11. Contemporary Bible Versions
Chapter 11: Contemporary Bible Versions
The publication of the Revised Standard Version in 1952 marks the beginning of a new era in Bible translation. No version up to this point had seriously challenged the dominance of the KJV. Although the RSV did not come close to usurping its predecessor, its use of better manuscripts and its greater accuracy at many points taught readers that a modern version could actually improve upon the venerable KJV tradition. In this way it set a precedent for revision and refinement that continues today.
Also important for translators in the second half of the twentieth century were advances in the fields of linguistics and cultural anthropology. Biblical scholars have benefited greatly from the insights of missiologists and international Bible translators concerning how language works and how best to translate from one language to another. Especially notable here is the work of groups like Wycliffe Bible Translators, the United Bible Societies, and other international translation organizations.
There are various ways to classify contemporary English Bible ver-sions: by date, relationship to predecessors, denominational association, or translation philosophy. While the RSV, NASB, NKJV, NRSV, and ESV are revisions in the KJV tradition but consulting original biblical languages, other versions are freshly translated directly from the Hebrew or Greek. The following chart shows these relationships:
Contemporary English Versions Categorized by Relationship
(Date is first edition of whole Bible)
One benefit of a fresh translation from the Hebrew and Greek is the tendency to remove archaic or traditional language that does not clearly reproduce the meaning of the original text. One perceived weakness is that these versions do not always sound like the “real Bible,” that is, the Bible readers are familiar with (i.e., the KJV tradition). Of course this detriment can also be an asset, since the Bible did not sound like Elizabethan English to its original readers.
In this chapter we will survey contemporary versions according to their translation theory, moving from formal equivalent, to mediating, to functional equivalent. The twenty-five versions discussed below do not represent an exhaustive list. We have included only those versions that are widely available. The dates beside each version indicate the publication for the full Bible. For convenient reference, we reproduce here the translation spectrum that appeared in chapter 2.
Formal Equivalent Versions
New American Standard Bible (1971; rev. 1995). As noted in the previous chapter, the RSV was a revision of the ASV, but some conservatives perceived it as containing a liberal bias. So a group of conservative scholars decided to produce a second revision of the ASV. The result was the New American Standard Bible. The NASB was prepared by fifty-eight originally anonymous, but now acknowledged, scholars under the auspices of the Lockman Foundation of La Habra, California. The New Testament appeared in 1963 and the whole Bible in 1971.
The twofold purpose of the editorial board was “to adhere as closely as possible to the original languages of the Holy Scripture, and to make the translation in a fluent and readable style according to current English usage” (foreword to the NASB). By most assessments, the version succeeds in the first goal but fails in the second. The NASB is the most consistently literal or formal equivalent of major English versions produced over the last half century. Examples of this include its use of italicization of English words that do not have Greek or Hebrew parallels and the identification of historical present tense verbs in the New Testament with an asterisk. But it lacks clarity and readability.
An updated edition of the NASB, designated NASU, was released in 1995. It increased readability somewhat and removed some archaic language, including the “thees” and “thous” that had been retained with reference to God in the original NASB.
New King James Version (1982). While the NASB was a revision of the ASV (itself a revision of the KJV), a direct revision of the KJV was initiated by Arthur Farstad and sponsored by Thomas Nelson Publishers of Nashville, Tennessee. The NKJV was produced by more than 130 evangelical scholars working over a seven-year period. The New Testament appeared in 1979 and the whole Bible followed in 1982.
The primary distinction of the NKJV is its textual base; it used the Textus Receptus, the edition of the Greek New Testament behind the KJV. As discussed in chapter 8, other modern versions use the critical text derived from older Greek manuscripts. To its credit, footnotes in the NKJV alert the reader to different readings in the critical text. While updating archaic words, especially the “thees” and “thous,” the NKJV consciously seeks to retain the cadence, style, and idiom of the KJV. The result is one of the most formal equivalent of modern versions.
New Revised Standard Version (1990). After the publication of the RSV in 1952, its translation committee continued to meet every few years to consider future changes and to make minor corrections to the text. In 1974 the National Council of Churches, copyright holder of the RSV, authorized a revision. New Testament scholar Bruce Metzger served as chairman of the translation committee. The complete Bible was published in 1990. Like its predecessors, the NRSV is a formal equivalent version. It was also the first English version to consistently and comprehensively introduce gender inclusive language for masculine generic terms in Hebrew and Greek. It is widely used in academic and scholarly circles.
English Standard Version (2001). Some conservatives were unhappy with the perceived liberalism of the RSV, but felt that the NASB was too literal. They also considered the trend toward gender inclusive language in the NRSV to be a detriment rather than an asset. So they sought permission from the National Council of Churches to revise the 1971 edition of the RSV. Permission was granted and the resulting translation was named the English Standard Version.
This revision moved the text of the RSV in a more conservative and evangelical direction. Approximately 7 percent of the RSV has been changed. In addition to “correcting” certain RSV readings — such as returning “virgin” to Isaiah 7:14 and “propitiation” to Romans 3:25 — the ESV removes “thees” and “thous” with reference to deity and updates other archaic language. It also moves the text in a slightly more literal direction. The ESV adopts a moderate, though sometimes inconsistent, use of gender inclusive language. It is published by Crossway books, a division of Good News Publishers.
The Amplified Bible (1965). The Amplified Bible is unique among Bible versions in that it provides “amplifications” — synonyms and explanations in brackets and parentheses within the text. Based on the ASV, the Amplified Bible was largely the work of Mrs. Frances Siewert. It was published in stages between 1954 and 1965. A slightly updated edition was released in 1987.
The strength of this version is that it acknowledges that no single English word or phrase can capture precisely the meaning of the Hebrew or Greek. Its weakness is that it gives readers the false impression that Hebrew and Greek words are “packed” with theological content and can mean many things at once. Another weakness is that readers may simply pick whichever meaning they like instead of discerning the single correct meaning that fits the context. The New Testament of the Amplified Bible was sponsored by the Lockman Foundation, the same organization that later produced the NASB; the Old Testament was sponsored by Zondervan Publishers.
Mediating Versions
New International Version (1978; rev. 1984). The NIV was the result of a trans-denominational effort by approximately a hundred scholars, sponsored by the New York Bible Society (now the International Bible Society). Each book was translated by a separate team of experts, then submitted to three successive editorial committees. Since its editors represented many different denominations, the translation was relatively free from sectarian bias. A smaller Committee on Bible Translation (CBT) of approximately fifteen members continued to examine and update the text. The New Testament was released in 1973 and the whole Bible in 1978. A minor revision was released in 1984.
The NIV came to be widely used and by the mid-1980s began outselling the KJV. Twenty-five years after its release more than 110 million copies were in print. The NIV’s popularity was due in part to its finding a niche between the formal and functional equivalent versions available at the time. The NIV was clear and readable, yet still close enough to the rhythm and cadence of the KJV to sound like “the real Bible” (that is, the KJV!).
Today’s New International Version (2005). The Committee on Bible Translation intended to periodically update the NIV in order to keep up with changes in the English language and advances in biblical scholarship. These revisions, it was assumed, would include the gradual adoption of gender accurate language (see chapter 7). Controversy erupted in 1997, however, when a gender inclusive version of the NIV (NIV Inclusive Language Edition, or NIVI) was introduced in Great Britain by publisher Hodder & Stoughton. Facing negative publicity generated by World magazine and strong opposition from certain conservative groups, the International Bible Society (the NIV copyright holder) and Zondervan decided to freeze the NIV in its 1984 edition and to release instead Today’s New International Version (TNIV) — a new and revisable edition of the NIV.
The TNIV will now carry forward the revision policy of the NIV, periodically updating the text in light of changes in English, advances in biblical scholarship, and greater accuracy and clarity. The New Testament was released in 2001 and the whole Bible in 2005. The TNIV has changed about 7 percent of the NIV text, with approximately one third of these revisions related to gender. More significantly, hundreds of changes were made toward greater exegetical accuracy. Each of the biblical books was assigned to two evangelical scholars with expertise on that book. Their proposed revisions were then brought to the committee, where an 80 percent majority was needed to make any change.
The result is a translation that maintains the readability of the NIV but which has achieved a higher level of accuracy in meaning. For example, in 1 Corinthians 7:1 the Greek euphemism for sexual intercourse, “to touch a woman,” has been changed from the questionable rendering “to marry” to a contemporary euphemism “to have sexual relations with a woman” and put in quotes, since it comes from the Corinthians’ letter to Paul.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (2004). The HCSB was produced by the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and was intended to serve as an alternative to the NIV for Southern Baptist curriculum and ministry. It is published by Broadman Holman, the publishing wing of the SBC. The HCSB is generally more literal than the NIV or NET but less so than the formal equivalent versions surveyed above. According to its introduction, the HCSB strives for neither formal nor functional equivalence, but “optimal equivalence”:
Optimal equivalence starts with an exhaustive analysis of the text at every level (word, phrase, clause, sentence, discourse) in the original language to determine its original meaning and intention (or purpose). Then relying on the latest and best language tools and experts, the nearest corresponding semantic and linguistic equivalents are used to convey as much of the information and intention of the original text with as much clarity and readability as possible. This process assures the maximum transfer of both the words and thoughts contained in the original.
This commendable description sounds a great deal like the goal of functional equivalence: striving to reproduce the meaning of the text as accurately and clearly as possible.
Though following the critical Greek text, the HCSB is unique among modern versions in supplying many alternative readings from the Textus Receptus and the Majority Text in its footnotes (cf. NKJV).
New English Translation or NET Bible (2005). The NET Bible is an online Bible translation sponsored by the Biblical Studies Foundation (Bible.org) and produced by more than twenty biblical scholars. The NET’s most distinctive feature is its inclusion of almost 61,000 notes, which provide interpretive options, alternative renderings, and other insights into the Hebrew and Greek texts. The rationale is that since something is always lost in translation, these notes allow the reader to “look over the translator’s shoulder” at the process of translation.
In addition to translation notes, the NET also provides study notes, text-critical notes, and map notes. The acronym “NET” is a play on words, referring both to the version’s name — New English Translation —and to its Internet format. Although primarily an Internet version, the NET Bible is also available in print. The version went through two preliminary “Beta” editions before an official “First Edition” was released in November 2005.
New English Bible (1970). Two British versions, the NEB and its revision the REB, also occupy a place near the center of the translation spectrum. In May 1946, the same year the New Testament of the RSV was published, a motion was presented to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to produce a new version of the Bible in contemporary English. The goal was presumably to complement the more literal RSV with an idiomatic version. A general conference was held in October 1946, with representatives from Anglican, Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Congregational, and other churches in Great Britain. The project was approved and C. H. Dodd, a leading British biblical scholar, was chosen to oversee the work. The New Testament was published in 1961 and the whole Bible, with Apocrypha, in 1970.
The preface, written by Dodd, notes that “the present translators were enjoined to replace Greek constructions and idioms by those of contemporary English . . . We have conceived our task to be that of understanding the original as precisely as we could (using all available aids), and then saying again in our own native idiom what we believed the author to be saying in his.” The NEB thus has the distinction of being the first church-approved version to break with the KJV tradition. The NEB was widely praised for its accuracy and fine literary style (C. S. Lewis was one of its stylists). Four million copies of the New Testament were sold in the first year. As noted previously, however, it has also been criticized for certain idiosyncrasies, including a literary style common to British academics.
Revised English Bible (1989). Two years after the publication of the NEB, a committee was formed to assess and critique the text. The eventual result was the REB, a major revision published in 1989. The “thees” and “thous” used for prayer in the NEB are removed and the somewhat colloquial style is revised. Certain idiosyncratic readings have been taken out and greater consistency is achieved. For example, the Greek word 
was rendered a variety of ways in the NEB: “church,” “congregation,” “meeting,” “community.” The REB more consistently uses “church.” The REB also introduced a moderate use of gender inclusive language.
Jerusalem Bible (1966). Three Roman Catholic versions lie somewhere near the center of the translation spectrum (JB, NJB, NAB). The Jerusalem Bible arose in part as a result of an encyclical issued by Pope Pius XII in 1943 declaring that the original Hebrew and Greek text of Scripture had greater authority than ancient or modern versions. Prior to this, Roman Catholic versions were translated from the Latin Vulgate. In response to the encyclical, a group of Dominican scholars at the École Biblique in Jerusalem translated the Bible into French, the Bible de Jérusalem, which was published in 1956. This version was widely acclaimed for its accuracy and literary qualities, and an English edition was produced in 1966.
Although inspired by the French version, the JB was mostly translated from the original Greek and Hebrew. The JB is more idiomatic than the NAB, another Roman Catholic version (see below). One distinction of the JB is its rendering of the divine name (the Tetragrammaton, YHWH) as “Yahweh” rather than as the traditional “LORD.”
New Jerusalem Bible (1985). When a new edition of the Bible de Jéru-salem, the predecessor of the JB, was published in 1973, the decision was made to update the JB. Among other changes, the NJB introduced moderate use of gender inclusive language. The NJB is slightly more literal than its predecessor (JB) but somewhat freer than the NAB (see below). Like the JB, the NJB translates the Tetragrammaton as “Yahweh.” For the traditional “LORD of hosts,” the NJB has “Yahweh Sabaoth.” Curiously, when the Hebrew idiom “son of man” means “human being,” the NJB translates it with the evocative “child of Adam” (Num. 23:19; Ps. 8:4; Heb. 2:6).
New American Bible (1970; rev. 1991). The NAB is another Roman Catholic version that, like the JB, arose as a result of the 1943 encyclical of Pope Pius XII approving the authority of Bible versions translated directly from Hebrew and Greek texts. The New Testament of the NAB was originally based on the Confraternity Version of 1941 but was revised following the Hebrew and Greek. The complete NAB was released in 1970. It is more literal than the JB but more idiomatic than formal equivalent versions. The NAB sought to be more ecumenical than previous Catholic versions, and five of the fifteen members of its committee were Protestants. In 1986 a revised edition of the New Testament introduced, among other changes, the moderate use of gender inclusive language. In 1991 a revised edition of the Psalms did the same.
Tanakh (1985). The Jewish Publication Society’s The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text (1917) was the standard Jewish version for most of the twentieth century. By the middle of the century, however, a more contemporary version was deemed necessary, and the JPS authorized a new translation. The result was the Tanakh, or New Jewish Version, published in stages (Torah, 1962; Prophets, 1978; Writings, 1982) and released as a whole in 1985. Tanakh is an acronym for the three sections of the Hebrew Bible (i.e., the Christian Old Testament): Torah (Law), 
(Prophets), and Kethuvim (Writings). The Tanakh is a well-respected version that utilizes the best of Jewish scholarship. It is a mediating version that steers a middle course between formal and functional equivalence.
Functional Equivalent Versions
The Living Bible (1971). Although more free than most functional equivalent versions, the Living Bible receives pride-of-place in this category, since it was the first idiomatic version to gain widespread acceptance. The LB was produced by Kenneth Taylor (d. 2005), who began rephrasing portions of the Bible in simplified English for his ten children for use during family devotions. In 1962 Taylor published Living Letters, a paraphrase of the New Testament letters. Other volumes followed. The full New Testament was published in 1966 and the whole Bible in 1971. Its lively, dynamic style made the LB extremely popular, especially among young people. Its endorsement and distribution by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association also added greatly to its success. Tyndale House Publishers, the company Taylor formed to publish the work, has sold more than forty million copies.
As noted in chapter 2, the LB is a true “paraphrase,” meaning a simplification and expansion of another English version. Taylor took the very literal ASV and simplified it into everyday language. The strength of this translation is its ability to communicate the message of the Bible in clear, fresh, and vivid ways to the readers. Its weakness, as we have seen, is a tendency to focus too much on contemporary relevance and not enough on original meaning.
The New Living Translation (1996; rev. 2004). The NLT is a major revision of the Living Bible. While the LB was the work of a simple translator, with some translation consultants, the NLT is a committee work involving eighty-seven evangelical scholars from various denominations. While the original LB was a paraphrase, the NLT is a functional equivalent translation that seeks the closest natural equivalent in the receptor language. The goal, according to its preface, is to have “the same impact on the modern readers as the original had on its own audience.”
The intentional shift from paraphrase to functional equivalence is evident in a verse like John 1:1. Whereas the LB read, “Before anything else existed, there was Christ,” the NLT (1996) retains both the allusion to Genesis 1:1 and the Christological title “the Word”: “In the beginning the Word already existed.” A revised edition of the NLT was released in 2004. The NLT, like all recent functional equivalent versions, utilizes gender accurate language. In general it is a clear, accurate, and reliable translation.
Good News Translation (Today’s English Version; Good News Bible; 1976; rev. 1992). The GNT/TEV/GNB was the first English version intentionally to adopt dynamic equivalence (= functional equivalence), the meaning-based translation principles developed by Eugene Nida and others involved in international Bible translation. The New Testament of TEV, published as Good News for Modern Man, was translated by Robert Bratcher in consultation with a committee appointed by the American Bible Society (1966). The Old Testament was subsequently produced by a team of translators, and the whole Bible was published in 1976 under the title Good News Bible (GNB). The version has recently been renamed the Good News Translation (GNT).
The GNT is a clear, readable, and generally accurate version, which paved the way for other meaning-based versions. It has sometimes been criticized for oversimplifying the text and for imposing a uniform pedantic style on the highly diverse styles and genres of Scripture. A revised edition was introduced in 1992, which updated the translation generally and incorporated a moderate use of gender inclusive language.
Contemporary English Version (1995). The CEV arose from a series of studies conducted by translator and linguist Barclay Newman on how English is read and heard. These studies resulted in several idiomatic translations on individual biblical books, including Luke Tells the Good News about Jesus (1987) and Good News Travels Fast — The Acts of the Apostles (1988). The entire New Testament was released in 1991 and the whole Bible in 1995. Like the GNT, the CEV is a functional equivalent version intended to apply consistently the meaning-based principles developed by international translators. Like the GNT, it was produced under the auspices of the American Bible Society.
The CEV’s strength is clarity and natural, idiomatic English. Its weakness may be a tendency to sacrifice precision for clarity. Traditional theological terms are replaced with natural, everyday language. While the TNIV translates Ephesians 2:8a, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith,” the CEV reads, “You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve.” The CEV preface identifies itself not as a replacement of other versions, but as “a companion — the mission arm — of traditional translations,” which seeks to cross cultural boundaries that other versions do not. Recognizing that many people hear the Bible more than they read it, particular attention is given to the clarity of the text when read aloud. Like other meaning-based versions, the CEV uses gender inclusive language.
New Century Version and International Children’s Bible (1986). The NCV and the ICB arose as revisions of a Bible originally designed for the deaf, produced by the World Translation Center of Fort Worth, Texas. The whole Bible was published in 1986 under two titles, the ICB for children and the NCV for more general readers. In 1991 the NCV was revised for a slightly higher reading level. Both versions are now published by Thomas Nelson.
The NCV is a functional equivalent version guided by two basic premises, faithfulness to the original text and clarity so that anyone can read and understand the Bible (NCV preface). Clarity is achieved especially through vocabulary selection based on The Living Word Vocabulary, the standard used by the editors of The World Book Encyclopedia. Difficult words are replaced with more easily understood terms: “justify” becomes “make right”; “genealogy” becomes “family history.” Figures of speech and idiomatic expressions are clarified. The NCV has achieved marketing success especially through the publication of Nelson’s “Bible-zines,” glossy magazines with the text surrounded by pictures and articles geared for teens and young adults.
God’s Word (1995). GW was produced by God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society in Cleveland, Ohio, an organization associated with the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church. In its preface the version claims to be using neither formal equivalence nor functional equivalence, but rather “closest natural equivalence” — a translation policy that avoids the awkwardness of literal versions and the purported loss of meaning of idiomatic ones. Despite this attempt to distinguish itself from other versions, GW clearly fits into the genre of functional equivalent versions like the NLT, GNT, CEV, and NCV. The version is generally accurate and readable, comparable to other functional equivalent versions in quality and style.
New International reader’s Version (1996). We have already noted the International Children’s Bible, a version of the NCV. Another important children’s version is the New International reader’s Version (NIrV; 1996), a simplified English version based on the NIV. It is designed for children, adults with lower reading skills, and those for whom English is a second language. Simplicity and ease of understanding are its hallmarks. Like the NIV, the NIrV is copyrighted by the International Bible Society (IBS) and published by Zondervan. The IBS website for the NIrV summarizes its purpose:
The NIrV was designed to make the Bible clear and understandable to early readers and can be read by a typical fourth grader. For this reason, it is also of value to the millions for whom English is a second language. It intends to be distinguished by five fundamental characteristics — readability, understandability, compatibility with the NIV, reliability, and trustworthiness. It serves as a natural steppingstone to the NIV when the time is right.
The Message (2002). We have already discussed The Message in some detail in chapter 2. This popular version was translated by Eugene Peterson, with various scholars serving as translation consultants. The New Testament appeared in 1993 and the whole Bible in 2002. Its lively and engaging language has struck a chord with many readers — much like the Living Bible in the 1960s and 1970s — and has made the text a popular supplement to traditional versions. Peterson’s goal was to convert the tone, rhythm, and ideas of the Bible into the way people think and speak today. The Message is a response-oriented Bible, seeking vivid relevance more than historical precision.
Some Recommendations
Throughout this book we have encouraged the use of multiple versions from across the translation spectrum. No translation is perfect and all provide helpful insights into the meaning of the text. We would recommend consulting any of the twenty-five versions we have surveyed above. If we had to choose a few from each category, below are our recommendations.
The NRSV is perhaps the most reliable of the formal equivalent versions and is well respected among biblical scholars. The NASB, NASU is the most consistently literal and so provides the most direct access to the form and structure of the Hebrew and Greek. The ESV is an improvement over the RSV, especially in light of its greater use of gender accurate language (see p. 97 above).
For a mediating version, which we believe to be the best general purpose Bible, the TNIV is perhaps your best choice. Like its predecessor, the NIV, it is a committee translation that draws on the best of evangelical scholarship. It improves on the NIV both in its gender accuracy and its exegetical precision. In the interest of full disclosure, we should remind readers that both authors serve on its translation committee (though we have also been involved with other versions). The NET and NAB are also excellent and reliable versions. Like the TNIV, both are committee works representing a high level of biblical scholarship. The additional notes in the NET are particularly helpful for those doing detailed study. The NAB represents the best of Roman Catholic scholarship.
Functional equivalent versions are excellent reading Bibles, especially when reading entire books in one setting. By using natural and idiomatic English, they seek to make the text sound as clear and natural to modern readers as it sounded to the original readers. Functional equivalent versions are also helpful for detailed study, and especially as a complement to Hebrew and Greek study. This is because while literal versions tend to simply reproduce Hebrew and Greek grammatical forms, functional equivalent versions go further and clarify the “functional” relationships between phrases and clauses. In this way they answer the syntactical and exegetical questions that advanced students are asking about the text.
There are many good choices among the functional equivalent versions. The NLT, especially in its 2004 revision, is accurate, clear, and readable. Like the TNIV and the NET, it is a committee work with a high level of scholarship behind its translation. The NCV, GW, CEV, and GNT (TEV/GNB) are also good choices. The Message can provide fresh insights into the text and its application, but should always be used with other more historically accurate versions.
Given such a rich store of available options, we hope by this book to bring some measure of help to the contemporary English reader, both in understanding the options and in selecting a primary Bible of use. But whatever else, reading about translations is not the same as reading the Bible itself. So we conclude by urging the reader, in the words heard by Augustine that led to his moment of conversion, “Tolle lege.” “Take up and read!”
For Further Reading
Comfort, Philip W. Essential Guide to Bible Versions. Wheaton, IL: Tyn-dale, 2000.
Dewey, David. A User’s Guide to Bible Translations: Making the Most of Different Versions. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004.
Kubo, Sakae, and Walter Specht. So Many Versions? Twentieth-Century English Versions of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983.
Lewis, Jack P. The English Bible from the KJV to the NIV: A History and Evaluation. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1991.