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About the English Standard Version of the Bible
Thursday, October 30, 2008
InstructionsIdentificationStep 1: The English Standard Version of the Bible is a revision of the 1971 Revised Standard Version, which some people have viewed as being excessively liberal in certain passages of the Old Testament and needing better accuracy. The Standard Bible Society, located in Wheaton, IL, completed the translation, and the ESV was first published in 2001 by a division of Good News Publishers called Crossway Bibles. A light revision was published in 2007.
FeaturesStep 1: The book provides a literal word-for-word translation, which was completed by a team of over 100 people. Their goal was to maintain the styles of different Biblical authors and provide an easily readable Bible at an 8th grade reading level. Translators checked each word against the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek in pursuit of accuracy and clarity, while preserving the beauty and dignity of the Biblical language. Short introductions precede each book and the ESV includes a center column cross-reference system, along with a 14,500-entry concordance.
SignificanceStep 1: The translators were aiming for a middle ground between the modern New International Version and the very literal New American Standard Bible. For instance, the New Revised Standard Version had made changes resulting in gender-neutral language and the ESV translators returned to the original masculine gender for a more literal translation. A New Testament passage originally translated with the word "brothers" and later changed to "brethren" in the NRSV would be changed back in the ESV, with a notation that the word "brothers" in Greek could mean either male siblings, or male and female siblings together.
ConsiderationsStep 1: Some dissatisfaction has been expressed about the unnecessary archaic language, such as the use of words like "kindred" instead of "family." Also, using masculine identifiers even when the passage clearly designates both men and women, is cumbersome since this continually must be clarified in the notes. The exact literal translation sometimes results in stilted and awkward wordage such as in Acts 26:29: "And Paul said, 'Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am." This, however, is common in Biblical translations aside from the more modern and idiomatic versions such as the NIV.
BenefitsStep 1: Good News Publishers is not affiliated with any particular denomination. The translators come from a variety of denominations, most of them socially and politically conservative, and took issue with some of the more liberal interpretations found in the RSV. Conservative Christians will likely be more approving of this Bible than more liberal translations. The translation also is praised as being readable without the choppiness found in other attempts at literal translations.
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