Evan Blackmore worked as a medical practitioner and psychiatrist until his retirement in 1990. His most recent books, written with his wife Marie, are Leviticus (Truth Commentaries) and Between Malachi and Jesus (DeWard Publications).

Have you ever wanted a Bible for a Spanish-speaking friend? Or have you wanted to carry a Bible in that language yourself, during a visit to a Spanish-speaking country such as Mexico, Peru, or Argentina?

If so, you'll have discovered that there are almost as many different translations of the Bible in Spanish as in English. This article has room to discuss only a few. It will concentrate on versions that follow the wording and sentence structure of the original Greek and Hebrew quite closely-in the way that the King James Version, American Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, New King James Version, and English Standard Version do in English.

Reina-Valera

The classic Spanish version of the Bible was translated by Casiodoro de Reina in 1569 and revised under the supervision of his friend Cipriano de Valera in 1602. The 1602 Versión Reina-Valera (abbreviated VRV or RV) reads very much like the 1611 KJV. That isn't simply coincidence. The 1611 English translators had a copy of the 1602 VRV and checked it carefully, verse by verse, against their own preliminary draft translation.

Like the 1611 KJV, the 1602 VRV was written during a golden age of its country's literature, and has an antique beauty of language uniquely its own. Of course, some of its words have now fallen out of use, but it isn't quite as hard to understand as the KJV, because Spanish hasn't altered quite as much as English in the past 400 years. (English has been grammatically crippled since 1611 by the complete loss of all second person singular pronouns and verb forms-"thou," "thee," "thy," etc. There have been many changes to Spanish since 1602, both in Spain and in the Americas, but nothing as devastating as that.)

Like the 1611 KJV, the 1602 VRV uses italics to indicate words added by the translators, and is supplemented with marginal notes-some of which (marked Heb. and G.) are useful because they give even more precise word-for-word renderings of the original Hebrew and Greek.

Like the 1611 KJV, the 1602 VRV has been revised repeatedly in recent centuries. In English, every revision of the 1611 KJV carries its own name (American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New King James Version, etc.). But in Spanish, every revision of the 1602 VRV still bears the name Versión Reina-Valera. The different versions are distinguished mainly by their dates. So, when buying a VRV Bible, you need to check not only the name, but also the date of revision.

The main VRV revisions that keep relatively close to the original Greek and Hebrew are the following:

The 1865 VRV. This is very similar to the 1602 edition, but gently modernizes some of its wording and simplifies a few of its grammatical constructions. The 1602 marginal notes are omitted, but the use of italics is retained. A handy reprint of the 1865 VRV (with updated spelling but unchanged wording) was published by the Sociedad Bíblica Valera at Miami in 2007. It has also been issued in a bilingual Spanish-English edition with facing KJV.

The 1909 VRV, a more systematic modernization of the 1602 edition. It too has italics but no marginal notes. It is available in reference editions with Scripture cross references; large print editions; bilingual editions with facing KJV; and a Greek-Spanish Nuevo Testamento Interlineal (published by Nelson, 2011). (Not all these editions preserve the italics, however.)

The 1979 VRV, a slight modernization of the 1909 VRV, published by C. D. Stampley Enterprises of Charlotteville, NJ. It too has italics but no marginal notes. An excellent giant print edition is available.

The 1960 VRV, a much more extensive revision of the VRV than any of the above. (Therefore, the 1960 VRV is sometimes called the Reina-Valera Revisada [RVR], whereas the 1602, 1865, 1909, and 1979 versions are grouped together as the Reina-Valera Antiqua.) It has no italics or marginal notes. It is available in reference editions, giant print editions, and bilingual editions with facing KJV, NKJV, ESV, NIV, or HCSB.

Like the KJV and NKJV, all the Spanish versions listed above translate a very full New Testament text, even including some passages that have little or no Greek manuscript support, such as the references to the three heavenly witnesses in 1 John 5:7-8. In points of detail, however, each version makes slightly different textual decisions. None of these small textual variations makes any difference to the doctrines taught by the Scriptures.

Which VRV version is the "best"? That's like asking which English version is the "best." Different ones have different advantages.

Of the versions listed above, the 1960 generally has the simplest and most modern language, then the 1979, then the 1909, then the 1865, then the 1602. But there's a tradeoff. In a small but significant number of places the successive alterations have progressively lost some of the accuracy of the 1602 edition.

Many further revisions of the VRV have been published in recent years, but none has been as well received as the 1602, 1865, 1909, and 1960 versions. None of the more recent VRV revisions that I have examined is recommendable. Some were prepared by people who could not read Hebrew or Greek, others by people who had little belief in the inspiration of the Scriptures.

La Biblia de las Américas

Outside the various revisions of the VRV, probably the most accurate Spanish version overall is La Biblia de las Américas (LBLA), published in 1986. This is a Spanish equivalent of the NASB, and is very similar indeed to the NASB, even in visual layout. It has italics and marginal notes (some of which, marked Lit., give more precise renderings of the Hebrew and Greek). Sometimes it is a little more accurate than the NASB, sometimes a little less, but most often it does in Spanish exactly what the NASB does in English. Textually it looks more like the VRV than the NASB, because it prints a very full New Testament text without setting certain passages in square brackets as the NASB does (although some of its marginal notes mention differences in manuscript evidence). As you would expect, a bilingual LBLA-NASB has been issued.

In Spanish, as in English, there is no "perfect" translation. The Lord, in His wisdom, has not prevented translators from writing error-just as He has not prevented preachers from speaking error. The people who bring us the treasure of His word-including translators and preachers-are always merely "earthen vessels" (2 Cor. 4:7). So all Spanish Bibles, like all English Bibles, have been translated by fallible humans and contain occasional mistakes.

For instance, in Romans 16:1 the 1602 and 1865 VRV versions say that Phoebe is en el servicio ("in the service") of the church at Cenchrea. But the 1909, 1979, and 1960 VRV, and the LBLA, call her a diaconisa ("deaconess") of the church at Cenchrea. Here the older versions are clearly more accurate, because the Greek word is diakonos, the general term for anyone who does any kind of service (as in Rom. 15:8; 13:4; etc.). The Greek word diakonissa ("deaconess") is never used in the Bible, and first appears in historical records during the second century (about the time when various churches were also appointing a single "bishop" to rule over the elders).

On the other hand, in Acts 2:27 the 1602, 1865, 1909, and 1979 VRV versions say that after his death David was in el infierno ("hell," the same Spanish word that is applied to the place of eternal punishment in Matt. 5:29-30, etc.). But the 1960 VRV and the LBLA say that he was in el Hades ("Hades"). Here the 1960 VRV and the LBLA are more accurate, because the Greek word is Hades, the abode of the dead before the judgment, and is quite different from the Greek word for the place of eternal punishment.

Overall, the many strengths and few failings of the great Spanish Bible versions are very similar to the many strengths and few failings of the great English Bible versions.

The accompanying chart shows a representative sample of Scripture in the translations recommended above. Even if you do not know Spanish, you may still be able to see that all these translations carefully reproduce the little connecting words of the text, and also that their variations in wording are relatively slight.