English Standard Version

"ESV" redirects here. For other uses, see ESV (disambiguation).
English Standard Version
Full name English Standard Version
Abbreviation ESV
Complete Bible
published		 2001 (revisions in 2007 and 2011); Apocrypha 2009
Derived from RSV—1971 Revision
Textual basis OT:
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia with Septuagint influence.
Deutero./Apoc.: Göttingen Septuagint, Rahlf's Septuagint and Stuttgart Vulgate.
NT: 83% correspondence to Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece 27th edition.[1]
Translation type Formal Equivalence
Reading level 8.0[2]
Version revision 2007, 2011
Publisher Crossway Bibles
Copyright Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a ministry of the Good News Publishers of Wheaton, Illinois, U.S.; Apocrypha Copyright 2009 by Oxford University Press.

The English Standard Version (ESV) is an English translation of the Christian Bible. It is a revision of the 1971 edition of the Revised Standard Version[3] that employs an "essentially literal" translation philosophy.[4]

History

Work on this translation was prompted, in the early 1990s, by what Lane T. Dennis stated was a need for a new literal translation by scholars and pastors.[5] A translation committee was formed, and it sought and received permission from the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA to use the 1971 edition of the RSV as the English textual basis for the ESV. About 6% was revised in the ESV.[6]

Translation philosophy

The stated intent of the translators was to follow an "essentially literal" translation philosophy while taking into account differences of grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages.[7] The ESV uses some gender-neutral language.[8]

Revisions

The ESV underwent a minor revision in 2007, and the publisher did not identify the updated text as a revised edition. The update changed about 500 words by focusing on grammar, consistency and clarity.[9] The most notable change was "wounded for our transgressions" to "pierced for our transgressions".[9] Another edition was issued in April 2011,[9] and the 2007 edition has been gradually phased out.[10]

Apocrypha

The publisher, citing that the ESV has been growing in popularity, authorized an edition of the ESV with the Biblical apocrypha included, which was developed by Oxford University Press and published in January, 2009.[11] The publisher's hope for this new edition which includes the Apocrypha is that it will be used widely in seminaries and divinity schools where these books are used as a part of academic study.[12]

The ESV version of the Apocrypha is a revision of the Revised Standard Version 1977 Expanded Edition. The team translating the Apocrypha includes Bernard A. Taylor, David A. deSilva, and Dan McCartney, under the editorship of David Aiken.[11] In the edition including these books, they are printed and arranged in the order of the RSV and NRSV Common Bibles. The Oxford translating team relied on the Göttingen Septuagint for all of the Apocrypha except 4 Maccabees (relying there on Rahlf's Septuagint) and 2 Esdras (the Ancient Greek of which has not survived), which used the German Bible Society's 1983 edition Vulgate.[11]

Use

The ESV has been used as the text of a number of study Bibles, including:

Additionally, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod adopted the ESV as the official text used in its official hymnal Lutheran Service Book, released in August 2006.[19]

Criticism

Mark L. Strauss, in a paper presented at the 2008 annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, criticized the ESV for using dated language and stated it is unsuited for mainstream use.[6] On the other hand, he has defended gender-inclusive language in translation and claims the ESV uses similar gender-inclusive language and speculated that criticism of the ESV by competing Bible translations is contrived for marketing purposes.[6] ESV translator Wayne Grudem has responded that, while on occasion the ESV translates person or one where previous translations used man, it keeps gender-specific language and does not go as far as other translations; the ESV website makes a similar statement. ESV translator William D. Mounce has called these arguments against the ESV ad hominem.[20]

Criticism has arisen in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, which uses the ESV as its official translation, that its frequent translation of the Hebrew word mishpatim ("judgements" or "decrees") as "rules" is not only an impoverished translation of a very rich word, but also somewhat legalistic.

Notes

  1. ↑ Clontz (2008, Preface) ranks the English Standard Version in sixth place in a comparison of twenty-one translations, at 83% correspondence to the Nestle-Aland 27th ed.
  2. ↑ Rose Publishing 2006
  3. ↑ Stec 2004, p. 421
  4. ↑ Decker, Rodney (2004), "The English Standard Version: A Review Article" (PDF), The Journal of Ministry & Theology 8 (2): 5–31
  5. ↑ Crossway Staff 2006
  6. 1 2 3 Strauss 2008
  7. ↑ Crossway Bibles 2011, p. VII
  8. ↑ Decker, Rodney (2004), "The English Standard Version: A Review Article" (PDF), The Journal of Ministry & Theology 8 (2): 16–17
  9. 1 2 3 Dennis 2011
  10. ↑ Butterfield, Glen (2013). Bible Unity. WestBowPress. p. 42. ISBN 9781490805498.
  11. 1 2 3 Oxford University Press 2009, p. 1177
  12. ↑ Oxford University Press 2012
  13. ↑ Concordia Publishing House (31 October 2009), The Lutheran Study Bible: English Standard Version, Concordia Publishing House, ISBN 978-0-7586-1760-6, retrieved 7 December 2012
  14. ↑ ESV Global Study Bible. Crossway. ISBN 9781433535673.
  15. ↑ ESV Study Bible, HarperCollins Publishers Limited, 14 April 2011, ISBN 978-0-00-743766-5, retrieved 7 December 2012
  16. ↑ Crossway Bibles (10 August 2010), The Macarthur Study Bible: English Standard Version, Good News Publisher, ISBN 978-1-4335-0400-6, retrieved 7 December 2012
  17. ↑ Sproul, R C, ed. (1 July 2008), Reformation Study Bible (ESV), P & R Publishing Company, ISBN 978-1-59638-136-0, retrieved 7 December 2012
  18. ↑ Oxford University Press (2 March 2006), The Scofield Study Bible: English Standard Version, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-527877-4, retrieved 7 December 2012
  19. ↑ Concordia Publishing House (1 January 2005), Lutheran Service Book, Concordia Publishing House, pp. Copyright Page, ISBN 978-0-7586-1218-2, retrieved 7 December 2012
  20. ↑ Mounce 2011

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, April 27, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.