Bible is the book that has shaped Western Civilization for more than 2000 years, but it's often difficult to find a translation that works for the modern reader. (Can ye readeth the King James Version without thy head aching?) The New International Version and this mass market paperback make the Bible easily accessible to the modern reader. The type is a little small, and hopefully a Large Print version will be made to the average consumer.
Reading this book is essential. Even if you're an agnostic, an athesit, or what have you, the writings from Genesis to Revelation are very compelling. If you read the reviews for the King James Version elsewhere on the site, you'll see there are many who give it a poor review simply because they're atheists. But when you get down to the basic substance, the messages of the Bible, (the way people should treat one another, not judge others, try to improve themselves, love your neighbor, don't commit murder, put others' needs before your own) are really difficult to hold in contempt. Indeed, Matthew 5-7 could easily be marketed as a self-help book.
The Bible is timeless, and at least this translation and edition help the modern reader. For what it's worth, it will probably take roughly one year to read the Bible from cover to cover, but given its importance, it's worth it.

A stately, lucid translation, preserving traditional cadences while being unencumbered by thees and thous. It is among the very best of translations made in this century. However, we do deplore the absence of the deuterocanonical books, commonly called the Apocrypha (Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Judith, Tobit, Baruch, etc.) -- these books were considered an integral part of the Scriptural canon by all Christians from the first century until the Protestant revolution.

The NIV utilizes a thought for thought translation principle rather than the more literal word-for-word principle of versions like the NASB or KJV.

If you compare the NIV to these versions or to the word-for-word translation in an interlinear, you will notice it often differs significantly. And when does, it will either be because the NIV is not translating words found in the Hebrew and Greek texts, or the NIV is adding words not found in the original texts. And even worse, these added words are not offset from the original God-inspired words by being placed in italics like the NASB and KJV do.

A simple example of the former can be seen in Joshua 1:8. In this verse, the NASB has 50 words while the KJV has 48 words, but the NIV only has 30 words. You don't need to be a Hebrew scholar to figure out that the NIV has left out quite a bit here! And a simple example of added words not being indicated can be seen in 1Cor 7:9. The NIV adds the words "with passion" at the end of this verse without any indication it has done so. Altogether, there are probably thousand of added and omitted words in the NIV. To me, this indicates serious problems with the NIV.

I discuss in further detail the problems with the NIV and similar versions in my book Differences Between Bible Versions.

Do not be tricked by the first review. The NIV is a spiritually inspired translation of God's word to those who believe. This "book" has changed my life forever.

The New International Version is the most readable English translation ever produced. And if that doesn't make it a "Good Book," then I don't know what does!

Granted, I still prefer to read God's Word in the original tongues, not in a modern translation. (I've got nothing against the watered-down English versions sold today in Bible bookstores, but the ancient biblical scrolls are just a whole lot funnier.)

Most people these days cannot do that: they cannot read Scripture as it was first intended by the Author. Not to worry: Bible translators have saved you a headache and you can thank God for them. Many of the holy Ghost's original sentences are so ungrammatical and awkwardly constructed, and others so unintelligible, that the translators for Zondervan Corp and these other big Bible companies have graciously re-written the text so as to enhance Scripture's appeal to the 21st-century reader. And in the N.I.V. more than in any other, those scholars have done a truly wonderful job of tidying up.

If you prefer an English Bible that is halfway faithful to the original, then read the Authorised Version, better known in America as "the King James Version." The KJV/Authorised Version also has the most authentic prose style, with thee and thou and hath and dost and verily, which is how God actually talks, albeit in Hebrew. ([...]

But if it's a highly readable New Age paraphrase of the Bible you want, and if you cannot decide between the eighteen leading options in your local bookstore or on BibleGateway.com, then allow me to recommend Zondervan's "New International Version" (NIV). Here, at last, is an English-language Bible in which all obscenities and difficult words have been euphemised; God's curses, tempered, and His personality, softened; all theological conundrums, solved; all contradictions, removed; and all the howlers, corrected - which is also why the NIV is ideal for the younger generation, grades five and below.

Here's another thing you will love about Zondervan's New International Version: it is reader-friendly. The NIV makes the Lord sound like an affable American football coach, but with His bad words deleted, such as "piss" (Hebrew shathan) which is a word that God, in the Authorised Version, uses quite a bit (but only when He is angry, e.g., 1 Sam. 25:22, 1 Sam. 25:34, 1 Kings 14:10, 16:11, 21:21, 2 Kings 9:8).

And how's this for a major improvement? Almost every place that the word "Hell" appears in the Authorised Version, the NIV substitutes "the grave" or "the realm of the dead." (Where would you rather spend eternity - in "Hell," or in "the realm of the dead"?)

Then, too, in the NIV, every instance of the word, "Ghost" has been eliminated, and not just the holy one. ("Why should we scare people?" That's Zondervan's policy. "We're marketing Christ the King, not Stephen King! And if you can't tell the difference between those two, well then! - Don't blame us, but you can expect a warm welcome, someday, when you die and your aura gets sent forever to the realm of the dead!")

--L

The L.A. California authored review of this book is not only deception, but fallacy. Humanistic rationale cannot even begin to comprehend, much less scrutinize such divinely inspired truth as this. There is a reason why the Bible (NIV&similar versions) is the best selling book in the history of the world! True Christians throughout history have held the Bible as a completely infallible spiritual guide to salvation in heaven with God through belief in Jesus as Savior. The Bible, priceless in value, yet readily available for only a few dollars,is a worthwhile investment of money and reading time considering it will help lead you to eternal life!!! Enjoy!