Is there a great difference between the NASB and the KJV? Can the NASB be trusted?

Question:

Your web site is very informative. I attend a church that only recognizes KJV and no other. I read between NASB and KJV. Is there a great difference between the two? Can the NASB translation be trusted?

Thank you for help in this matter.

Answer:

Both the King James Version and the New American Standard Bible are literal translations. As a matter of fact, the NASB is considered to be more literal than the KJV. Where the KJV will use a variety of words to translate a single Greek word, the NASB tends to use the same word.

The biggest difference is that the NASB uses modern English for the most part. It does use archaic pronouns at times, which never made sense to me. However, the King James Version is written in a much older form of English which causes modern readers to misunderstand what is being said. See "Why don't you use the King James Version?" for a number of examples.

In regards to accuracy in translation, see "Which version of the Bible is most accurate?" and "Which Translation Should I Use?"

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