English Standard Version

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
English Standard Version
Full name: English Standard Version
Abbreviation: ESV
Complete Bible published: 2001
Derived from: Revised Standard Version
Textual Basis: NT: High Correspondence to Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece 27th edition. OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia with Septuagint influence.
Translation type: Borderline of Formal Equivalence and Dynamic equivalence.
Reading Level: Middle School
Publisher: Crossway Bibles
Copyright status: Copyright (C) 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a ministry of the Good News Publishers of Wheaton, IL
Online address: http://www.esv.org/
Genesis 1:1-3
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

The English Standard Version (ESV) is an English translation of the Bible, a revision of the 1971 edition of the Revised Standard Version Bible. The first edition was published in 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers, which also owns the copyright to the text.

Contents

[edit] Translation Philosophy

The stated intent of the translators was to produce a readable and accurate translation that stands in the tradition of Bible translations beginning with English religious reformer William Tyndale in 1525–26 and culminating in the King James Version of 1611. Examples of other translations that stand in this stream are the Revised Version (1881–85), the American Standard Version (1901), and the Revised Standard Version (1946–52/1971). In their own words, they sought to follow an "essentially literal" translation philosophy. To that end, they sought as far as possible to capture the precise wording of the original text and the personal style of each Bible writer, while taking into account differences of grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages. The result is a translation that is more literal than the popular New International Version, but more idiomatic than the New American Standard Bible (which is commonly known as the most literal of the modern translations).

[edit] History

Work on this translation began with discontent (largely amongst Evangelical Christians) over the perceived looseness of style and content of recently published English Bible translations, as well as the apparent trend toward gender-neutral language in translations such as the Today's New International Version and the New Revised Standard Version, among others.

In 1997 Christian psychologist and radio host Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family called together a meeting of individuals concerned with these issues, and from it came the "Colorado Springs Guidelines", a set of translation principles that specified when it was and was not appropriate to use gender-neutral language. After this, the group sought and received permission from the National Council of Churches to use the 1971 edition of the RSV as the English textual basis for the ESV.

Nevertheless, only about 5%–10% of the RSV text was changed in the ESV. Many corrections were made to satisfy objections to some of the RSV's interpretations that conservative Protestants had considered as theologically liberal, for example, changing the translation of the Hebrew "almah" from "young woman" to "virgin" in Isaiah 7:14. The language was modernized to remove "thou" and "thee" and replace obsolete words (e.g., "jug" for "cruse").

[edit] Textual Basis

When necessary to translate difficult passages, the translators referred to the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible (as found in the second edition of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia), to the United Bible Societies' fourth edition of the Greek New Testament, and to the twenty-seventh edition of Nestle and Aland's Novum Testamentum Graece. In a few exceptionally difficult cases, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Septuagint, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Syriac Peshitta, the Latin Vulgate, and other sources were consulted to shed possible light on the text or, if necessary, to support a divergence from the Masoretic text.

[edit] Use of the ESV

Two existing study bibles have been adapted to use the ESV text: the Scofield Study Bible (Oxford University Press, 2001, ISBN 9780195278750), which updated the Scofield Reference Bible, and the Reformation Study Bible (Ligonier Ministries, 2005, ISBN 0-87552-643-8), which adapted the notes from the previous edition that used the New King James translation.

The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod has adopted the ESV as the official text used in its official hymnal Lutheran Service Book, released in August 2006.

[edit] Sources

  • Crossway Bibles. "Translation Philosophy". Retrieved March 17, 2004.
  • Marlowe, Michael D. (Oct 2001). "English Standard Version". Retrieved March 17, 2004.
  • Ryken, Leland (2002). The Word of God in English (available online here - 1.2MB PDF) . Wheaton, IL: Crossway. ISBN 1-58134-464-3. Ryken, an English professor from Wheaton College, worked as the literary stylist for the ESV.

[edit] External links

The Bible in English +/-
Old English (pre-1066)
Middle English (1066-1500)
Early Modern English (1500-1800)
Modern Christian (1800-)
Modern Jewish (1853-)
Miscellaneous
v • d • e
English language translations of the Christian Bible
Middle English Wycliffe
16th-17th century Tyndale · Coverdale · Great Bible · Geneva · Douay-Rheims · King James
18th-19th century Challoner · Young's Literal · Revised Version
20th century American Standard · Revised Standard · Jerusalem · New American · New English Bible · New American Standard · Living Bible · Good News · New International · New King James · New Revised Standard · Revised English · Contemporary English · New Century · New Living
21st century English Standard · The Message · Holman Christian Standard · Today's New International · New English Translation · World English
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Standard_Version"
Personal tools
Languages