When it comes to the many thousands of manuscripts upon which our English New Testaments are based, there are basically two major “families” of manuscripts: the Byzantine family and the Alexandrian family.
The predominant view among conservative Bible scholars today is to prefer the ALEXANDRIAN family of manuscripts…
Continue reading Which Manuscript Family is Your English Bible Based Upon?
CBA has released their data regarding the best-selling Bibles so far in 2013…
By Units Sold
1. New International Version (various publishers)
2. King James Version (various publishers)
3. English Standard Version (Crossway)
4. New Living Translation (Tyndale)
5. New King James Version (various publishers)
6. Holman Christian Standard Bible (B&H Publishing)
7. Common English Bible (Common English Bible)
8. Reina Valera 1960 (American Bible Society)
9. New American Standard (various publishers)
10. New International Readers Version (Zondervan)
Based on Dollar Sales
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. New American Standard Bible update (various publishers)
9. Reina Valera 1960 (American Bible Society)
10. New International Readers Version (Zondervan)
When I compare these sales figures with the sales figures from September of 2011, I see some significant changes.
Continue reading Best Selling Translations So Far This Year (July 2013)
Here is a great resource for comparing the changes between the 2007 update and the 2011 update of the English Standard Version, my default translation:
http://d3p91it5krop8m.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/misc/esv_2011_changes.html
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.
“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.
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.
Bill Mounce, who has now served on both the ESV translation committee and the NIV translation committee, shares some insights into the process.
Bob Kauflin blogs about his experience of reading through the whole Bible using the ESV Study Bible. I am especially impressed with his insights regarding reading ALL of God’s Word:
1. If God made sure his words were recorded for us, why wouldn’t I want to read all of them numerous times?
2. Reading large portions of Scripture regularly slows me down so I can think about life from an eternal perspective. I was in tears today as I finished Revelation, realizing the purpose for which I was created and the sure future that lies ahead.
3. In my daily life, I am constantly bombarded with images, philosophies, thoughts, reasonings, and attractions from the world, my flesh, and the devil. I need large quantities of God’s thoughts, empowered by his Spirit, to resist them.
4. I trust my own thoughts too much.
5. Each time I read through the Bible, I’m humbled as I realize how little I actually know and understand God’s Word.
6. Reading a lot of the Bible helps me more easily see how it all fits together.”
soundoftruth.org 