- Modern English Bible translations
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The Bible in English Old English (pre-1066) Middle English (1066–1500) Early Modern English (1500–1800) Modern Christian (1800–) Modern Jewish (1853–) Miscellaneous Many attempts have been made to translate the Bible into modern English, which is defined as the form of English in use after 1800 (different from the linguistic usage of modern English). Since the early nineteenth century, there have been several translational responses to the rapid spread of Christianity throughout the world. Various denominational and organizational goals have produced, and continue to produce, Bibles to address the needs of English speakers from all walks of life. Differing base texts, theological emphasis, style, and translation aims (e.g. readability vs. literality) are just a few of the variables that contribute to the wide range of Bibles available today.
The Development of Modern English Bible Versions
The Authorized King James Version of 1611 was sporadically altered until 1769, but was not thoroughly updated until the creation of the Revised Version in 1885. These formal equivalence or literal translations have been continued with further modifications to the King James and Revised Versions, including the Revised Standard Version (1952), the New Revised Standard Version (1989), and the English Standard Version (2001).
In the late twentieth century, Bibles increasingly appeared that were much less literal in their style. In 1946, the New English Bible was initiated in the United Kingdom, intended to enable readers to better understand the King James Bible. In 1958, J. B. Phillips (1906–1982) produced an edition of the New Testament letters in paraphrase, the Letters to Young Churches, so that members of his youth group could understand what the New Testament authors had written. Others followed suit. The Living Bible, released in 1971, was published by its author Kenneth N. Taylor, based on the literal American Standard Version of 1901. Taylor had begun because of the trouble his children had in understanding the literal (and sometimes archaic) text of the King James Bible. His work was at first intended for children, but was later positioned for adults wishing to better understand the Bible. Like Phillips' version, the Living Bible was a dramatic departure from the King James version.
Despite widespread criticism, the popularity of The Living Bible, itself a paraphrase rather than a translation, created a demand for a new approach to translating the Bible into contemporary English called dynamic equivalence, which attempts to preserve the meaning of the original text in a readable way. Realizing the immense benefits of a Bible that was more easily accessible to the average reader, and responding to the criticisms of the Living Bible, the American Bible Society produced the Good News Bible (1976), a new English Bible translation in this more readable style. This translation has gone on to become one of the best selling in history. In 1996, a new revision of Taylor's Living Bible was published. This New Living Translation is a full translation from the original languages rather than a paraphrase of the Bible.
Another project aimed to create something in between the very literal translation of the King James Bible and the more informal Good News Bible. The goal of this was to create a Bible that would be scholarly yet not overly formal. The result of this project was the New International Version (1978).
The debate between the formal equivalence and dynamic (or 'functional') equivalence translation styles has increased with the introduction of inclusive language versions. Various terms are employed to defend or attack this development, such as feminist, gender neutral, or gender accurate. New editions of some previous translations have been updated to take this change in language into account, including the New Revised Standard Version (1989), the Revised English Bible (1989), and Today's New International Version (2005). Some translations have approached the issue more cautiously, such as the English Standard Version (2001).
A further process that has assisted in increasing the number of English Bible versions exponentially, is the use of the Internet in producing virtual bibles, of which a growing number are beginning to appear in print – especially given the development of "print on demand".
Today, there is a range of translations ranging from the most literal, such as the Young's Literal Translation to the most free such as The Message and The Word on the Street.
18th and 19th century translations
Name Date Challoner's revision of the Douay-Rheims Bible 1752 John Wesley, Wesley's New Testament 1755 Quaker Bible 1764 Thomson's Translation 1808 Webster's Revision 1833 Young's Literal Translation 1862 Julia E. Smith Parker Translation 1876 Revised Version 1885 Darby Bible 1890 20th and 21st century translations
King James Versions and derivatives
The King James Version of 1611 still has an immense following, and as such there have been a number of different attempts to update or improve upon it. The Revised Version and its derivatives also stem from the King James Version.
Abbreviation Name Date CKJV Children's King James Version Jay P. Green 1960 KJ II King James II Version of the Bible Jay P. Green 1971 KJV20 King James Version—Twentieth Century Edition Jay P. Green NKJV New King James Version 1982 KJ21 21st Century King James Version 1991 MKJV Modern King James Version 1999 AKJV American King James Version[1] 1999 KJV2000 King James 2000 Version[2] 2000 UKJV Updated King James Version[3] 2000 KJVER King James Version Easy Reading[4] 2001 HSE Holy Scriptures in English[5] 2001 CKJV Comfort-able King James Version[6][7] 2003 NCPB New Cambridge Paragraph Bible[8] 2005 AV7 AV7 (New Authorized Version) 2006 AVU Authorized Version Update[9] 2006 Revised Version and derivatives
The English Revised Version was the first official attempt to update the Authorized (King James) Version. This was adapted in the United States as the American Standard Version. The translations and versions that stem from them are shown in date order:
Abbreviation Name Date RV (British) Revised Version 1881–5 ASV American Standard Version 1901 RSV Revised Standard Version 1952, 1971 NASB New American Standard Bible 1971, 1995 NRSV New Revised Standard Version 1989 ESV English Standard Version 2001 WEB World English Bible In progress New International Version and derivatives
The popular New International Version has appeared in a number of editions.
Abbreviation Name Date NIV New International Version 1978, 1984, 2011[10] NIrV New International Reader's Version 1996 NIVI New International Version Inclusive Language Edition (discontinued) 1996-unknown TNIV Today's New International Version (discontinued) 2005-2011 Dynamic translations and paraphrases
A significant aspect in translations from the latter half of the 20th century was much greater use of the principles of dynamic equivalence.
Abbreviation Name Date TLB The Living Bible 1971 GNT/GNB/TEV Good News Translation/Good News Bible/Today's English Version 1976, 1992 CEV Contemporary English Version 1995 GW God's Word 1995 NLT New Living Translation 1996, 2004, 2007 MSG The Message 2002 RNT Restored New Testament 2009 Internet-based translations
The New English Translation (or NET Bible) is a project to publish a translation of the Bible using the Internet. It is freely available and accompanied by extensive translator's notes. Another Internet based translation (currently only in the planning stages)[11] is The Free Bible. It is a wiki, collaborative project, based on Wikisource. A third is The Work of God's Children Illustrated Bible, which uses a collaborative Mediawiki website that interlinks the words of the Bible to articles and image galleries about the topic.
Abbreviation Name Date NET New English Translation 2005 TFB The Free Bible In planning stage[11] WGCIB The Work of God's Children Illustrated Bible 2010 CBP Conservative Bible Project In Progress[12] WEB World English Bible In Progress[13] Jewish translations
Main article: Jewish English Bible translationsJewish translations follow the Masoretic Text, and are usually published in bilingual editions with the Hebrew text facing the English translation. The translations often reflect traditional Jewish exegesis of the bible. As translations of the Masoretic bible, Jewish translations contain neither the apocrypha nor the Christian New Testament.
Abbreviation Name Date JPS Jewish Publication Society of America Version[14] 1917 Judaica Press[15] 1963 Koren Jerusalem Bible[16] Based on a translation by Harold Fisch 1962 The Living Torah by Aryeh Kaplan[17]
The Living Nach by Yaakov Elman1981
1996NJPS New Jewish Publication Society of America Version 1985 Artscroll Stone Edition (Artscroll) 1996 Messianic translations
Main article: Messianic Bible translationsSome Bible translations find popular use in, or were prepared especially for, the Messianic Judaism movement.
Abbreviation Name Date TS98 The Scriptures '98 Version 1993, 1998 CJB Complete Jewish Bible (by David H. Stern) 1998 God's New Covenant: A New Testament Translation (by Heinz Cassirer) 1989 OJB Orthodox Jewish Bible (by Phillip E Goble) 2002 New English Bible and derivatives
Main article: New English BibleThe initiative to create the New English Bible began in 1946, in an attempt to make an entirely new translation of the Bible in modern English.
Abbreviation Name Date NEB New English Bible 1970 REB Revised English Bible 1989 Public domain translations
Abbreviation Name Date WEB World English Bible In Progress MASV Modern American Standard Version In Progress CPDV Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 DRP David Robert Palmer Translation[18] In Progress UKJV Updated King James Version 2000 TFB The Free Bible In Progress WGCIB The Work of God's Children Illustrated Bible 2010 Catholic translations
Abbreviation Name Date DRB Douay-Rheims Bible 1582–1610 DRC Douay-Rheims Bible Challoner Revision 1752 WVSS Westminster Version of the Sacred Scriptures 1913–19351 SPC Spencer New Testament 1941 CCD Confraternity Bible 19412 Knox Knox's Translation of the Vulgate 1955 KLNT Kleist-Lilly New Testament 19563 JB Jerusalem Bible 1966 RSV-CE Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition 1965–664 NAB New American Bible 1970 TLB-CE The Living Bible - Catholic Edition 1971 NJB New Jerusalem Bible 1985 CCB Christian Community Bible 1986 NRSV-CE New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition 1989 CPDV Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 WGCIB The Work of God's Children Illustrated Bible 2010 NABRE New American Bible Revised Edition 2011 1Released in parts between 1913–1935 with copious study and textual notes. The New Testament with condensed notes was released in 1936 as one volume.
2NT released in 1941. The OT contained material from the Challoner Revision until the entire OT was completed in 1969.
3New Testament only; Gospels by James Kleist, rest by Joseph Lilly.
4Second Catholic Edition released 2006.Sacred Name translations
These Sacred Name Bibles were all done with the specific aim of carrying into English the actual Name of God as they were in the originals. Most have been done by people from the Sacred Name Movement. They are distinguished by their policy of transliterating Hebrew-based forms for sacred names, such as "Yahweh", "YHWH", etc.
Abbreviation Name Date ERB Rotherham's Emphasized Bible 1902 SNB Restoration of Original Sacred Name Bible 1976 HNB Holy Name Bible 1963 SSBE Sacred Scriptures Bethel Edition 1981 SN-KJ Sacred Name King James Bible 2005 SSFOY Sacred Scriptures, Family of Yah Edition 2000 TWOY The Word of Yahweh 2003 TS98 The Scriptures '98 Version 1993, 1998 HRV Hebraic-Roots Version 2004 TB The Besorah (a plagiarized copy of The Scriptures 1998[19]) 2008 TBE Transparent English Bible In progress Septuagint translations
Abbreviation Name Date Charles Thomson's The Holy Bible, Containing The Old And New Covenant, Commonly Called The Old And New Testament: Translated From The Greek 1808 Brenton's English Translation of the Septuagint 1851 ABP Apostolic Bible Polyglot 2003 AB The Apostles' Bible 2004 OSB Orthodox Study Bible 2007 NETS New English Translation of the Septuagint 2007 EOB Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible In progress HOB Holy Orthodox Bible
Simplified English Bibles
There have been a number of attempts to produce a Bible that greatly simplifies the English. (Some of these versions are also listed in other categories: for example, the NIrV is also found under the NIV section). These are translations that are not necessarily a very dynamic translation, but go beyond simply everyday English into a restricted vocabulary set, often aimed at non-native speakers of English.
Abbreviation Name Date BBE Bible in Basic English 1949 BWE Bible in Worldwide English [New Testament only] 1969 NLV New Life Version (Gleason Ledyard) 1986 SEB Simple English Bible (Dr Stanley Morris) 1980 ERV Easy-to-Read Version (previously English Version for the Deaf) 1989 NCV New Century Version 1991 NIrV New International Reader's Version 1998 EEB EasyEnglish Bible[20] 2001+ Translations exclusively published by Jehovah's Witnesses
Abbreviation Name Date NWT New World Translation 1950 Translations exclusively published by the Latter Day Saints movement
Abbreviation Name Date JST Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible 1830 Adaptive retellings
Some versions have been labelled "adaptive retelling"[21] as they take many liberties with the form of the text.
Abbreviation Name Date Black Bible Chronicles 1993, 1994 The Cotton Patch version (various portions of the New Testament done by Clarence Jordan) The Aussie Bible; also More Aussie Bible[22] by Kel Richards 2003 Other translations
Abbreviation Name Date Fenton The Holy Bible In Modern English (by Ferrar Fenton) 1903 MNT A New Translation (by James Moffatt) 1926 Lamsa Lamsa Bible (by George Lamsa) 1933 AAT An American Translation (by Smith and Goodspeed|) 1935 BV Berkeley Version 1958 AMP Amplified Bible 1965 Knoch Concordant Literal Version (by Adolph Ernst Knoch) 1966 MLB The Modern Language Bible (New Berkeley Version) 1969 TSB The Story Bible 1971 BECK An American Translation (by William F. Beck) 1976 LITV Green's Literal Translation (by Jay P. Green) 1985 The Clear Word (Seventh-day Adventist paraphrase) 1994 Anointed Standard Version 1995 CJB Complete Jewish Bible 1998 TMB Third Millennium Bible 1998 RcV Recovery Version (Living Stream Ministry) 1999 ABP Apostolic Bible Polyglot 2003 VW A Voice In The Wilderness Holy Scriptures[23] 2003 AB The Apostles' Bible 2004 HCSB Holman Christian Standard Bible 2004 CAB The Complete Apostles' Bible 2005 ACV A Conservative Version (NT only in print OT & NT Internet versions) 2005 NEV New European Version (NT only in print OT & NT Internet versions)[24] 2011 NJV The New Jubilees Version (The Beloved and I: The Sacred Scriptures in English Verse, McElwain) 2005+ ARTB Ancient Roots Translinear Bible (Old Testament Only) 2006 The Literary Bible (by David Rosenberg)(Old Testament Only) 2009 CEB Common English Bible (expected to be complete in 2011) In progress MGB The Manga Bible[25] In progress TEB Transparent English Bible[26] In progress ISV International Standard Version In progress Jubilee2000 English Jubilee 2000 Bible Murdock James Murdock's Translation of the Syriac Peshitta EOB Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible In progress Partial translations
New Testament
Abbreviation Name Date Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, by Thomas Jefferson 1895 The Epistles of Paul in Modern English (includes Hebrews), by George Barker Stevens 1898 The Twentieth Century New Testament 1902 Weymouth New Testament (New Testament in Modern Speech) 1903 Centenary New Testament (by Helen Barrett Montgomery) 1924 The Four Gospels, by E. V. Rieu, Penguin 1952 The Authentic New Testament, by Hugh J. Schonfield 1955 Phi / PME Phillips New Testament in Modern English and Four Prophets (by J. B. Phillips) 1958 The Simplified New Testament, by Olaf M. Norlie 1961 WET Wuest Expanded Translation (by Kenneth Wuest) 1961 The New Testament: a New Translation, by William Barclay 1968 TransLine, by Michael Magill 2002 CPG Cotton Patch Gospel[27] by Clarence Jordan 1968–1973 (4 vols) The Four Gospels, by Norman Marrow, ISBN 0-9505565-0-5 1977 The Original New Testament, by Hugh J. Schonfield, ISBN 0-947752-20-X 1985 int-E The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures by The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society 1985 McCord's New Testament Translation of the Everlasting Gospel by Hugo McCord 1988 A Fresh Parenthetical Version of the New Testament by B. E. Junkins ISBN 0761823972 2002 God's New Covenant: A New Testament Translation by Heinz Cassirer, ISBN 0-8028-3673-9 1989 Jewish New Testament, by David H. Stern 1989 Gaus The Unvarnished New Testament[28] by Andy Gaus 1991 The New Testament, by Richmond Lattimore, ISBN 0-460 87953 7 1996 TCE The Common Edition New Testament[29] 1999 COM The Comprehensive New Testament[30] 2008 ALT Analytical-Literal Translation 1999? A New Accurate Translation of the Greek New Testament, by Julian G. Anderson ISBN 0-960-21284-1 1984 The Voice ISBN 1418534390 2008 JNT Jewish New Testament by David H. Stern 1989 The Source New Testament With Extensive Notes on Greek Word Meaning, by Dr A. Nyland ISBN 0980443008 2004 The Last Days New Testament, Ray W. Johnson 1999 The Kingdom New Testament: A Contemporary Translation, N T Wright[31] 2011 Hebrew Bible
Name Date The Wisdom Books in Modern Speech (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Song of Songs), John Edgar McFadyen 1917 Four Prophets (Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah), J.B. Phillips 1963 Job Speaks (Job), David Rosenberg 1977 The Book of J (Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), Harold Bloom and David Rosenberg 1990 A Poet's Bible (Psalms, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Maccabees, Job, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Jonah, Ruth, Esther, Judith, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah), David Rosenberg 1991 The Book of Job, Stephen Mitchell 1992 The Five Books of Moses, Everett Fox 1995 The Lost Book of Paradise: Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis and related apocrypha), David Rosenberg 1995 Genesis, Stephen Mitchell 1996 The Book of David (2 Samuel), David Rosenberg 1998 Give us a King! (1, 2 Samuel), Everett Fox 1999 The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible,[32] Martin Abegg, Peter Flint, Eugene Ulrich 1999 The David Story (1, 2 Samuel), Robert Alter 2000 The Five Books of Moses, Robert Alter 2004 The Bible with Sources Revealed, Richard Elliott Friedman 2005 The Book of Psalms, Robert Alter 2007 See also
- Bible translations - for a view of translation into languages other than English.
- Bible errata
- List of English Bible translations
- Jewish English Bible translations
- Bible version debate
- List of Bible verses not included in modern translations
References
- ^ American King James Version
- ^ King James 2000 Version
- ^ Updated King James Version
- ^ King James Bibles
- ^ The Holy Scriptures. Rabon Vincent Jr., translator. Victoria: Trafford, 2001. ISBN 1-55369-199-7
- ^ The Evidence Bible
- ^ Amazon Online Reader : The Evidence Bible
- ^ New Cambridge Paragraph Bible
- ^ http://www.avupdate.org/
- ^ "About the New International Version". Electronic version available; print version available March 2011. http://www.biblica.com/niv/.
- ^ a b FBT Free Bible Translation Version website: 'The FBT is only in the planning stages and no translation work has been done yet.'
- ^ http://conservapedia.com/Conservative_Bible_Project
- ^ http://ebible.org/web/
- ^ The Hebrew Bible in English
- ^ The Judaica Press Complete Tanach with Rashi
- ^ Jerusalem Bible (Koren)
- ^ Available online
- ^ A new translation of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, 1 John, 2 John, and Revelation
- ^ http://besorah.synthasite.com/
- ^ Simple Translations of the Bible in Easy English
- ^ Boswell, Freddy. 2006. Classifying "Cotton Patch Version" and similar renderings as adaptive retelling rather than translation (La clasificación de la "cotton patch version" y de otros tipos de versiones más como reescrituras adaptadoras más traducciones)." Hermēneus, Vol. 8: 45–66.
- ^ http://www.theaussiebible.com.au/
- ^ A Voice in the Wilderness
- ^ New European Version
- ^ The Manga Bible
- ^ Original Bible Project
- ^ The Cotton Patch Version
- ^ [1] [2]
- ^ [3] [4]
- ^ http://www.bookreviews.org/pdf/6583_7128.pdf
- ^ http://www.harpercollins.com/books/?isbn=9780062064912
- ^ The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
External links
- The Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy
- Translations of the Bible Into English
- An extensive list of English translations
- OSIS User Manual Appendix D provides standard abbreviations for many translations.
Categories:- English Bible translations
- Bible versions and translations
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