Coke Classic and the Need for a NIV Classic

New Coke/Coke Classic

Most of you probably remember Coca-Cola’s brief foray into changing the formula of the popular soft drink. It was called “New Coke” and it was an attempt by Coca-Cola to gain market share among a key demographic, youth, an age group that was favoring Pepsi. It backfired. Although “New Coke” showed promise in many parts of the country, it was soundly rejected in the South, where Coca-Cola was based (Atlanta). The strong Southern rejection spread. Comedians mocked Coke, fans at a Houston Astros baseball game booed a Coke advertisement. Within three months, Coca-Cola announced the return of the original formula, in a product called “Coke Classic.” Loyal Coke fans rejoiced. On the Senate floor, Arkansas Democrat David Pryor called the decision by Coca-Cola “a meaningful moment in U. S. history.” I’m not sure what that says about our country; perhaps it says more about the gentleman from Arkansas and/or his constituents. Nonetheless, America as a whole must have agreed because the brief “New Coke” fiasco and it’s merciful conclusion thrust the Coca-Cola company into a period of renewed success as king of the soft drink world, a success that has been uninterrupted even to this day.

Biblica and the NIV Translation

Formerly known as the International Bible Society, Biblica is the worldwide publisher and copyright holder of the New International Version of the Bible. A self-governing group of Bible scholars, known as the Committee on Bible Translation (CBT) is responsible for the content of the NIV. Originally published back in 1978, the NIV went through an update in 1984, which was followed by a couple of decades of remarkable popularity among English Bibles, even supplanting the venerable King James Version (KJV) as the best-selling English Bible. In 2009 Biblica announced that they would be releasing an update again in 2011, not coincidentally on the 400th anniversary of the KJV. The “new” NIV was indeed released in March of 2011.

“And what does this have to do with Coke?” Glad you asked.

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“The Earliest and Most Reliable Manuscripts…” – What Does This Mean?

I grew up on the New International Version (NIV) translation of the Bible. The NIV was originally published when I was in grade school and soon thereafter my Mom got me a NIV Children’s Bible. Later on, in my teen years, I got a Ryrie Study Bible (NIV). The thing I appreciated about the NIV was it was very readable for a young person. One thing I started noticing was that in certain places, for example, John 7:53-8:11, there was a disclaimer of sorts inserted between the text: “The earliest and most reliable manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53-8:11.”

Most modern versions of the Bible have some kind of disclaimer like this in John’s Gospel as well as the end of Mark’s Gospel (Mark 16.9-20). My English Standard Version (ESV) Reference Bible says “Some of the earliest manuscripts do not include 16:9-20″ right before the end of Mark (I actually prefer the ESV’s language over the NIV’s because the ESV simply refers to earlier manuscripts rather than making a value judgment regarding their reliability). It’s also set apart in the ESV as different by use of double brackets, like this: “[[Now when he rose early on the first day of the week...worked with them and confirmed the messages by accompanying signs.]]”

So the question is, what does this mean?

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The Intent of English Bible Translators

One of my desires here at pastorbrett.com is to help people not only know their Bibles, but also know about their Bibles. Each Bible translation is the result of diligent work by a team of translators (I prefer to consider translations by one person as paraphrases rather than translations). These teams of translators are guided by a set of translation principles which aim to fulfill the original purpose or intent behind the project. It is usually in the Foreword or Preface that you find such a statement of purpose or intent. I decided to look at each of these in the most popular Bible translations to discover the stated intent of each translation. Here is what I found:

King James Version

“Truly, good Christian reader, we never thought from the beginning that we should need to make a new tranlsation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one…but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones, one principle good one, not justly to be excepted against; that hath been our endeavor, that our mark.”

“But we desire that the Scripture may speak like itself, as in the language of Canaan, that it may be understood even of the very vulgar.”

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NBC and Gender-Inclusive Bibles

Being the host network for this year’s Super Bowl afforded NBC the opportunity to showcase the talent of their various shows. They did it in the imitation of a Broadway musical, starting off with the cast of 30 Rock and shifting to the casts of the Office, Community, and other NBC offerings, including nightly news anchor Brian Williams.

What really intrigued me was the lyrics to the song…”The Brotherhood of Man.” It clearly was not a celebration of testosterone or the theme for a men’s conference. It clearly was a song about humanity. ‘Brotherhood’ definitely referred to humanity as a whole and  ’man’ clearly was used in the generic ‘person’ sense.

So here’s my point…if a liberal, secular television network has no problem using masculine language to refer to men and women in general, as has been the case in English and other languages for millennia, why are some evangelical Christians so convinced it is necessary to switch to gender-inclusive language in some of our English Bible translations?

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Tim Challies on the Beauty of the Language in the ESV

A few days ago I posted a negative critique on a translation decision in the ESV. Today I want to emphasize how much I love reading the ESV, pointing to an excellent post by Tim Challies on the beauty of the language found in the ESV. He compares some Old Testament phrases in the ESV with how they are translated in some of the more functional translations. The NIV (1984 edition), by the way, does well, in his brief comparison study. You can read his post HERE.

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They Missed it Again – The ESV Missed it on James 4:4 in the Latest Update

“They” refers to the ESV Translation Committee.

My small group is going through the DVD series “God is the Gospel” by John Piper. In session 2, Dr. Piper talks about how the proper translation of μοιχαλίς (moy-khal-is’) in James 4.4 is “adulteresses” because (a) the word in the Greek is feminine and (b) the word picture in the passage is of the church as the bride being unfaithful to God as the husband. Yet the ESV translates the word “adulterous people.” The NIV also gets it wrong.

The HCSB, NASB, and ASV get it right:

4 Adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? (HCSB)

4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? (NASB)

4 Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? (ASV)

Piper, a friend to all who are on the ESV Committee, contacted Wayne Grudem about the mistake. Grudem agreed with Piper. Piper then suggested that when an update would come out, it would surely be fixed.

It was not fixed. On a recent post I linked to the list of changes in the latest (2011) update of the ESV. Disappointingly, and surprising to me, James 4.4 remains the same.

I’d love to get an explanation why.

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Dr. George Guthrie on the Manuscripts Behind the King James Bible (KJV)

My friend George Guthrie, author of Read the Bible For Life, has three worthwhile podcast lectures about the manuscripts behind the King James Version (each lecture is 15-20 minutes):

The Manuscripts Behind the KJV (Part 1)

The Manuscripts Behind the KJV (Part 2)

The Manuscripts Behind the KJV (Part 3)

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Reflections on Reading the KJV

Last week I completed my reading of the King James Bible. My brief reflections:

1. At times it is amazingly poetic and beautiful. On more than one occasion I thought, “You just cannot improve upon that way of wording it!”

2. At times it is remarkably archaic and difficult. Several times I would have to reread a passage or phrase or consult a dictionary. A few rare times I would sigh and think, “I can’t wait until I finish this project and return to the ESV.”

3. At all times it is inspiring and profitable. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3.16-17).

All in all, I’m VERY glad I took on the challenge of reading the KJV on its 400th anniversary.

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ESV Translation Gets An Update

Some people may not be aware that modern Bible translations are sometimes updated. For example…

In 2006 the NLT was updated. And in 2009, the HCSB. In both cases, there was very little fanfare. In fact, I would wager a guess that the average devout Christian had no idea these updates even occurred.

This year two popular versions received updates. First, the NIV. Unlike the HCSB and NLT updates, the NIV was less of a tweaking and more of an overhaul. It’s practically a new version altogether. I recommend sticking with your 1984 edition.

Now the ESV has received its update. Compared to the NIV, these update are very minor. You can see the “tweaking” HERE.

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Best Selling Translations So Far This Year (Sept 2011)

CBA has released their data regarding the best-selling Bibles so far in 2011…

By Units Sold

1. New International Version (various publishers)

2. King James Version (various publishers)

3. New Living Translation (Tyndale)

4. New King James Version (various publishers)

5. English Standard Version (Crossway)

6. Holman Christian Standard Bible (B&H Publishing)

7. Reina Valera 1960 (American Bible Society)

8. Other Translations

9. The Message (Eugene Peterson/NavPress)

10. New International Readers Version (Zondervan)

Based on Dollar Sales

1. New International Version (various publishers)

2. King James Version (various publishers)

3. New King James Version (various publishers)

4. New Living Translation (Tyndale)

5. English Standard Version (Crossway)

6. Holman Christian Standard Bible (B&H Publishing)

7. Reina Valera 1960 (American Bible Society)

8. New American Standard Bible update (various publishers)

9. The Message (Eugene Peterson/NavPress)

10. Other Translations

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