Why read the SSB Translation?

There are numerous Bible translations available worldwide; why would anyone want to read The Sunday School Bible (SSB)? 

The Sunday School Bible (SSB) is designed specifically for you, the reader. Yes, there are many other Bible translations in the world that you can read and have likely tried, but you might find the SSB the easiest and most enjoyable. Why is that, you might ask? 

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There are over one hundred English Bible translations worldwide, each focusing on translating the original text into either a formal or functional translation. The list below provides a brief overview of several well-known Bible translations that aim for formal and functional equivalence and structure sentences to suit easy, medium, or challenging reading levels. 

 

Formal equivalence (word-for-word) translations:

•    King James Version (KJV) 
•    New King James Version (NKJV)
•    English Standard Version (ESV)
•    New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
•    New American Standard Bible (NASB)
•    Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
•    New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)

 

Functional equivalence (thought-for-thought) translations:

•    New International Version (NIV) 
•    New Living Translation (NLT) 
•    Common English Bible (CEB) 

 

Like many readers, you may have had no idea there were so many different translations, the difference between formal and functional equivalence, or that reading levels were even a factor in translation. Now that there are over one hundred English Bible translations, each formatted for different scriptural equivalences and reading levels (easy, medium, and challenging), it’s no wonder Christians buy so many Bibles, trying to find the one they can read and understand. 

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The SSB uses the KJV as its baseline translation. Therefore, the SSB does not attempt to retranslate the original text of the Bible, unlike other Bible translations. The SSB uses the KJV as its baseline because many Christians worldwide consider it the most accurate English translation available today. Furthermore, the KJV has been described as one of the most important books in English culture and remains the preferred translation of many Christians. Many Evangelicals consider the KJV the only “valid” Bible translation. Many Christians have always wanted to learn from the KJV but have found it so difficult to read and understand that they equate it to reading a foreign language. Because of this, the SSB’s focus is to transform the KJV’s style, language, and formatting into modern English so that Christians of all ages can easily read the KJV and understand God’s word as it speaks to them.

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Formatting Philosophy

 

Reformatting a book like the KJV is no easy task. However, The Sunday School Bible, LLC has spent many hours meticulously reading every word of every sentence of every chapter of every book to ensure that the meaning of this important and well-respected manuscript is not altered. The SSB study Bibles could not have been completed and elevated to reach Christians of all ages around the world without God’s light shining on our effort. This effort, by no means, could have been the work of one individual; the continuous day-to-day drive and focus to produce the SSB before the Lord’s return could only have been inspired and guided by God. 

 

The SSB has reviewed each word and sentence in the KJV hundreds of times to ensure readability and clarity. To conduct this review, the SSB first transcribed the KJV onto 8.5-by-11-inch paper. Then the SSB double-spaced each sentence to ensure it could be read and understood independently. We discovered that each sentence was profoundly essential when read on its own and even more so when read in context with other phrases, paragraphs, and chapters.

 

As we studied each word and sentence for readability, we also read for understanding. Often, sentences were easy to read but didn’t make sense, or they made sense but were very difficult to read. Therefore, we researched the parts of each sentence that caused a reading delay or a gap in understanding and focused on solving that particular dilemma. We often had to restructure or reformat a sentence, use a synonym for a word, and research other biblical translations and footnotes to identify other meanings for the same word or sentence. Collectively, this effort highlighted the numerous differences across other Bible translations and the confusion caused by formal or functional translations, as well as translation efforts that incorporated different reading levels. Overall, the numerous research studies on other Bible translations related to each KJV word, sentence, and paragraph helped shape our understanding of what God was trying to convey through the KJV. The KJV word or sentence was maintained whenever there were complete differences between other translated texts and the KJV. Again, using the KJV text as the baseline and comparing it to other Bible translations only confirmed the power of the KJV. Therefore, maintaining the KJV translation was extremely important. Maintaining this approach helps convey the thoughts behind the text clearly, ensuring it is not misleading or confusing to modern readers.

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