I hope the below estimations show that the quran is in fact the most read book. What is the second most translated book in the world answers. The bible still remains at the top as the most read book in the world. Along with the works of william shakespeare, the king james version played an important role in the formation of the english language itself. The world is coming to the knowledge of the word of god through this devotional, and the whole nations of the earth shall be filled with the world of god through the devotional. The bible is the bestselling book of the year, every year, says a report in the new yorker magazine. Thanks to jehovah the almighty god whos behind this in order to reach all. In america, where the bible is still big business, that means big sales potential. Writer james chapman created a list of the most read books in the world based on the number of copies each book sold over the last 50 years. For example, dan browns fictional book the da vinci code has his storyline expert say the following about the bible.
These versions are true to the biblical author if they authentically render the intended meaning. Danish author hans christian andersen was the man behind the book. It is one of the few public domain, presentday english translations of the entire bible, and it is freely distributed to the public using electronic formats. So, anywhere between 3,400 and 1,900 years have passed since a book of the bible was written. Based on john bunyans epic masterpiece, the pilgrims progress is one of the most popular books of all time, and one of the most important stories of our faith. Thankfully, we can easily find some of the worlds most popular books translated into numerous languages around the world. The second section, exodus, describes the story of the israelite bondage in egypt and the story of their liberation under the. In whole or in part, the bible has been translated into more than 2,400 languages. The books of the old testament were written from approximately 1400 bc to 400 bc.
The index counts the walt disney company, employing many writers, as a single writer. Share scripture with friends, highlight and bookmark passages, and create a daily habit with bible plans. The bibleunique book, distributed more than any other. The bible tops the list of the most read books in the world. With regard to bible translation, the book truth in translation by jd beduhn. Researcher james chapman has compiled this look at the top 10 mostread books in the world. Plenty has changed since we last updated this article on the most translated. Amazon second chance pass it on, trade it in, give it a second life.
The little prince, a king of most translated books worldcrunch. Questions around the three worlds of the text religious. The story of the world s most influential book kindle edition by barton, john. The world english bible also known as the web is a free updated revision of the american standard version 1901. Today, the worlds most translated book is the bible. The united bible societies announced that as of 31 december 2007 21 the complete bible was available in 438 languages, 123 of which included the deuterocanonical material as well as the tanakh and new testament. The net bible is most notable for its tackling of the formalfunctional balance by rendering a fairly readable text along with copious footnotes for indepth and literal translations. At least one book of the bible has been translated into 2,883 languages.
Watch tower bible and tract society of pennsylvania, 2005, 2014, 272, english. Often there is repetition of a word or sound that aids memorization. It quickly became one of the most popular bible translations in the englishspeaking world. The bible is the most translated book in the world. The book that changed the world united church of god. Has the bible been corrupted, altered, edited, revised, or. Experiencing world religions daosim and confucianism. The most translated book after the bible religion nigeria. Luke may be one of the only nonhebrew authors of the bible based on a few clues we pick up in the new testament. New translations of the bible into english proliferated in the 20th century.
I would never have guessed that the jehovahs witness website would outrank all others, they cover more languages than. The extraordinary story of bible translation around the world. So i started reading a different book with and continued percy jackson. Discover the best more bible translations in best sellers. Most translated books best, greatest of everything. Genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy. The holy bible, new living translation, was first published in 1996. Jan 02, 2015 the king james version kjv, commonly known as the authorized version av or king james bible kjb, is an english translation of the christian bible for the church of england begun in 1604 and. In evaluating the merit of bible translations, there are two main issues to be considered. This gospel presents jesus as the seeking savior of all nations lk 2. For the old testament, the accepted most authoritative texts would be the biblia hebraica stuttgartensia.
This is a list of literary works including novels, plays, series, collections of poems or short stories, and essays and other forms of literary nonfiction sorted by the number of languages they have been translated into. According to the march 2007 edition of time, the bible has done more to shape literature, history, entertainment, and culture than any book ever written. He gave his one and only son, so that everyone who believes in. At least some of the bible is available in the languages spoken by over 90 percent of the human family. Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there was darkness upon the surface of the watery deep. Full unedited text of the world english bible best kindle bible book 1 glenton jelbert. As you can see from the graphic below created by designer jared fanning, the bible leads the countdown by a large margin. Have you ever wondered which website is the most translated in the world. E nglish readers have access to more translations of the bible than readers of any other language. The topic of the most translated book in the world is one which is often up for. So, for example, while the bible is the single most translated book in the world, it does not rank in the top ten of the index. Jan 01, 2017 find out with the bible in world history. If anyone do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed what good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet for though we live in the world, we do not wage war the world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will. I was maybe hopping for a better metric then the number of book sold if it exists.
Jan 27, 2017 socalled wordforword translations have the advantage of showing the reader the specific word choice and phraseology of the biblical authors. For more information, please see the world english bible frequently asked questions. Jul 06, 2018 church tradition recognizes the firstcentury physician luke as the author and editor of this book, which is how it gets its name. Who decided what books the hebrew bible would contain. Though this likely means the torah was edited during the. Net is a double entendre, standing both for new english translation. With the exception of jonah, which is a fictional work, there exists an original core of prophetic tradition behind each book. Find the top 100 most popular items in amazon kindle store best sellers. The bible is the most read and sold book in the history of the world, with an estimated sale amount of 100 million copies annually its not. What is the second most translated book in the world. The bible is by far the most widely translated and distributed book. You can read more about this, and the reasoning behind it, by clicking the link below. Dec 26, 2006 latin culture continues to have a global influence on architecture, art and literature.
However, nowhere in the bible am i told that only one translation of it is the correct one. With the exception of jonah, which is a fictional work, there exists an original core of prophetic tradition behind each. I one read that the most sold book after the bible was im westen nichts neues from erich maria remarque, yet do i not know if it is also the second most translated. Wow that is amazing and quite surprising at the same time.
The king james biblewhich has been called the most influential version of the most influential book in the world, in what is now its most influential language and which in the united states is the most used translation, being still considered a standard among protestant churches and being used liturgically in the orthodox church in america. According to the book itself, it records six visions of the prophet ezekiel, exiled in babylon, during the 22 years from 593 to 571 bc, although it is the product of a long and complex history and does not necessarily preserve the very. Chapman created the list by examining how many individual copies of the books had been printed and sold over the last 50 years. Rhapsody of realities is the second most translated book in the world second to the bible.
Available for ios, android, blackberry, windows phone and more. The book that changed the world the bible remains the most fundamental book gracing our western civilization. Second to the bible in total copies and translations, the story was written by john bunyan a pastor, imprisoned for sharing his faith. The bible has been translated many times by many people, few inspired by god. How many times has the new world translation been revised. It deliberately has blended elementsof daoism, buddhism, and confucianism. The bible has been a massive influence on literature and history, especially in the western world, where the gutenberg bible was the first book printed using movable type. First, i want to affirm with all evangelical christians that the bible is the word of god, inerrant, inspired, and our final authority for faith and life. I got home from work and he told me hed just read it on his own so i could read to his brother, and i could finish the lightening thief myself once he started the second book. The rapture is when christ comes back and takes every christian that is still on this earth and resurrects all of those who have died and takes them. This effort started with ptolemy philadelphus arrangement for the translation of the hebrew bible into koine, in alexandria, on the island of pharos. Originally starting out as an effort to revise the living bible, the project evolved into a new english translation from hebrew and greek texts.
Is this text drawn from or connected to texts in other books of the bible. In the united states, 55% of survey respondents who read the bible reported using the king james version in 2014, followed by 19% for the new international version, with other. As it is mentioned in the comments, many produced bibles were probably never read. By the late 20th century the entire bible had been translated into more than 250 languages, and portions of the bible had been published in more than 1,300 of the worlds languages. This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. Just to add a quick note because i know were running on time here, part of related to the publication of the net bible in english, another project tied closely to it, also sponsored by harpercollins, thomas nelson is to translate the english net bible plus the notes into the toptier 40 or 44 languages around the world. Wallace,senior new testament editor, the net bible as presented to the sbl annual meeting, nashville, tn, on november 18, 2000 in the bible translation section. Read gods word at anytime, anywhere using the youversion bible app. This pocketsized, fully illustrated reference breaks biblical and early church history into eight major time periodsfrom creation to the tower of babel through anno domini, the years from jesus birth to about ad 330and shows what was happening in other parts of the world during.
Genesis describes the creation of the world and the ensuing history until the sons of jacob go down to egypt in more than one version. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading a history of the bible. Then as the bible got translated into a more user friendly version and the learning of languages was more available to the populous every day people started translating it into there own more regionaltribe dialects. Varying parts of the bible are considered to be a product of divine inspiration and a record of the relationship between god and humans by christians, jews, samaritans, and rastafari. Since your question is in english, i will discuss english translations of the bible. Translated according to the hebrew and greek, and conferred with the best translations in diverse languages, with most profitable annotations upon all the hard places, and other things of great importance, as may appear in the epistle to the reader. The worlds best bible translation essential bible ministries. In any case, check for the adventures of tintin, i have at home a tinau tibet in tibetan, an odd present for an odd friend. This will only occur in a bible translated from the corrupt westcotthort, nestlealand or ubs text. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The bible in its original languages, as passed on by word of mouth by generation to generation, was edited by gods inspiration. Compiled list of all english translations of scripture or. The books of the king james version include the 39 books of the old testament, an intertestamental.
The new living translation used translators from a variety of christian denominations. In the hebrew bible the twelve minor prophets are a single collection edited in the second temple period, but the collection is broken up in christian bibles. Now, reports parisbased daily le figaro, the work has been translated in its 300th language. This was all well and good except, but he was home sick and bored and decided hed read on his own. With 469 translations, its easily the most translated text in human history.
The books of the new testament were written from approximately ad 40 to ad 90. During the 1st century greek remains the language of the small christian community, but with the spread of the faith through the roman empire a latin version of the bible texts is needed in western regions. Has the bible been corrupted, altered, edited, revised, or tampered with. Innovations in the text and translation of the net bible, new. What bible translation is closest to the original written. Don quixote is the second most translated book ever after the bible. Unsurprisingly, childrens books and fairy tales dominate the list of the most translated books throughout history. Most translators know that the bible is the most translated book ever. The watchtower bible and tract society denies that the holy spirit is alive, the third person of the trinity. There are a lot of books in the world, but not all of them catch on with readers and even fewer get translated around the world. The united bible societies announced that as of 31 december 2007 the complete bible was available in 438 languages, 123 of which included the deuterocanonical material as well as the tanakh and new testament. By the second century there is one such version in use in north africa and another in italy. With these words the moderator of the church of scotland hands a bible to the new monarch in britains coronation service.
Innovations in the text and translation of the net bible. It has been translated several hundredthousand times. According to the guinness book of world records, the word with the most meanings is set, with 430 senses listed in the 2nd edition of the oxford english dictionary, published in 1989. So its wisdom has reached and helped more people than any other publication. The 20 most translated texts in history ingco international. Though the totals are widely debated, the saintexupery foundation said the latest translation makes the little prince the worlds second most translated book, just after the bible. Dec 02, 2012 the good thing is that most popular books are translated into other languages, to increase their readership and make more readers appreciate them across continents. This thirukural is the second book that have been translated in more languages where bible stands first. List of literary works by number of translations wikipedia. Preface to the english standard version the bible this book is the most valuable thing that this world affords. According to ingco international, a translation agency, the most translated book in the world is the bible. What is the 2nd most published book in history answers. The king james version kjv, also known as the king james bible kjb or simply the authorized version av, is an english translation of the christian bible for the church of england, was commissioned in 1604 and completed as well as published in 1611 under the sponsorship of james vi and i. Introduction to the new living translation, second edition.
The holy bible, available in whole or in part to some 98 percent of the worlds population in 2,233 languages preface, continues to be the most translated book in the world. It is in draft form, and currently being edited for accuracy and readability. Why i do not think the king james bible is the best. When choosing a bible version, individuals should select a version that has been translated from the latest, most authoritative texts. Mar 29, 2010 in john chap 7, this bible records jesus telling his family that he will not attend a certain feast, and then immediately describes how jesus attends this feast secretly. Bible is the holy book only for christian community but this thirukural can be kept as holy book for all the relegions and for all the communities in the world. Aug 28, 2015 the niv is the second most read version of the bible in the united states, after the king james. By that i mean, no original, or first document that everyone can point to and say this is the one that god gave us written in some nondestructible technology and carefully preserved.
This is a list of literary works sorted by the number of languages they have been translated into. The method combined an attempt to translate the original texts simply and literally with a dynamic equivalence synergy approach used to convey the thoughts behind the text where a literal translation may have been difficult to understand or even misleading to modern readers. The net bible was conceived in november 1995 at the society of biblical literature meeting in philadelphia. Top ten translated books of all time optima translation. It is only through accepting where the bible comes from and who put it togetherthat anyone can comprehend what historys most important book says and, just as important, what it does not say. In his book ben sira makes reference to three sections of the bible corresponding to our torah, prophets, and writings. The new living translation nlt is a translation of the bible into modern english.
And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon. Nowhere am i told that the king james bible is the best or only holy bible. The book of ezekiel is the third of the latter prophets in the tanakh and one of the major prophetic books in the old testament, following isaiah and jeremiah. Hi all, here is my opinion based on facts and partly on assumptions. Most translated books best, greatest of everything ranked. Besides the bible, at 2, 287 languages, what book is. The new testament, psalms, and proverbs are close to how they will read when they are finished, but most of the old testament still contains some archaic grammar that will be revised. Some stylistic influences of the living bible remained in the first edition 1996, but these are less evident in the second and third editions 2004, 2007.
The american bible society estimates that there have been around 900 full and partial biblical. Since most of us are not fluent in those languages, we need the bible translated into our native tongue. Bible verses about the world do not love the world or anything in the world. Scriptures on the end times the rapture the raising of the church into heaven 1 thessalonians 4.
Aug 09, 2008 the bible is sixty six different works out of what at time was a collection of about a hundred tenworks some authored by transcription. The bible was written by dozens of authors, all inspired by god. The good thing is that most popular books are translated into other languages, to increase their readership and make more readers appreciate them across continents. Mar 21, 2001 the distinction of being the first woman to translate the bible into english goes to helen spurrell, who in 1885 published a version of the old testament that was translated entirely from an unpointed hebrew textthat is, a hebrew bible that only had consonants, no vowels. Ask people you trust about which translations to trust. May 27, 2019 the earliest evidence we have of a third section of the bible beginning to take form is in the noncanonical book of ben sira, which was written in the early second century b. Many attempts have been made to translate the bible into late modern c. Additionally, a smartphone app and files that can be shared by bluetooth are a much more discrete way of carrying a bible in situations where actually having a printed book might be dangerous. There are many who would name the bible as the most translated book of all time. The king james bible reconsidered david edgar books the. Aside from the bible, with 475 translations for the whole bible and 112 translations for the quran, the most translated literary works are the wellknown classics, old and new. Socalled wordforword translations have the advantage of showing the reader the specific word choice and phraseology of the biblical authors. The canonization of the hebrew bible into its final 24 books was a process.
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