With so many translations of the Bible available today in English and other languages, it is important to remember that no matter who does a Bible translation or which basic approach is used, the purpose is to make the Bible reliable and understandable to those who want to read and hear its words of justice, hope, and love. Without the skill, sacrifice, and efforts of Bible translators, the message of the Bible might have been lost to us forever. 

Second, Bible scholars are continually learning things about ancient Israel and the Near East that can help us better understand the historical and cultural context out of which the Bible emerged. For example, we understand much more clearly today the way the various social classes interacted in the ancient world, as well as the more intimate workings of families, clans, and tribes in ancient Israel. Such discoveries sometimes affect how we understand the words and stories of the Bible. In addition, archaeologists continue to find documents and libraries that help translators understand the ancient Hebrew and Greek languages better, and so help them translate the Bible more accurately. For example, the King James Version translates 1 Samuel 17.22 like this: "And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army." The translators had difficulty with one of the Hebrew words in the manuscripts they used, and translated "his carriage" and "keeper of the carriage" based on the context of the narrative. As translators learned more about the Hebrew language and its vocabulary, however, they understood that the verse did not talk about David's "carriage," but about the "carried things" or "baggage" that he had with him for the soldiers in the army. And so the translators of the Revised Standard Version (published in 1952) were able to translate the same verse more accurately: "And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, and ran to the ranks."

Among recent archaeological discoveries that help translators understand Hebrew and Greek better are the famous Dead Sea Scrolls. This very important discovery consists of a huge collection of manuscripts, including important copies of the Scriptures themselves, which shed light on ancient Israel, the Hebrew language, the beginnings of the early Church, and the way the Scriptures were organized and used by ancient communities. For more about this see the article called "Archaeology and the Bible."