Reviews of Bible Translations


    Please keep in mind that some of these reviews are off the cuff remarks, and the reader may not understand all of them, and that they were created at the request of readers. All of these versions are sensitive to Torah observance, though not all do a good job of defending it.

0. The first thing anyone needs to know is that they should get a literal version like the NASB or ESV. All other translations should be supplemental to correct the problems of those two versions. Second there is no substitute for the faithful reading LARGE amounts of the Torah and Prophets and the Apostolic Writings to find out what Yahweh is like, paying attention to the context, and asking in Prayer for answers concerning any problems or misunderstandings. Readers should feel free to question any wording in any translation that does not make logical sense to them in accord with the overall context of the Scripture. You will do well with this advice if you are trustingly faithful in Messiah Yeshua, who is the Almighty Son, the Elohim who became man, that he died for your sins and rose again on the third day. Above all, from a position of being in Messiah, you must pray concerning translations. There is no substitute to the Ruakh guiding you in this matter. Anyone who does not get their answers and discernment from the Spirit will fail.  It is by following my own advice that I have been able to produce the GNM.

0.0 Also keep in mind that we are dealing with a situation of 19 centuries of corruption and drift away from an understanding of the original text. It will take years for these problems to be fully corrected and probably a restoration of the kingdom to Yisrael first.

1. One New Man Bible (Review based on promotional page): PDF.
2. ONMB Review #2: PDF.
3. ONMB Review #3: PDF.
    Summary ONM: The author appears to be a sincere believer in Messiah. He observes Sabbath and no doubt has fixed a lot of problems in a practical way, though not in an accurate way, which makes apologetical use of his translation difficult. His translation suffers from the tradition of avoiding the name YHWH, and the usual mistranslations of "faith" and "believe." His theory of Hebrew tense is outside the norm. He ignores the jussive. And he adds a lot of words with no good purpose. Since I do not have a copy of this translation, I cannot comment on anything but what was shared on the website. The author's chronology of Saul's reign is broken.
4. TLB (Tree of Life Bible). HTML.
    Summary: read the review.
5. ISR Scriptures.  This translation suffers from 1. the use of the word "belief" in the Apostolic Writings instead of "faithfulness" or "faith.", and 2. false etymological theories concerning the word God.
4. CJB. Stern's translation is a paraphrase, yet Stern does a better job with "faithfulness" and "trusting faithfulness" then other versions (excepting GNM).
5. AENT. The author denies that the soul (person) of Messiah is Yahweh in the appendix. Except for names, this version is little better than other translations of the Aramaic Peshitta, and all of them ignore the true Hebraic character of the Aramaic.  I will do a fuller review later. For now it is sufficent to say if I started with he Aramaic and not the Greek, I could legitimately produce a translation looking very much like the GNM.