International Children’s Bible

International Children’s Bible, Copyright © 1986, Tommy Nelson Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Database © 2008 WORD search Corp.

Front Matter

• Preface

• A Trustworthy Translation

• A Clear Translation

• Study Aids

• Our Prayer

Preface

The International Children’s Bible is not a storybook or a paraphrased Bible. It is an edition of the New Century Version, which is a translation of God’s Word from the original Hebrew and Greek languages. It is the first translation of the Holy Scriptures prepared specifically for children. Until now children have had to learn God’s truths either from Bible storybooks or adult-language Bibles. Many words and concepts, readily understood by adults, may leave children mystified or even with false impressions.

Yet, 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, even to children, 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 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 enough for children to read and understand for themselves. In maintaining the 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. For difficult words which have no simpler synonyms, footnotes and dictionary references are provided. Footnotes appear at the bottom of the page and are indicated in the text by an *. The dictionary is located at the back of the Bible with references indicated in the text by a +.

Dr. Charles K. Kinzer of Peabody College ...