Version Information
The International Children’s Bible® is not a storybook or a paraphrased Bible. It is a translation of God’s Word from the original Hebrew and Greek languages.
God intended for everyone to be able to understand his Word. Earliest Scriptures were in Hebrew, ideally suited for a barely literate society because of its economy of words, acrostic literary form and poetic parallelism. The New Testament was first written in the simple Greek of everyday life, not in the Latin of Roman courts or the classical Greek of the academies. Even Jesus, the Master Teacher, taught spiritual principles by comparing them to such familiar terms as pearls, seeds, rocks, trees and sheep. It is for this same purpose of making the Scriptures intelligible that this translation was created.
A TRUSTWORTHY TRANSLATION
Two basic premises guided the translation process. The first concern was that the translation be faithful to the manuscripts in the original languages. A team composed of the World Bible Translation Center and twenty-one additional, highly qualified and experienced Bible scholars and translators was assembled. The team included men with translation experience on such accepted versions as the New International Version, the New American Standard Bible and the New King James Version. The most recent scholarship and the best available Hebrew and Greek texts were used, principally the third edition of the United Bible Societies’ Greek text and the latest edition of the Biblia Hebraica, along with the Septuagint.
A CLEAR TRANSLATION
The second concern was to make the language simple to read and understand. In maintaining language simplicity, several guidelines were followed. Sentences have been kept short and uncomplicated. Vocabulary choice has been based upon The Living Word Vocabulary by Dr. Edgar Dale and Dr. Joseph O’Rourke (Worldbook-Childcraft International, 1981) which is the standard used by the editors of The World Book Encyclopedia to determine appropriate vocabulary.
The International Children’s Bible® aids a reader’s understanding by putting concepts into natural terms. Modern measurements and geographical locations have been used as much as possible. For instance, the traditional “shekels” and “cubits” have been converted to modern equivalents of weights and measures. Where geographical references are identical, the modern name has been used, such as the “Mediterranean Sea” instead of “Great Sea” or “Western Sea.” Also, to minimize confusion, the most familiar name for a place is used consistently, instead of using variant names for the same place. “Lake Galilee” is used throughout rather than its variant forms, “Sea of Kinnereth,” “Lake Gennesaret” and “Sea of Tiberias.”
Ancient customs are often unfamiliar to modern readers. Customs such as shaving a man’s beard to shame him or walking between the halves of a dead animal to seal an agreement are difficult for many readers to understand. So these are clarified either in the text or in a footnote.
Since connotations of words change with time, care has been taken to avoid potential misunderstandings. Instead of describing ancient citadels as “forts,” which for modern readers would likely conjure up pictures of wooden stockades in the Old West, the International Children’s Bible® uses “strong, walled cities.” Instead of using the phrase “God drove the nations out of Canaan,” the phrase is translated “forced them out of Canaan.”
Rhetorical questions have been worded as statements, showing the implied meaning, as in this example: “No one is equal to our God,” instead of “Who is equal to our God?”
Figures of speech can easily be misunderstood as literal statements. For instance, when Canaan is described as a land “flowing with milk and honey,” the reader might literally see milk and honey running through the streets. To clarify, the International Children’s Bible® has translated the meaning of the figures, while preserving the image as much as possible.
Idiomatic expressions of the biblical languages are translated to communicate the same meaning to today’s reader that would have been understood by the original audience. For example, the Hebrew idiom “he rested with his fathers” is translated by its meaning—“he died.”
Every attempt has been made to maintain proper English style, while simplifying concepts and communications. The beauty of the Hebrew parallelism in poetry and the word plays have been retained. Images of the ancient languages have been captured in equivalent English images wherever possible.
OUR PRAYER
It is with great humility and prayerfulness that this Bible is presented to God’s children, young and old. We acknowledge the infallibility of God’s Word and our own human frailty. We pray that God has worked through us as his vessels so that his people might learn his truth for themselves and that it might richly grow in their lives. It is to his glory that this Bible is given.
The Publisher
- 1 Chronicles 1
- 1 Chronicles 2
- 1 Chronicles 3
- 1 Chronicles 4
- 1 Chronicles 5
- 1 Chronicles 6
- 1 Chronicles 7
- 1 Chronicles 8
- 1 Chronicles 9
- 1 Chronicles 10
- 2 Chronicles 1
- 2 Chronicles 2
- 2 Chronicles 3
- 2 Chronicles 4
- 2 Chronicles 5
- 2 Chronicles 6
- 2 Chronicles 7
- 2 Chronicles 8
- 2 Chronicles 9
- 2 Chronicles 10
- 2 Chronicles 11
- 2 Chronicles 12
- Deuteronomy 1
- Deuteronomy 2
- Deuteronomy 3
- Deuteronomy 4
- Deuteronomy 5
- Deuteronomy 6
- Deuteronomy 7
- Deuteronomy 8
- Deuteronomy 9
- Deuteronomy 10
- Deuteronomy 11
- Deuteronomy 12
- Ezekiel 1
- Ezekiel 2
- Ezekiel 3
- Ezekiel 4
- Ezekiel 5
- Ezekiel 6
- Ezekiel 7
- Ezekiel 8
- Ezekiel 9
- Ezekiel 10
- Ezekiel 11
- Ezekiel 12
- Ezekiel 13
- Ezekiel 14
- Ezekiel 15
- Ezekiel 16
- Genesis 1
- Genesis 2
- Genesis 3
- Genesis 4
- Genesis 5
- Genesis 6
- Genesis 7
- Genesis 8
- Genesis 9
- Genesis 10
- Genesis 11
- Genesis 12
- Genesis 13
- Genesis 14
- Genesis 15
- Genesis 16
- Genesis 17
- Isaiah 1
- Isaiah 2
- Isaiah 3
- Isaiah 4
- Isaiah 5
- Isaiah 6
- Isaiah 7
- Isaiah 8
- Isaiah 9
- Isaiah 10
- Isaiah 11
- Isaiah 12
- Isaiah 13
- Isaiah 14
- Isaiah 15
- Isaiah 16
- Isaiah 17
- Isaiah 18
- Isaiah 19
- Isaiah 20
- Isaiah 21
- Isaiah 22
- Jeremiah 1
- Jeremiah 2
- Jeremiah 3
- Jeremiah 4
- Jeremiah 5
- Jeremiah 6
- Jeremiah 7
- Jeremiah 8
- Jeremiah 9
- Jeremiah 10
- Jeremiah 11
- Jeremiah 12
- Jeremiah 13
- Jeremiah 14
- Jeremiah 15
- Jeremiah 16
- Jeremiah 17
- Jeremiah 18
- Psalm 1
- Psalm 2
- Psalm 3
- Psalm 4
- Psalm 5
- Psalm 6
- Psalm 7
- Psalm 8
- Psalm 9
- Psalm 10
- Psalm 11
- Psalm 12
- Psalm 13
- Psalm 14
- Psalm 15
- Psalm 16
- Psalm 17
- Psalm 18
- Psalm 19
- Psalm 20
- Psalm 21
- Psalm 22
- Psalm 23
- Psalm 24
- Psalm 25
- Psalm 26
- Psalm 27
- Psalm 28
- Psalm 29
- Psalm 30
- Psalm 31
- Psalm 32
- Psalm 33
- Psalm 34
- Psalm 35
- Psalm 36
- Psalm 37
- Psalm 38
- Psalm 39
- Psalm 40
- Psalm 41
- Psalm 42
- Psalm 43
- Psalm 44
- Psalm 45
- Psalm 46
- Psalm 47
- Psalm 48
- Psalm 49
- Psalm 50
- Psalm 51
- Psalm 52
- Psalm 53
- Psalm 54
- Psalm 55
- Psalm 56
- Psalm 57
- Psalm 58
- Psalm 59
- Psalm 60
- Psalm 61
- Psalm 62
- Psalm 63
- Psalm 64
- Psalm 65
- Psalm 66
- Psalm 67
- Psalm 68
- Psalm 69
- Psalm 70
- Psalm 71
- Psalm 72
- Psalm 73
- Psalm 74
- Psalm 75
- Psalm 76
- Psalm 77
- Psalm 78
- Psalm 79
- Psalm 80
- Psalm 81
- Psalm 82
- Psalm 83
- Psalm 84
- Psalm 85
- Psalm 86
- Psalm 87
- Psalm 88
- Psalm 89
- Psalm 90
- Psalm 91
- Psalm 92
- Psalm 93
- Psalm 94
- Psalm 95
- Psalm 96
- Psalm 97
- Psalm 98
- Psalm 99
- Psalm 100
- Psalm 101
- Psalm 102
- Psalm 103
- Psalm 104
- Psalm 105
- Psalm 106
- Psalm 107
- Psalm 108
- Psalm 109
- Psalm 110
- Psalm 111
- Psalm 112
- Psalm 113
- Psalm 114
- Psalm 115
- Psalm 116
- Psalm 117
- Psalm 118
- Psalm 119
- Psalm 120
- Psalm 121
- Psalm 122
- Psalm 123
- Psalm 124
- Psalm 125
- Psalm 126
- Psalm 127
- Psalm 128
- Psalm 129
- Psalm 130
- Psalm 131
- Psalm 132
- Psalm 133
- Psalm 134
- Psalm 135
- Psalm 136
- Psalm 137
- Psalm 138
- Psalm 139
- Psalm 140
- Psalm 141
- Psalm 142
- Psalm 143
- Psalm 144
- Psalm 145
- Psalm 146
- Psalm 147
- Psalm 148
- Psalm 149
- Psalm 150