Thank you for the question on versions of the Bible, “Why does the Bible have so many versions? If it’s the word of God, then it must have one version. So which one is the most authentic version of the Bible? Does the Bible really preserved or it just corrupted?”
There is one Bible. The versions are not revisions of the Bible, per say, but rewording of the text into the simpler words for its readers or with a particular emphasis on certain words.
Very few people would be able to read Hebrew and Greek in the original text. For another people group, the biblical text needs to be translated into words for that people group. Bible translators must decide whether to give a more literal translation of the Hebrew-Greek text or a more dynamic or concept idea of the text.
For example, as one reads the NASB 1995 version one finds the literal translation of “brothers” or brethren (KJV), but today translators are using the words for “brothers” in the Greek text to mean “brothers and sisters.” Some individuals may interpret the word, brother, as meaning only to men to the exclusion of women. Context is important in determining the word choice.
A more controversial word is elder. Did the writers of the New Testament as the Apostle Paul only intended men to be elders or deacons in the church (I Tim. 3)? The church is divided on the interpretation of it.
I believe that a more literal translation of the Hebrew-Greek text is better if one wants to a critical study of the text. Very few of us want to read the 1611 Bible translation with the Old English. We will need a translator to translate the Bible for us as some of those words are “lost” or no longer familiar in our vocabulary today.
SUMMARY: Versions seek to make the Hebrew-Greek text more comprehensible for the readers.
For more perspectives: