I want to begin by quoting a very important verse that will help to answer this question. In 2 Peter 1:21 we read, “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” We learn here that it was the “will of God” to use “holy men” to write the “holy scriptures” that make up the Bible. Each author of the book (or books) they were inspired to write was “moved by the Holy Spirit,” which simply means God the Spirit (one of the Persons of the Holy Trinity…see Matthew 28:19) directed these men to write the very words that He intended them to write. These words did not come from their own will, intellect, or insight; they came from God’s Mind alone as His revelation to mankind. We see this same truth in 1 Corinthians 2:13 where the apostle Paul was inspired by God to say, “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches BUT WHICH THE HOLY SPIRIT TEACHES” These “human writers” (at least 40), who penned the ORIGINAL AUTOGRAPHS (i.e. manuscripts) are the only ones who were INSPIRED BY GOD and thus only their writings were GOD-BREATHED.

Now let’s talk about translations. The word “translation” means, “the process of translating words or text from one language into another.” By this very definition we learn that the men who put together translations of the Bible were not “Divinely Inspired.” They were not writing words that were given to them “directly from God.” Rather, they took previous manuscripts of the Bible and made COPIES into another language so people who could read that language could read God’s revelation to them. At this point we must say, “Only the ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS (which disappeared long ago) that were written by the authors of the books of the Bible are PERFECT MANUSCRIPTS.” Though there have been many “translations of the Bible” none of them are without some kind of “copyist error” where the translator mistakenly omitted or added words, or put down the wrong word. Even if there had been a PERFECT TRANSLATION (one without one “copyist error”) the translators were NOT “inspired of God” since God did NOT give them the words to write (as He did to the “human writers of the books of the Bible.”)

In closing, I want to caution those who have taught that there is one Bible translation that was inspired of God; namely, the 1611 King James Bible translation. They teach that this translation is without any errors whatsoever because God directed them to give them the exact “English words that correspond with the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible.” At times, they go so far as to say that if there are instances where the words in the King James Bible differ from very old and reliable manuscripts, those manuscripts must be wrong because God inspired the King James translators in their translation of the 1611 version. For the record, I love the King James Version of the Bible. I was saved by reading that translation and I use that translation to this day in my studies and in giving lectures. But it is NOT PERFECT, and neither are any of the other excellent Bible translations (like the New American Standard Bible, the New Translation by J. N. Darby, and the New King James Version).

One may be thinking, “So, can we trust these translations?” Yes, we can, for any mistakes are relatively minor and they do not compromise the vital truths of God. God has seen fit to preserve these truths (the truth of the Trinity, the Incarnation of the Son of God, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, salvation through faith in Christ’s atoning death and glorious resurrection, the Second Coming of Christ, et al.) But it should be said that there are “PARAPHRASES of the Bible” that are called “translations,” yet the so-called translator uses his or her own words to convey what they believe a verse or passage of Scripture is saying. A true translation of the Bible is where the translator seeks to communicate “word for word” from the manuscript being used into their own native language.  (DO)  (687.5)