Compare Bible Translations
This is a unique Bible study, showing many Bible verses in many different Bible translations. 

Revelation 10:1

In Hebrew, and ancient Greek as well, the words for foot πούς and hand χείρ originally meant the whole limb, not just the foot and hand; that is, πούς could mean the whole leg, and χείρ the whole upper limb, from the finger tips to the shoulder. In Revelation, we can see that the writer uses these words that way, from Revelation 10:1, where he says (ESV), “Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire.”

Certainly, legs are like pillars, and feet are not like pillars. The ESV correctly renders πούς as legs, and not feet. Those translations that render it “feet” are just plain wrong.

Incorrect translations, reading “feet” in Rev. 10:1:

Tyndale
Geneva
Douay Rheims
KJV
ASV
Darby
BBE
Weymouth
WEB
GW (God’s Word)
NASB
LivingBible
NLT
EMTV
JB2000
LEB (Lexam)
NABRE (NAB revised)
NKJV
YLT
OJB

 Correct translations, reading “legs” in Rev. 10:1

 J.B.Phillips
RSV
GNT (Good News)
ESV
ISV
NET
NRSV
NIV
TNIV
CEV
NCV
CJB (Complete Jewish Bible)
EXB
ICB
Mounce
WE
Voice
HCSB
DRP

[[The Messianic Ebible has a footnote indicating that “legs” is in the Syriac.  The Amplified Bible says “feet (legs)”]]

Incorrect translations, reading “hand” in Rev. 13:16

Tyndale
Geneva
KJV
ASV
BBE
Weymouth
J.B.Phillips
RSV
GNT (Good News)
ESV
CEV
NCV
CJB (Complete Jewish Bible)
EXB
ICB
Mounce
WE
Voice
HCSB
WEB
GW
ISV
MessianicEBible
Amplified
NET
NRSV
NASB
NIV
TNIV
EMTV
JB2000

Correct translations, reading “arm” or “upper limb”in Rev. 13:16:

DRP

Isaiah 55:10

Some years ago, I was sitting at home reading from the prophet Isaiah out loud, with my cousin listening. I was reading chapter 55 in the ESV, when our employer, an alfalfa seed farmer named Phillip Geertson, walked in. He did not say anything. So I kept reading, in verse 10: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth…” Then Mr. Geertsen reacted with a scowl and a grunt.

Why the farmer’s reaction?   Because he, and everyone else, knows that the rain and the snow DO return to heaven (the sky).

I was embarrassed, because I knew that what I had read was wrong. I was regretting, because I wanted to be a witness to Mr. Geertson, and I had failed, because of what I had read.

I later consulted other Bible translations, and found that they read quite differently, and more correctly. And the context requires that the rain and the snow do return to heaven, because God is making a comparison between them and his word, that it will return to him, but will not return void, but will accomplish that for which He sent it. So, the versions:

Tynd      and returneth not thither again, but watereth the earth
Geneva and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth
KJV         and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth
BBE        and does not go back again, but gives water to the earth
WEB      and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth
JB2000   and does not return there, but waters the earth
RSV        and return not thither but water the earth
MEV      and do not return there but water the earth
ESV        and do not return there but water the earth
NKJV     And do not return there, But water the earth
NET       and do not return, but instead water the earth
NLT       and stay on the ground to water the earth

NASB    And do not return there without watering the earth
NIV        and do not return to it without watering the earth
CEV       But they don’t return without watering the earth
GW        They do not go back again until they water the earth
NRSV    and do not return there until they have watered the earth
ISV         and do not return there without watering the earth
LEB        and they do not return there except they have watered the earth
NABRE And do not return there till they have watered the earth
HCSB    and do not return there without saturating the earth
DRP   and do not return there without watering the earth

Acts 21:40, 22:2
⁴⁰And after he gave him permission, Paul stood on the steps, and motioned to the people downward with his hand.  And when it was largely quiet, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, and said…
²And when they heard him addressing them in the Hebrew language, they offered greater silence.

Here I am focusing on the progression from “when it was largely quiet” in 21:40 to “they offered greater silence” in 22:2.

πολλῆς δὲ σιγῆς γενομένης προσεφώνησεν τῇ Ἑβραΐδι διαλέκτῳ λέγων

largely and quiet became, he addresed in the Hebrew language, saying

Ἀκούσαντες δὲ ὅτι τῇ Ἑβραΐδι διαλέκτῳ προσεφώνει αὐτοῖς μᾶλλον παρέσχον ἡσυχίαν.

when they heard and that in the Hebrew language he addressed them greater they offered a silence.

Starting with Wycliffe and Tyndale, they interpreted πολλῆς as an adjective rather than the adverb it is in this context.  And most all of the translations tells us that the mob became very silent merely because Paul motioned with his hand. Really, the mob that was just trying to kill him?

Wycliffe
Poul stood in the grees, and bikenede with the hoond to the puple. And whanne a greet silence was maad, he spak in Ebrew tunge, and seide,
And whanne sum herden that in Ebrew tunge he spak to hem, thei yauen the more silence.

Tyndale
Paul stode on ye steppes and beckned with the honde vuto the people and ther was made a greate silence.
Whe they hearde that he spake in ye Ebrue tonge to them they kept the moore silence.

Some translations do not even translate the word πολλῆς:

God’s Word
So Paul stood on the stairs of the barracks and motioned with his hand for the people to be quiet. When the mob was silent, Paul spoke to them in the Hebrew language.
When the mob heard him speak to them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet.

Good News Bible
so Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand for the people to be silent. When they were quiet, Paul spoke to them in Hebrew:
When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they became even quieter;

CEV
so Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the people. When they were quiet, he spoke to them in Aramaic:
When the crowd heard Paul speak to them in Aramaic, they became even quieter.

Many translations that do translate πολλῆς end up contradicting themselves, such as the NLT.  Verse 31 says there was “a deep silence” but then in v. 2 it says “the silence was even greater.”
How can you have a silence greater than “a deep silence”?  And there is no word for “even” in the Greek.

New Living Translation
so Paul stood on the stairs and motioned to the people to be quiet. Soon a deep silence enveloped the crowd, and he addressed them in their own language, Aramaic.
When they heard him speaking in their own language, the silence was even greater.

Now I will focus on the word παρέσχον in 22:2, which is 3rd person plural, they, they were offering.  The NLT does not correctly render that “they” part, see above.  But most translations do not correctly render the verb as “offered, afforded, gave” to someone.  Instead, they say something like “became” or “were”:

KJV
Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,
And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence:

NKJV
Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying,
And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent.

TNIV
Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic
When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.

CSB
Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When there was a great hush, he addressed them in Aramaic:
When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter

ESV
Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying:
And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet.

NABRE
Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people; and when all was quiet he addressed them in Hebrew.
When they heard him addressing them in Hebrew they became all the more quiet.

NASB
Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great hush, he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect, saying,
And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he *said,

NET
Paul stood on the steps and gestured to the people with his hand. When they had become silent, he addressed them in Aramaic,
(When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter.)

NRSV
Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the people for silence; and when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying:
When they heard him addressing them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet.

Here is how it should be translated:

DRP
Paul stood on the steps, and he motioned to the people downward with his hand.  And when it was largely quiet, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, and said,
And when they heard him addressing them in the Hebrew language, they offered greater silence.

You can download the DRP translation here.

To continue this Bible study, to compare Bible translations on many other Bible verses, see the original Bible Comparison page.