The Reina Valera vs. the Latin Vulgate

Question

I do not speak much Spanish, but I have picked up a Reina Valera version of the Bible a couple of times and leafed through it to try to see what I could understand of it.

Rather than any native Spanish, it gives me the impression of a very mechanical translation of the Latin Vulgate—mostly the original Latin Vulgate words and word order—but spelled and inflected the way they would be in Spanish—as the Spanish language did in fact originally develop from Latin.

It seems to take a hyper-literal, true-to-the-roots, no-ifs-ands-or-buts interpretation of the Spanish language to understand this version of the Bible.

Is there a more natural, native Spanish translation of the Bible available?

Answer 1

Besides Reina Valera, I have La Biblia de las Américas (LBLA), Lockman Foundation 1997, in Logos Bible Software format. They also have Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana de Hoy (NBLH), Foundation Publications 2005.

Bible Gateway is a good place to look: https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/Nueva-Version-Internacional-Biblia-NVI/

The translation dropdown will allow you to select many different Spanish translations.

I can't vouch for how accurate it is, but here is a list with historic translations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_translations_into_Spanish

I don't know that Spanish speaking people would support what you're saying about the Reina Valera. For example:

cum ergo prandissent dicit Simoni Petro Iesus Simon Iohannis diligis me plus his dicit ei etiam Domine tu scis quia amo te dicit ei pasce agnos meos

Biblia Sacra Vulgata: Iuxta Vulgatem Versionem. (1969). (electronic edition of the 3rd edition., Jn 21:15). Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.

Cuando habían comido, Jesús dijo a Simón Pedro: —Simón hijo de Jonás, ¿me amas tú más que éstos? Le dijo: —Sí, Señor; tú sabes que te amo. Jesús le dijo: —Apacienta mis corderos.

Santa Biblia : Reina-Valera Actualizad. (1989). (electronic ed. of the 1989 editio, Jn 21:15). El Paso: Baptist Spanish Publishing House.

Ὅτε οὖν ἠρίστησαν λέγει τῷ Σίμωνι Πέτρῳ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Σίμων Ἰωάννου, ἀγαπᾷς με πλέον τούτων; λέγει αὐτῷ· ναὶ κύριε, σὺ οἶδας ὅτι φιλῶ σε. * λέγει αὐτῷ· βόσκε τὰ ἀρνία μου.

Nestle, E., Nestle, E., Aland, B., Aland, K., Karavidopoulos, J., Martini, C. M., & Metzger, B. M. (1993). The Greek New Testament (27th ed., Jn 21:15). Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.