Differences Among KJV, NIV, & TNIV Translations

There are numerous versions of the Bible available for followers of the faith, but not all are equal in all respects. Different versions are the result of various groups of scholars who have differing approaches to essential concepts of Christianity and Jesus. Three popular versions of the Bible are KJV, NIV, and TNIV. This article compares these versions to enlighten readers on their differences.

KJV

The KJV, or King James Version, is considered the Authorized Version of the Holy Bible. The translation of the Bible into English began in 1604 and continued until 1611. It was the third official translation of the Bible, initiated due to issues perceived by scholars from Protestant groups within the Christian Church in the earlier two translations.

NIV

NIV stands for the New International Version, a translation of the Holy Bible. The publisher of this version is Biblica, which grants the rights to separate firms in the US and UK. The NIV was introduced in 1970 and updated two years later. The New York Bible Society, now known as Biblica, translated the Bible and released it in 1973.

TNIV

The same committee responsible for translating the Bible for the NIV produced the TNIV, or Today’s New International Version. As a result, most of the TNIV is the same as the NIV. It was introduced in 2002. While Biblica is the publisher of TNIV, the commercial right to print this version has been granted to two different firms for the UK and US.

Key Takeaways

• NIV is the best-selling version of the Holy Bible worldwide.
• KJV is considered by many to be the most faithful version, as it is a word-by-word translation of the original Bible.
• NIV is a phrase-by-phrase translation of the Bible, while TNIV is the work of the same Committee on Bible Translation that produced the NIV.