What Is the Difference Between the KJV & the NASB?

The King James Version and New American Standard Bible are both popular translations.of the Bible.

The King James Version (KJV) and the New American Standard Bible (NASB) are both literal translations from the original languages of the Bible. Many biblical scholars consider literal translations truer to the word of God than thought-by-thought translations.

Style of Language

Translated in 1611, with a minor update in 1769, the language style of the KJV Bible is old English, similar to the language of the Shakespearean era. The NASB Bible is a more recent version, translated in 1971 with an update in 1985, with text that reads accordingly.

Sources

The KJV translators used the Geneva Bible, the most popular English Bible of 16th-centrury Protestants, as well as editions of the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament. NASB translators also used the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament, as well as many of the new discoveries since the KJV translation, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Format Differences

The KJV does not capitalize pronouns referring to deity while the NASB does. Every printing of the NASB uses a small capital font for Old Testament quotes appearing in the New Testament, while the KJV does not.

References

• Christian Evidences and Apologetics: Which Bible Should I Use?
• Bible Research: Changes in the King James Version
• Bible Research:The New American Standard Bible
• The Protestant Reformed Churches in America:The King James Version of the Bible
• The Lockman Foundation: Why the NASB?