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Today there are three general philosophies of Bible translation in use. The first has been called "formal equivalence" or "word-for-word" translation. According to this theory, the translator attempts to render each word of the original language into the receptor language while seeking to preserve the original word order and sentence structure as much as possible. The second philosophy is known as "dynamic equivalence" (sometimes referred to as "functional equivalence"). The goal of this translation theory is to produce in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the message expressed by the original-language text—both in meaning and in style. Such a translation attempts to have the same impact on modern readers as the original had on its own audience. The third philosophy is called paraphrasing. To paraphrase is to restate something (for the sake of clarity) in different words than the original author used.
The "formal equivalence" or "word-for-word" translation philosophy attempts to render each word of the original language into the receptor language and to preserve the original word order and sentence structure as much as possible. While this produces an English Bible which is tied more closely to the original text and is less prone to contemporary subjectivity, it often produces a translation that is unintelligible or void of meaning (in places) for the modern reader with little or no background in ancient Middle Eastern idiom and thought patterns. Many modern readers also consider these translations "choppy" or abrupt since the sentence structure is closely tied to the original language rather than our modern English.
The prevailing philosophy of several of the newer Bible versions is "thought-for-thought" rather than "word-for-word" translation emphasizing "dynamic equivalence" rather than the "essentially literal" meaning of the original text. Of course, to translate the thought of the original language requires that the text be interpreted accurately and then be rendered in easily understandable idiom for the modern reader. The goal of any thought-for-thought translation is to be both reliable and easily readable, (though word-for-word versions also strive for this when possible). A "thought-for-thought" translation is of necessity more inclined to reflect the interpretive opinions of the translator and the influences of contemporary culture, though not nearly as much as a paraphrased version.
In preparing a paraphrase version the author/translator seeks to clarify the original message of the Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek text in different words than the original author used. But whenever the author's exact words are not used, there exists the very real possibility the translator, however honest, may provide the English reader with an idea that the original writer never intended. This is because a paraphrase is not only guided by the translator's skill in simplifying ideas, but also by what he or she believes the original author meant to say, and by his or her own personal theology and world view. For this reason paraphrase versions should only be read along side a more literal translation but never used alone for serious Bible study.
Every translation is at many points a trade-off between literal precision and readability, between "formal equivalence" in expression and "functional equivalence" in communication. This is the challenge faced by all translators and biblical scholars. The challenge faced by modern English readers is to choose which version is best for them and their intended reading or study plans. In general, it is best to (1) read more than one Bible version, (2) be aware of the translation philosophy each version uses, and (3) don't get hung up on all the versions. Find two or three you like and start reading.
Personal Recommendation: Short of learning Greek and Hebrew, I recommend choosing a literal translation (ESV or Updated NASB) to ascertain what the original text actually says, and then balancing your reading with a more dynamic translation (NIV or NRSV) to ascertain what the text in question actually means. However, keep this in mind: just because a particular translation is literal does not mean the actual meaning will be clear or evident. In fact, often the reverse is true! In cases like this, short of consulting a commentary or two, I like to read the NLT in the hope of gaining fresh insight into what the original writer was trying to convey to his audience. If all this is confusing to you, you are not alone! If you're one of those people who want to keep it simple and only read one Bible you can't go wrong with the NIV.
The history and translation philosophies of several Bible versions are listed below to help make your choice of a new or additional Bible version easier and more informed. Feel free to explore the version histories and chart below for more information.
What are the main differences between the many different English Bible versions?
Because no translation of the Bible is perfect or acceptable to all groups of Christian readers, and because discoveries of older manuscripts and further investigation of linguistic features of the text continue to become available, numerous translations of the Bible have proliferated for centuries. Just since the publication of the Revised Standard Version in the mid 20th century over twenty-six English translations and revisions of the whole Bible have been produced. In addition, twenty-five other translations or revisions of the New Testament, alone, have populated the bookshelves of Christian bookstores during this same time. Choosing a new translation can be a daunting endeavor for many Christians. To aid in this task, the histories and translational philosophies of several of the more recognizable versions are provided below along with a quick reference chart.
Though I do have my own personal preferences I have resisted recommending any particular version(s). Since I don't sell Bibles, you may notice my "rankings" differ slightly from the opinions of Zondervan and the International Bible Society (IBS). Much of the material included below comes directly from the translators or publishers notes found in the front of each version.
The King James Version KJV
This is undoubtedly the most venerable of the English versions, though certainly not the first. It was named after King James I of England who initiated the work. It was a revision of several earlier translations which all stemmed from the work of William Tyndale who was martyred in 1536. Tyndale's English version became the foundation for the Coverdale Bible (1535), the Thomas Matthew Bible (1537), the Great Bible (1539), the Geneva Bible (1560) and the Bishop's Bible (1568). Over fifty scholars worked on the project, which started in 1607 and finished in 1611. It was dedicated to King James with these words:
"To the Most High and Mightie Prince, Iames by the grace of God King of Britaine, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. The translators of the Bible wish Grace, Mercie, and Peace, through Iesvs Christ our Lord."
"The King James Version, known in England as the Authorized Version because it was authorized by the king, has become an enduring monument of English prose because of its gracious style, majestic language, and poetic rhythms. No other book has had such a tremendous influence on English literature." (Comfort, pp. 48-49) Also included in the original 1611 version of this thoroughly protestant bible were the thirteen books of the Apocrypha, extensive notes from the translators to their readers, monthly prayer calendars, a table and calendar for expressing the order of Psalms and Lessons to said at morning and evening prayer, and a table of special holy days to be observed throughout the year. Most of these features have long been dropped from modern printings.
It is now known that earlier translators had access to few ancient manuscripts and many late ones with questionable scribal revisions. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the development of Biblical studies and the discovery of many more ancient manuscripts than the KJV was based on made it manifest that many of the serious defects in this version needed to be corrected. In addition, many English words in the KJV had become obscure while others could not be traced back to the earlier manuscripts. Hence a new revision was undertaken in 1881. Yet, despite these discoveries and the advances in Biblical studies, the KJV has found a permanent place in the reading and worship of many "King James Only" churches even today.
Gender Inclusive Language? No
A revision of the King James Version was begun in 1881 and completed in 1885 by a group of American and British scholars who could not agree on several "points of difference." This new revision was simply called the Revised Version of 1885. Most of the points of difference had to do with certain words chosen to update the more archaic words. One of the more notable points ( upon which even some American readers did not fully agree) was the use of the title "Jehovah" in place of the titles "LORD" and "GOD" printed in small caps. To appease the American scholars, who agreed to let their British counterparts have the decisive vote since they had taken the initiative in the work, an appendix of American preferences was hastily created to be included somewhere in the revision. In 1901 the American Standard Version was printed incorporating the American preferences into the text. The ASV was soon copyrighted to prevent changes to the American preferences.
Despite its age the ASV is still a very readable, yet literal, translation with the benefit of a great lineage. This translation well served the American church until it was supplanted by the Revised Standard Version in 1952. Interestingly, the use of the title "Jehovah" was abandoned for the more familiar titles of "LORD" and "GOD" in the RSV translation.
The Revised Standard Version RSV
The International Council of Religious Education held the 1901 copyright to the American Standard Version and authorized a new revision to the ASV in 1937. The council appointed a committee of 32 scholars to have charge of the text of the ASV and to undertake inquiry as to whether further revision was necessary. The committee deliberated for more than two years before deciding a thorough revision was warranted. The New Testament was subsequently published in 1946; and the entire Bible with the the Old Testament, in 1952.
The principles of the revision were specified in the preface to the Revised Standard Version:
"The Revised Standard Version is not a new translation in the language of today. It is not a paraphrase which aims at striking idioms. It is a revision which seeks to preserve all that is best in the English Bible as it has been known and used throughout the years. It is intended for use in public and private worship, not merely for reading and instruction. ... We are glad to say with the King James translators: "Truly (good Christian reader) we never thought from the beginning that we should make a new Translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one. . . but to make a good one better"
The RSV was well received by many Protestant Churches and soon became the standard text of many churches and denominations. However, most evangelical and fundamental Christians did not receive the Revised Standard Version well—primarily due to the Council's construal rendering of one verse, Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord , Himself will give you a sign, Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" -RSV. Previous English versions always translated the Hebrew word "almah" (5959) as "virgin" in anticipation of the future birth of Christ (Matt.1:22-23). Interestingly, the Septuagint, an early Greek translation of the Old Testament produced sometime between 285-247 B.C., used the word "parthenos" (3933), the same word used in Matthew and elsewhere in the New Testament and always understood as the word "virgin."
The RSV has since been been updated by the translators of the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) which was completed in 1990, however the "young woman" still remains. Not withstanding this controversial issue, the RSV is a literal, yet very readable, bible translation.
The New English Bible NEB
The New English Bible is a collaborative effort by biblical scholars of several European Protestant churches. In May 1946 the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland received an overture from the Presbytery of Stirling and Dunblane, recommending that a new translation be made in the language of the present day. Their desire was for a completely new translation with a contemporary idiom rather than traditional biblical English. The General Assembly met twice more in conference to approach other churches with the task. At the next conference delegates of the Church of England, the Church of Scotland, and the Methodist, Baptist, and Congregational Churches met and [again] recommended that a completely new translation be undertaken. At a second conference in 1947 representatives of the University Presses were included. By the third conference in 1948 the Presbyterian Church of England, the Society of Friends, the churches of Wales and Ireland, the British and Foreign Bible Society, and the National Bible Society of Scotland joined in the effort. Since the publication of the NEB the Roman Catholic Churches of England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland have joined in the effort as sponsors.
The NEB is basically a dynamic equivalence translation. The translating was done by three panels drawn from scholars of British universities to deal, respectively, with the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, and the New Testament. A fourth panel of trusted literary advisers was to scrutinize the translation for English style. A Joint Committee issued general directions to the three panels involved in translation (Old Testament, Apocrypha, and New Testament) in pursuance of the aims which the enterprise had in view. Individual translators were invited to submit drafts of a particular book which were then circulated to the other panel members for verse-by-verse review. Particular renderings were accepted after a "common mind" was reached in each case. The resultant drafts were then submitted to the panel of literary advisors who again scrutinized them verse-by-verse in order to render each in the proper tone and level of language due the particular section [genre] of Scripture. The final form of each draft was then submitted to a Joint Committee for final scrutiny before publication.
This translation is strong, vibrant, and reflective of modern British prose. The book introductions reflect contemporary scholarship and there are limited footnotes throughout to guide the reader.
The Holy Bible (Confraternity Version)
This Catholic translation was produced by members of the Catholic Biblical Association of America under the patronage of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. The aim of the Confraternity was to incorporate in this [new] edition of the Holy Bible the very latest Official Catholic translations for the United States. The books of 1Kings-Esther and 1-2 Machabees were taken from the Douay Version. The New Testament was a fresh revision of the earlier Challoner-Rheims version. Also contained in this version are the Apocryphal books, introductions to each book of the Bible, and extensive Catholic study notes on various passages. This edition was dedicated to St. Joseph "the patron of the Universal Church" and is sometimes called the Saint Joseph Edition of the Holy Bible.
Among the many distinctive features of this bible are: the complete Encyclical of Pope Pius XII, "On the Most Opportune Way to Promote Biblical Studies," a complete general introduction, a modern poetic format for the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Canticle of Canticles [Song of Solomon], special photographs of the Holy Land, and chapter and sub-headings.
This translation is very abundant in used books stores and is an easily obtained source for understanding Catholic doctrines and the biblical texts used to support them. While the translation itself is fairly free of Catholic bias the study notes in many places are definitely kept inline with Catholic tradition even when the biblical text clearly argues against it. The reader will also notice that certain Catholic doctrines like prayer for the dead and purgatory are supported only in the Apocryphal books and nowhere in the universally accepted sixty-six canonical books of the Protestant bible.
The Amplified Bible
Since the Bible was originally written in the Middle East in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, over a period of about 1400 years, there are shades of meaning found in the ancient texts that simply can't be rendered in a strictly literal (word-for-word) translation into modern English. Beginning with the 1901 American Standard Version as a reference text, Dr. Frances E. Siewert, and 12 other translators began over 20,000 hours of research in order to carefully select additional words by which to convey the hidden nuances of the original languages in a modern English "readers" Bible. The additional "amplification" words are offset from the regular bible text by means of [brackets] or (parentheses) which can sometimes make for abrupt reading.
Dr. Siewart's work was reviewed by a committee of translation experts for accuracy before the Amplified New Testament was published in 1958. The full Amplified Bible was later published in 1965. Many have come to use this translation as their second Bible, comparing it to their conventional translation in order to gain additional insights into the Scriptures. For this limited purpose the Amplified Bible is fine. However, the very real danger of "semantic abuse" exists when a reader comes to believe that one ancient Hebrew or Greek word can actually have within it the full semantic range of the additional words included in the Amplified Bible's palate of alternatives. This translation should never be used to develop or argue ones' doctrine or theology.
Reading Level: Not Established
The Jerusalem Bible was published in England in 1966. The Catholic translators had two objectives in mind when creating this work, "...the need to keep abreast of the times, and the need to deepen theological thought" [from the preface]. The study helps in The Jerusalem Bible were translated from the earlier French edition, La Bible de Jérusalem, whereas the text of the American edition was translated from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages with reliance on the earlier pioneering work of the School of Biblical Studies in Jerusalem, Israel.
The Jerusalem Bible includes the Apocrypha and contains many study helps such as book introductions, extensive notes, tables of weights and measures, and eight pages of maps. The English text is "considerably freer than other translations, such as the Revised Standard Version, because the translators sought to capture the meaning of the original writings in a 'vigorous, contemporary literary style'" [from the preface] (Comfort, pp. 81-82). Not long after publication a "Readers Edition" was introduced. This edition had the same complete text as the original although the study notes and introductions were greatly abridged to "relieve the average reader of burdensome detail while retaining necessary and helpful information..." [from the preface].
As with the Confraternity Version and the NAB, the translation itself is fairly free of Catholic bias while the study notes in many places are definitely kept inline with Catholic tradition even when the biblical text clearly argues against it.
Completed: 1970, Updated 1991
Not to be confused with the New American Standard Bible (NASB), The New American Bible is the official translation of the Roman Catholic Church, published under the direction of Pope Pius XII. The NAB was "translated from the original languages with critical use of all ancient sources by members of the Catholic Biblical Association of America, sponsored by the Bishops' Committee of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine" [from the cover page]. This is the first American Catholic Bible to be completely translated from the original languages. This translation was a collaborative effort on the part of some fifty biblical scholars—not all Catholic—and was over twenty-five years in the making. The NAB has short introductions to each book of the Bible and concise marginal notes sowed sparingly among the text.
The translation has been described as "simple, clear, and straightforward... It is good American English, not as pungent and colorful as the NEB. [New English Bible]. Its translations are not striking but neither are they clumsy. They seem to be more conservative in the sense that they tend not to stray from the original." [Kubo and Specht]. Today the NAB is the best-selling translation for American Roman Catholics.
"In 1962 Kenneth Taylor published a paraphrase of the New Testament Epistles. ... The entire Living Bible was published in 1971. .. Using the American Standard Version as his working text, Taylor rephrased the ASV into modern speech so that anyone—even a child—could understand the message of the original writers.
The Living Bible, rather than being a new translation in the strict sense, is a compilation of several earlier paraphrases published by Tyndale House under the separate titles of Living Letters, 1962; Living Prophecies, 1965; Living Gospels, 1966; Living Psalms and Proverbs, 1967; Living Lessons of Life and Love, 1968; Living Books of Moses, 1969; and Living History of Israel, 1970. In the preface to The Living Bible Taylor explains his view of paraphrasing: "... to say as exactly as possible what the writers of the Scriptures meant, and to say it simply, expanding where necessary for a clear understanding by the modern reader."
Though many modern readers have greatly appreciated the fact that The Living Bible made God's Word clear to them, Taylor's paraphrase has been criticized for being too interpretive. But this is the nature of all paraphrases. To paraphrase is to restate something in different words than the original author used. But whenever the author's exact words are not used there is the very real possibility the translator, however honest, may be giving the English reader an idea that the original writer never intended. This is because a paraphrase is not only guided by the translator's skill in simplifying ideas, but also by the lucidity of what he believes the original author meant to say, and by his own personal theology and world view. Where the original language is unclear the personal theology and biases of the translator becomes his guide, along with his sense of logic and reasoning. If this is not the case then the original text is left to stand without any clear meaning. However, this is also the case, albeit to a lesser degree, for anyone who translates the Scriptures regardless of their stated interpretive model.
Even with this charge against it, The Living Bible has been very popular among English readers worldwide with over 40 million copies sold. However, as in the case of The Amplified Bible, it is best used as a second Bible read alongside a more literal translation (NASB, NKJV, NRSV, or NIV). A paraphrase should never be used to develop or argue ones' doctrine or theology.
The Living Bible was updated and pretty much replaced by the The New Living Translation (NLT) in 1996.
Reading Level: 7.2
Today’s English Version is a new translation that does not follow the traditional vocabulary and style found in the standard English Bible versions; rather, it attempts to set forth the biblical content and message in an everyday, natural form of English. The aim of this Bible is to give today's reader maximum understanding of the content of the original texts. Linguistically, the TEV is a translation meant for those unfamiliar with religious jargon.
Previously known as the Good News Bible, this work was an early attempt at dynamic-equivalence translation. Its editors did not try translating what was literally written; they instead tried translating meaning. In this endeavor the TEV translators only partly succeeded, tending at times toward commentary. The TEV's rewording of the original texts, although making the text more readable, often adds/injects inaccuracies into the original message of the biblical writers. In the 1992 revision, gender-neutral language was paraphrased too much, neutering some passages that refer specifically to males. The translators had noble intentions but because of its many inaccuracies, the TEV is a very poor translation and is not recommended as a study Bible even if used alongside a more literal translation.
Despite this version’s grave shortcomings it remains fairly popular and is widely distributed through sales channels such as Avon and Wal-Mart.
Recognizing the value of the American Standard Version (1901), The Lockman Foundation, a nonprofit Christian corporation based in La Habra, California, and committed to evangelism, felt an urgency to update the ASV by incorporating recent discoveries of Hebrew and Greek textual sources and by rendering it into a more current English vernacular. Beginning in 1959 the foundation organized a team of thirty-two scholars (16 NT and 16 OT) to prepare this new translation. More than 25,000 hours of research went into the New Testament alone. The 32 scholars set out to produce a literal translation ... "in the belief that such a translation brings the contemporary reader as close as possible to the actual wording and grammatical structure of the original writers" [from the preface]. When it was felt that a word-for-word literal translation was unacceptable to the modern reader "a change was made in the direction of a more current English idiom" [NASB Principles of Translation].
The NASB represents a modern conservative, literal approach to translation. While this translation followed the principles used in the ASV, the NASB should be viewed as a new translation rather than an update of the ASV. In contrast to the ASV the title "Jehovah" was dropped for the titles "LORD" and "GOD" printed in small caps. In contrast to the RSV the English word "virgin" was reinstated for the Hebrew word "almah" in Isaiah 7:14, with "maiden" set off in the margin as an alternate translation.
The New American Standard Bible received a mixed response when it was published. Some critics applauded its literal accuracy, while others sharply criticized its language for hardly being contemporary or modern. In places it reads rather stiffly and the sentence structure is choppy and abrupt compared to the ASV or RSV.
A 1995 update made several important refinements with regard to the original NASB: 1) It no longer uses "Thee" and "Thou" in reference to Deity; 2) phrases have been smoothed out; 3) words that have changed meaning have been updated; 4) verbs that have a wide range of meaning have been updated to better account for their use in the context; 5) punctuation and paragraphing have been formatted to fit today’s standards; and 6) notes about the ancient manuscripts have been revised to include more new and interesting facts.
Today the New American Standard Bible is rightly respected as a good study Bible that accurately reflects the wording and sentence structure of the original languages.
"The New International Version is a completely new translation of the Holy Bible made by over a hundred scholars working directly from the best available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. It had its beginning in 1965 when, after several years of exploratory study by committees from the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) and the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), a group of scholars met at Palos Heights, Illinois, and concurred in the need for a new translation of the Bible in contemporary English" [from the preface].
Responsibility for the new version was delegated by the Palos Heights group to a self-governing body of fifteen, composed mainly of biblical scholars from colleges, universities, and seminaries. In 1967, the New York Bible Society (now known as the International Bible Society) generously undertook the financial sponsorship of the project. The scholars worked many years and in several committees to produce an excellent thought-for-thought translation in contemporary English for private and public use. The New Testament of the New International Version was published in 1973, and the entire Bible, in 1978.
"The translators of the New International Version sought to make a version that was midway between a literal rendering (as in the NASB) and a free paraphrase (as in The Living Bible). Their goal was to convey in English the thought of the original writers. ... This version has been phenomenally successful. Millions and millions of readers have adopted the New International Version as their 'Bible.' Since 1987 it has outsold the King James Version, the best-seller for centuries—a remarkable indication of its popularity and acceptance in the Christian community" (Comfort, pp. 79-81).
The New King James Version NKJV
The New King James Version (1982) is a revision of the earlier King James Version of 1611, called for primarily due to three circumstances: (a) the acquisition of older biblical manuscripts than were available to the KJV translators, (b) further investigation of linguistic features of the text, and (c) changes in preferred English usage. Yet, from the preface, "In harmony with the purpose of the King James scholars, the translators have not pursued a goal of innovation."
The NKJV retains the elegant literary style and poetic flow of the KJV, but is easier for modern readers to read and understand. It is very easy to read along side the original KJV text due the commitment of the translators and editors to achieve "complete equivalence with the original version while considering the history of usage and etymology of words in their contexts." This translation is a much more literal translation than the NIV, but actually reads much easier if you are used to a King James Version Bible. However, for new readers it is somewhat choppy because it maintains 17th century sentence structure. All-in all it's a good translation, well suited for both study and devotional reading, and has gained a margin of popularity for public reading and citation in many Christian circles.
The New Revised Standard Version NRSV
In 1989 a multi-denominational, interfaith team of 32 United States scholars completed yet another revision of the RSV (1952), resulting in the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) which was published in 1990. The resulting version is scholarly, contemporary, and dignified, with simplified language and concern for inclusive rendering of pronouns for human beings.
In the preface to the NRSV, Bruce Metzger, chair-person of the revision committee, writes: "The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible is an authorized revision of the Revised Standard Version, published in 1952, which is a revision of the American Standard Version, published in 1901, which, in turn, embodied the earlier revisions of the King James Version, published in 1611. ...This new version seeks to preserve all that is best in the English Bible as it has been known and used throughout the years. It is intended for use in public reading and congregational worship, as well as in private study, instruction, and meditation."
According to the International Bible Society this new version ranks somewhere between the literal word-for-word translation of the NASB and the verse-by-verse translation of the NIV. This version's inclusive language, its rendering of Isaiah 7:14, and its association with the RSV will never allow it to be very popular with the evangelical or fundamental wings of Christianity. Be that as it may, this translation strikes an appealing balance in that it is refreshing and easy to read while not straying far from the literal meaning of the original texts.
The Message, published in 1993 by NavPress, is a free, highly colloquial and interpretive paraphrase of the New Testament by Eugene H. Peterson. An earlier form of the book of Galatians appeared in 1988 under the title, Traveling Light. The Psalms and Proverbs were later completed and subsequently followed by the OT Books of Moses. A complete Bible is due out sometime in 2002.
From the Introduction: "This version of the New Testament in a contemporary idiom keeps the language of the Message current and fresh and understandable in the same language in which we do our shopping, talk with our friends, worry about world affairs, and teach our children their table manners. The goal is not to render a word-for-word conversion of Greek into English, but rather to convert the tone, the rhythm, the events, the ideas, into the way we actually think and speak."
Since this is a paraphrase the same caveat and recommendation that comes with the Living Bible also applies here. It is best to use this paraphrase as a second Bible, comparing it to a more literal translation (NASB, NKJV, NRSV or NIV) in order to gain additional insights into the Scriptures. A paraphrase should never be used to develop or argue ones' doctrine or theology.
The Oxford Inclusive Language Version
Gender Inclusive Language? Yes
The New Testament and Psalms: a New Inclusive Translation, was published in 1995 by Oxford University Press.
"This new inclusive translation of the Bible not only reflects the newest scholarly work on the most reliable manuscripts available, it also reflects and attempts to anticipate developments in the English language in regard to specificity about a number of issues such as gender, race, and physical disability. ...
Inclusive translation is the effort to replace or rephrase all gender-specific language not referring to particular historical individuals, all pejorative references to race, color, or religion, and all identifications of person by their physical disability alone, by means of paraphrase, alternative translation, and other acceptable means of conforming the language of the work to an inclusive idea.
This new, inclusive translation has used the New Revised Standard Version as the starting point. The NRSV, based on the latest biblical scholarship available, has gone a long way toward greater specificity in regard to human gender. This new, inclusive translation, however, goes beyond the NRSV to include people of every race, people of every class, people with disabilities—so that all may hear the New Testament and Psalms speaking directly to them. Also, this translation, in contrast to the NRSV, uses inclusive metaphors for God" (from the General Introduction)." From the notes on the presentation page: "Language applies equality to all human beings, particularly when referring to people with physical disabilities, those held in slavery or servitude, references to Judaism and the Jews in New Testament times, and language referring to the Deity." (Emphasis added)
Many scholars believe the Oxford translation has violated basic translation principles in its attempt to make the Bible "politically correct." These scholars maintain that in changing the basic meaning of terms and concepts in the original languages, the Oxford Version has sacrificed accuracy in order to be more attractive to contemporary readers. Spread the Word Ministries is in agreement with this criticism.
Work on The Contemporary English Version was begun in 1984 by the American Bible Society. The New Testament was completed in 1991 and the full Bible in 1995. In general, this translation employs natural and uncomplicated English. The CEV comes with a array a bible study resources including book introductions, brief outlines, special articles, maps, and more—all designed to draw the reader into the text and instill a love for reading the Bible.
The mandate for the ABS translation team was to craft a translation that was biblically accurate, reader friendly, and understandable— even for first-time Bible readers. Among special concerns were ease of reading without sounding "childish," comprehensibility when read aloud, modern formatting, quality of style, and literary value. An international, interdenominational group of over 100, including translators, English language experts, and biblical authorities [comprised] the CEV translation team" [from a Thomas Nelson brochure].
In order to attain these goals of clarity, beauty, and dignity, the translators of the Contemporary English Version carefully studied every word, phrase, clause, and paragraph or the original. Then with equal care, they struggled to discover the best way to translate the text, so that it would suitable both for private and public reading and for memorizing" [from the preface].
To date, little public use of this version has been observed and it is impossible to know how many use this version for private reading.
The New Living Translation is a dynamic equivalence translation (thought-for-thought) based on the work of 90 biblical scholars and a smaller team of English stylists. These scholars and stylists went back to the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek seeking to produce the closest natural equivalent of the message in natural, contemporary English. The scholars, from various theological backgrounds and denominations, were involved with the goal that the NLT be exegetically accurate and idiomatically powerful. The result was a readable translation that employs vocabulary and language structures commonly used by the average English speaking person.
"Most significantly, the New Living Translation is not a paraphrase but a translation. Every verse has been carefully compared to the most reliable editions of the Hebrew and Greek texts in an effort to make a translation that accurately conveys the meaning of the original texts" (from the Preface to the review copy of Romans).
The New International Reader's Version (1996) "is a new Bible version developed to enable early readers to understand God's message. Begun in 1992 and co-sponsored by the International Bible Society and Zondervan Publishing House, the New International Reader's Version is a simplification of the New International Version (NIV), today's most popular translation of the Bible. " (from the NIrV "Sample Booklet").
The NIrV was designed to make the Bible clear and understandable to early readers, and can be read by a typical fourth grader. For this reason, it is also of value to the millions for whom English is a second language. It intends to be distinguished by five fundamental characteristics—readability, understandability, compatibility with the NIV, reliability and trustworthiness. It is intended to serve as a natural stepping-stone to the NIV when the time is right.
"The English Standard Version stands in the classic stream of Bible translations that began nearly 500 years ago with William Tyndale's New Testament, was continued by the King James Version, and was later carried forward by the American Standard Version and the Revised Standard Version."—from the Bible's cover.
"The English Standard Version translation is founded on the belief that the words of the Bible are the very words of God. The translations committee was chaired by J.I. Packard and relied on the work of more than 50 biblical scholars, as well as the input of a 60-member, multi-denominational Advisory Council. The ESV is an "essentially literal" translation that seeks (as far as possible) to capture the precise wording of the original text and the personal style of each Bible writer. As such, its emphasis is on "word-for-word" correspondence, at the same time taking into account differences of grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages. Thus it seeks to be transparent to the original text, letting the reader see as directly as possible the structure and meaning of the original."—Adapted from the publishers website.
The ESV also carries forward classic translation principles in its literary style. Accordingly it retains theological terminology—words such as grace, faith, justification, sanctification, redemption, regeneration, reconciliation, propitiation—because of their central importance for Christian doctrine and also because the underlying Greek words were already becoming key words and technical terms in New Testament times. This translation stands in the great line of the English Standard versions, but in contrast to the RSV and NRSV the English word "virgin" is used for the Hebrew word "almah" in Isaiah 7:14 with no alternate rendering noted.
In the area of gender language, the goal of the ESV is to render literally what is in the original. For example, "anyone" replaces "any man" where there is no word corresponding to "man" in the original languages, and "people" rather than "men" is regularly used where the original languages refer to both men and women. But the words "man" and "men" are retained where a male meaning component is part of the original Greek or Hebrew. Similarly, the English word "brothers" (translating the Greek word adelphoi) is retained as an important familial form of address between fellow-Jews and fellow-Christians in the first century.
According to the publisher, it is ideally suited for in-depth study of the Bible. Indeed, with its emphasis on literary excellence, the ESV is equally suited for public reading and preaching, for private reading and reflection, for both academic and devotional study, and for Scripture memorization.
Already some are calling for this version to replace the NIV for public reading while others are making it their first choice over the NASB as literal, in-depth study Bible. At this point it is too soon to tell what impact this version may eventually have in the Christian community.
All Protestant and Catholic Bible versions include the same twenty-seven books of the New Testament. Catholic tradition allows seven additional books to be added to the thirty-nine books Protestants consider to be the Old Testament. This puts the Protestant Bible at a total of sixty-six books, while the Catholic Bible contains seventy-three. (Protestant scholars differ in the way they number these books [7-14], mostly due to opinion as to their division and titles). Protestant scholars consider these books to be inter-testamental literature, referring to the 400 years of silence between the book of Malachi and the coming of John the Baptist. As inter-testamental literature these disputed books are included in some Protestant Bibles for historical reference, but they are not considered to be canonical (that is, not considered to be of the same inerrant and inspired quality as the other sixty-six books of the Bible). For this reason these seven books are left out of most Protestant Bibles.
The disputed books are all Jewish in origin. The Catholic designations for these books are:
Catholic Bibles also differ in length due several additional stories added to the book of Daniel and six additional chapters added to the book of Esther. Protestant Christians refer to the additional books and amendments as the "Apocrypha" (A Greek word meaning "hidden").
The story of how this difference of opinion came about takes over 16 centuries to unfold. When Aramaic replaced Hebrew as the language of the common people many Jews could no longer read the scriptures in Hebrew. This development promoted the production of Aramaic translations for use in the synagogues. In addition, many Jews living outside of Palestine came to speak Greek, rather than Hebrew. By the time of the early days of the Church there came to be two versions of the Old Testament in use by the Jewish people. The Old Testament in Hebrew/Aramaic was used in Palestine. This version did not contain the seven books in dispute. The Old Testament translated into Greek was read by the Greek speaking Jews living outside of Palestine. This Greek version (known as the Septuagint or LXX) had come to contain the seven books in dispute. These additional books were rejected from the Hebrew Old Testament at the Jewish Synod of Jamnia in about 90 A.D. Christian usage and opinion would remain somewhat ambiguous until the 16th century.
In the late 4th century A.D. St. Jerome translated the entire Bible into Latin. His translation of the Old Testament was from the Greek Septuagint version which contained the seven additional books. St. Jerome's translation, known as the Vulgate, was accepted by the [Catholic] Church and became the official Latin translation of the Bible.
In the 16th century, Protestant reformers made their own translation of the Bible into German. Their translation of the Old Testament was from the Hebrew, not the Greek, version. In addition, the reformers did not regard these seven books to be of the same inspired nature and authority as the other thirty-nine Old Testament books. So the Protestant Old Testament, like the Hebrew/Aramaic version, lacks the seven books contained in the Greek and Catholic Old Testaments. The disputed books were officially included in the Catholic Old Testament by the Council of Trent (1546), but the reformers admitted them only for questionable historic value or personal edification. The Westminster Confession (1647) sums up the position of the Protestant churches in regard to the disputed books with these words:
"The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the Canon of Scripture; and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or made use of, than other human writings." Chapter I., Article III.
For an in-depth study of the formation of the Old Testament canon I strongly suggest the book The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church, Roger Beckwith, Eerdman's Publishing Company, © 1985.
The Complete Guide to Bible Versions, Philip W. Comfort, Tyndale, © 1991.
Spread The Word Ministries Home Leo kuna falsafa tatu za jumla za tafsiri ya Biblia zinazotumiwa. Njia ya kwanza imeitwa "usawa wa kisheria" au tafsiri ya "neno kwa neno". Kulingana na nadharia hii, mtafsiri anajaribu kutafsiri kila neno la lugha ya awali katika lugha inayompokea, huku akijaribu kuhifadhi utaratibu wa maneno ya awali na muundo wa sentensi kadiri iwezekanavyo. Falsafa ya pili inajulikana kama "usawa wa nguvu" (wakati mwingine hujulikana kama "usawa wa kazi"). Lengo la nadharia hii ya tafsiri ni kuzalisha katika lugha ya mpokeaji sawa ya asili ya ujumbe ulioonyeshwa na maandishi ya lugha ya asili - kwa maana na kwa mtindo. Tafsiri kama hiyo inajaribu kuwa na uvutano uleule juu ya wasomaji wa kisasa kama vile ile ya awali ilivyokuwa na wasikilizaji wake mwenyewe. Falsafa ya tatu inaitwa kutafsiri. Kutafsiri ni kurudia jambo fulani (kwa ajili ya uwazi) kwa maneno tofauti na yale yaliyotumiwa na mwandishi wa awali. "Falsafa ya tafsiri ya ""kiwango cha kawaida"" au ""neno kwa neno"" inajaribu kutoa kila neno la lugha ya asili katika lugha ya mpokeaji na kuhifadhi utaratibu wa neno la awali na muundo wa sentensi kadiri iwezekanavyo." Ingawa hii inazalisha Biblia ya Kiingereza ambayo imeunganishwa zaidi na maandishi ya awali na ni chini ya kuathiriwa na ubinafsi wa kisasa, mara nyingi inazalisha tafsiri ambayo haijulikani au haina maana (katika maeneo) kwa msomaji wa kisasa na kidogo au hakuna msingi katika lugha ya kale ya Mashariki ya Kati na mifumo ya mawazo. Wasomaji wengi wa kisasa pia huona tafsiri hizo kuwa "zenye kutatanisha" au zisizo na utaratibu kwa sababu muundo wa sentensi umehusianishwa kwa ukaribu na lugha ya awali badala ya Kiingereza chetu cha kisasa. Tafsiri ya Biblia ya kisasa ina maana ya "dhana kwa dhana" badala ya "neno kwa neno" na inasisitiza "sawa ya nguvu" badala ya maana ya "kihalisi ya neno kwa neno" ya maandishi ya awali. "Kwa kweli, kutafsiri wazo la lugha ya awali huhitaji kwamba maandishi yawe na tafsiri sahihi na kisha yatolewe katika lugha inayoeleweka kwa urahisi kwa msomaji wa kisasa.""" Lengo la tafsiri yoyote ya wazo kwa wazo ni kuwa ya kuaminika na rahisi kusoma, (ingawa matoleo ya neno kwa neno pia hujitahidi kwa hili inapowezekana). Tafsiri ya "wazo kwa wazo" ni ya lazima zaidi kuelekezwa kutafakari maoni ya tafsiri ya mtafsiri na ushawishi wa utamaduni wa kisasa, ingawa si karibu kama toleo paraphrased. Katika kutayarisha tafsiri ya tafsiri, mwandishi au mtafsiri anajaribu kueleza ujumbe wa awali wa maandishi ya Kiebrania, Kiaramu, au Kigiriki kwa maneno tofauti na yale yaliyotumiwa na mwandishi wa awali. Lakini wakati wowote ambapo maneno halisi ya mwandishi hayatumiwi, kuna uwezekano halisi sana kwamba mtafsiri, hata kama ni mnyoofu, anaweza kumpa msomaji wa Kiingereza wazo ambalo mwandishi wa awali hakutaka kamwe. Hii ni kwa sababu tafsiri haiongozwi tu na ustadi wa mtafsiri katika kurahisisha mawazo, lakini pia na kile anaamini mwandishi wa awali alimaanisha kusema, na kwa theolojia yake mwenyewe ya kibinafsi na mtazamo wa ulimwengu. Kwa sababu hiyo, tafsiri za tafsiri zinapaswa kusomwa tu kando ya tafsiri ya neno kwa neno, lakini hazipaswi kutumiwa peke yake kwa ajili ya funzo la Biblia lenye uzito. Tafsiri zote ni katika sehemu nyingi biashara kati ya usahihi wa neno kwa neno na usomaji, kati ya "usawa wa rasmi" katika usemi na "usawa wa kazi" katika mawasiliano. Hilo ndilo tatizo linalokabili watafsiri wote na wasomi wa Biblia. Tatizo la wasomaji wa kisasa wa Kiingereza ni kuchagua toleo ambalo ni bora kwao na mipango yao ya kusoma au kujifunza. Ni bora kusoma tafsiri nyingi za Biblia, kujua jinsi tafsiri zote zinavyotumiwa, na kutoendelea kusoma tafsiri zote. Tafuta mbili au tatu unazopenda na uanze kusoma. "Kama unajifunza Kigiriki na Kiebrania, tafadhali chagua tafsiri ya neno kwa neno (ESV au NASB) ili kujua nini maandishi ya awali yanazungumzia, na kisha ufanye utafiti wa tafsiri ya neno kwa neno (NIV au NRSV) ili kujua maana halisi ya maandishi.""" Hata hivyo, kumbuka kwamba tafsiri fulani ni ya neno kwa neno, na hilo halimaanishi kwamba maana yake halisi ni wazi. Kwa kweli, mara nyingi kinyume chake ni kweli! Katika kesi kama hizi, badala ya kushauriana na ufafanuzi au mbili, napenda kusoma NLT kwa matumaini ya kupata ufahamu mpya juu ya kile mwandishi wa awali alikuwa akijaribu kuwasiliana na wasikilizaji wake. Ikiwa mambo hayo yote yanakushangaza, si wewe peke yako! Kama wewe ni mmoja wa wale watu ambao wanataka kuweka ni rahisi na kusoma tu Biblia moja, huwezi kwenda vibaya na NIV. Historia na falsafa za tafsiri za tafsiri kadhaa za Biblia zimeorodheshwa hapa chini ili kukusaidia kuchagua tafsiri mpya au ya ziada ya Biblia kwa urahisi na kwa habari zaidi. Kujisikia huru kuchunguza historia toleo na chati hapa chini kwa habari zaidi. Ni tofauti gani kuu kati ya tafsiri nyingi za Biblia za Kiingereza? Kwa kuwa hakuna tafsiri ya Biblia iliyo kamilifu au inayokubaliwa na makundi yote ya wasomaji Wakristo, na kwa sababu ya ugunduzi wa hati za kale na uchunguzi zaidi wa sifa za lugha ya maandishi, tafsiri nyingi za Biblia zimesambaa kwa karne nyingi. Tangu kuchapishwa kwa Revised Standard Version katikati ya karne ya 20, zaidi ya tafsiri 26 za Kiingereza na marekebisho ya Biblia nzima yametolewa. Kwa kuongezea, tafsiri nyingine ishirini na tano au marekebisho ya Agano Jipya, peke yake, yamejaa kwenye rafu za vitabu vya maduka ya vitabu ya Kikristo wakati huohuo. Kuchagua tafsiri mpya kwaweza kuwa jambo gumu kwa Wakristo wengi. Ili kusaidia katika kazi hii, historia na falsafa za tafsiri za matoleo kadhaa yanayojulikana zaidi hutolewa hapa chini pamoja na chati ya marejeo ya haraka. Ingawa nina mapendezi yangu mwenyewe binafsi nimekuwa kupinga kupendekeza toleo lolote maalum (s). Kwa kuwa mimi siuza Biblia, unaweza kuona kwamba "maudhui" yangu hutofautiana kidogo na maoni ya Zondervan na Shirika la Kimataifa la Biblia (IBS). Maelezo mengi yaliyoorodheshwa hapa chini yanatokana moja kwa moja na maelezo ya watafsiri au wachapishaji yaliyo mbele ya kila toleo. King James Version (KJV) ni tafsiri ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya kwanza. Lilipewa jina la Mfalme James wa Kwanza wa Uingereza ambaye alianzisha kazi hiyo. Tafsiri hiyo ilibadilishwa na kutafsiriwa na William Tyndale, ambaye alishuhudia kifo chake mwaka 1536. Tafsiri ya Kiingereza ya Tyndale ilitumiwa katika tafsiri za Biblia za Coverdale (1535), Thomas Matthew (1537), Great Bible (1539), Geneva Bible (1560) na Bishop's Bible (1568). Zaidi ya wasomi 50 walifanya kazi kwenye mradi huo, ambao ulianza mwaka 1607 na kukamilika mwaka 1611. "Kama ilivyoandikwa katika kitabu cha King James, ""Kwa Mfalme wa juu na mwenye nguvu, kwa neema ya Mungu, Mfalme wa Uingereza, Ufaransa na Ireland, Mlinzi wa Imani, na wengineo, watafsiri wa Biblia wanataka neema, rehema na amani, kupitia Kristo Bwana wetu.""" "Toleo la King James Version, linalojulikana huko Uingereza kuwa Authorized Version kwa sababu liliruhusiwa na mfalme, limekuwa ukumbusho wa kudumu wa mashairi ya Kiingereza kwa sababu ya mtindo wake wenye kupendeza, lugha yenye fahari, na mdundo wa mashairi. Hakuna kitabu kingine ambacho kimekuwa na uvutano mkubwa kama huo juu ya fasihi ya Kiingereza". (Comfort, ukurasa wa. "Biblia hii ya Kiprotestanti ya 1611 ilitia ndani vitabu 13 vya Biblia ya Kiebrania, maelezo mengi kutoka kwa watafsiri kwa wasomaji wao, kalenda za sala za kila mwezi, meza na kalenda ya kuonyesha utaratibu wa Zaburi na Masomo ya kusali asubuhi na jioni, na meza ya siku takatifu za pekee za kuadhimishwa mwaka mzima.""" Sehemu nyingi za makala hizo zimetolewa kwa muda mrefu katika matoleo ya kisasa. Sasa inajulikana kwamba watafsiri wa mapema walikuwa na hati chache za kale na hati nyingi za baadaye zenye marekebisho yenye kutiliwa shaka ya waandishi. Kufikia katikati ya karne ya kumi na tisa, maendeleo ya masomo ya Biblia na ugunduzi wa hati nyingi za kale zaidi kuliko KJV ilitegemea ilionyesha wazi kwamba mapungufu mengi makubwa katika toleo hili yalihitaji kurekebishwa. Kwa kuongezea, maneno mengi ya Kiingereza katika KJV yalikuwa yamezorota huku mengine yasiyoweza kufuatiliwa hadi kwenye hati za kale. Kwa hiyo, toleo jipya lilifanywa mwaka wa 1881. Hata hivyo, licha ya uvumbuzi huo na maendeleo katika masomo ya Biblia, KJV imepata mahali pa kudumu katika usomaji na ibada ya makanisa mengi ya "Mfalme James Tu" hata leo. Lugha Inayohusisha Jinsia? Tafsiri ya King James Version ilianza kuchapishwa mwaka 1881 na kukamilika mwaka 1885 na kikundi cha wasomi wa Marekani na Uingereza ambao hawakuweza kukubaliana juu ya "maelezo kadhaa ya tofauti." Tafsiri hiyo ilibadilishwa na kuitwa Revised Version ya 1885. Sehemu kubwa ya tofauti zilihusiana na maneno fulani yaliyochaguliwa ili kusasisha maneno ya kale zaidi. "Mmoja wa mambo mashuhuri zaidi (ambayo hata wasomaji fulani wa Marekani hawakukubaliana kabisa) ilikuwa matumizi ya jina la cheo ""Yehova"" badala ya majina ya cheo ""BWANA"" na ""MUNGU"" yaliyochapishwa kwa herufi ndogo." Ili kuwafurahisha wasomi wa Marekani, ambao walikubali kuwapa wenzao wa Uingereza kura ya kuamua, kwa kuwa walikuwa wamechukua hatua ya kwanza katika kazi hiyo, nyongeza ya mapendekezo ya Marekani iliundwa haraka ili kuingizwa mahali fulani katika marekebisho. Katika mwaka wa 1901 toleo la American Standard Version lilichapishwa na kuingiza matakwa ya Marekani katika maandishi. ASV hivi karibuni ilikuwa na hati miliki ili kuzuia mabadiliko ya upendeleo wa Marekani. Licha ya umri wake, tafsiri ya ASV bado ni tafsiri inayoweza kusomwa vizuri, lakini ya kihalisi, na ina faida ya ukoo mkubwa. Tafsiri hiyo ilitumika sana katika kanisa la Marekani hadi ilipochukuliwa na Revised Standard Version mwaka wa 1952. "Kwa kweli, jina la cheo ""Yehova"" lilitumiwa badala ya majina ya cheo ""BWANA"" na ""MUNGU"" katika tafsiri ya Biblia ya Kikristo." The Revised Standard Version (RSV) ni tafsiri ya Kiingereza ya tafsiri ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza. Baraza hilo liliweka kamati ya wasomi 32 ili ichunguze maandishi ya ASV na kuamua kama marekebisho zaidi ya sheria hayo yangehitajika. Halmashauri hiyo ilijadili kwa zaidi ya miaka miwili kabla ya kuamua kwamba marekebisho kamili yalihitajika. Agano Jipya lilichapishwa mwaka wa 1946 na Biblia nzima pamoja na Agano la Kale mwaka wa 1952. "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika utangulizi wa toleo la Revised Standard Version, ""Toleo la Revised Standard Version si tafsiri mpya katika lugha ya leo.""" Si tafsiri ambayo inakusudia kuvutia usemi. Ni marekebisho ambayo yanatafuta kuhifadhi yote yaliyo bora katika Biblia ya Kiingereza kama ilivyojulikana na kutumiwa kwa miaka mingi. Kitabu hicho kinapaswa kutumiwa katika ibada ya umma na ya faragha, si kwa ajili ya kusoma na kufundisha tu. "Tunafurahi kusema pamoja na watafsiri wa King James: ""Hakika (msomaji mwema Mkristo) hatukuwahi kufikiria tangu mwanzo kwamba tunapaswa kufanya tafsiri mpya, wala kufanya moja mbaya kuwa moja nzuri." . . "Kama vile Biblia ya Biblia ya Kiebrania ilivyosema, ""RJV ilikubaliwa na makanisa mengi ya Kiprotestanti na punde si punde ikawa maandishi ya kawaida ya makanisa na madhehebu mengi.""" "Kwa hiyo, Wakristo wengi wa kiinjilisti na wa msingi hawakupokea vizuri tafsiri ya Revised Standard Version, hasa kwa sababu ya tafsiri ya Baraza ya mstari mmoja, Isaya 7:14, ""Kwa hiyo Bwana mwenyewe atawapa ishara, 'Tazama, mwanamke mchanga atachukua mimba na kuzaa mwana, na ataita jina lake Immanuel.""" "Toleo la Kiingereza la awali lilitafsiri neno la Kiebrania ""almah"" (595) kuwa ""bikira"" kwa kutazamia kuzaliwa kwa Kristo wakati ujao (Mathayo 1:22-23)." "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika tafsiri ya Kigiriki ya Septuagint ya Agano la Kale, ambayo ilitolewa kati ya mwaka wa 285 na 247, neno ""parthenos"" linatumiwa katika tafsiri ya Mathayo na sehemu nyingine za Agano Jipya." "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika tafsiri ya Kiingereza ya New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), ""mwanamke mchanga"" bado ni jina la Mungu." Licha ya suala hilo lenye ubishi, RSV ni tafsiri ya Biblia ya neno kwa neno, lakini inayoweza kusomwa vizuri. Biblia ya Kiingereza Mpya (New English Bible) ni kitabu cha kiingereza kilichoandikwa na wataalamu wa Biblia kutoka makanisa kadhaa ya Ulaya ya Kiprotestanti. Mnamo Mei 1946, Baraza Kuu la Kanisa la Scotland lilipokea pendekezo kutoka kwa Presbytery ya Stirling na Dunblane, likipendekeza kwamba tafsiri mpya ifanywe katika lugha ya leo. Walitamani kutafsiriwa upya kabisa kwa kutumia lugha ya kisasa badala ya Kiingereza cha kawaida cha Biblia. Mkutano Mkuu ulikutana mara mbili zaidi katika mkutano ili kuwasiliana na makanisa mengine na kazi hiyo. Katika mkutano uliofuata wajumbe wa Kanisa la Uingereza, Kanisa la Scotland, na Makanisa ya Methodisti, Wabaptisti, na ya Kutaniko walikutana na [kwa mara nyingine tena] kupendekeza kwamba tafsiri mpya kabisa ifanywe. Katika mkutano wa pili uliofanywa mwaka wa 1947, wawakilishi wa University Presses waliingizwa. Katika mkutano wa tatu uliofanywa mwaka wa 1948, Kanisa la Presbiteri la Uingereza, Shirika la Marafiki, makanisa ya Wales na Ireland, Shirika la Biblia la Uingereza na la Nje, na Shirika la Biblia la Kitaifa la Scotland, zilijiunga katika jitihada hizo. Tangu kuchapishwa kwa NEB, Makanisa ya Katoliki ya Kiroma ya Uingereza, Wales, Ireland, na Scotland yamejiunga katika jitihada hiyo kama wadhamini. NEB ni tafsiri ya usawa wa nguvu. Tafsiri hiyo ilifanywa na vikundi vitatu vilivyochaguliwa kutoka kwa wasomi wa vyuo vikuu vya Uingereza ili kushughulikia, kwa mtiririko huo, Agano la Kale, Apocrypha, na Agano Jipya. Jopo la nne la washauri wa fasihi wa kuaminika lilipaswa kuchunguza tafsiri hiyo kwa ajili ya mtindo wa Kiingereza. Kamati ya Pamoja ilitoa maagizo kwa makundi matatu ya watafsiri (Agano la Kale, Agano la Apokrifa, na Agano Jipya) ili kutimiza malengo ya mradi huo. Watafsiri mmoja-mmoja walialikwa kuwasilisha rasimu za kitabu fulani ambacho kisha kiligawanywa kwa washiriki wengine wa jopo kwa ajili ya ukaguzi wa mstari kwa mstari. Tafsiri hususa zilikubaliwa baada ya "akili ya kawaida" kufikiwa katika kila kisa. Maandishi hayo yaliwasilishwa kwa baraza la washauri wa fasihi, ambao walichunguza kila mstari mstari ili kuupatia sauti na lugha inayofaa kwa sababu ya sehemu fulani ya Maandiko. Fomu ya mwisho ya kila rasimu kisha iliwasilishwa kwa Kamati ya Pamoja kwa uchunguzi wa mwisho kabla ya kuchapishwa. Tafsiri hii ni yenye nguvu, yenye kusisimua, na huonyesha usemi wa kisasa wa Uingereza. Maelezo ya kitabu huonyesha elimu ya kisasa na kuna maelezo ya chini ya chini kwa njia ndogo ili kumwongoza msomaji. Biblia Takatifu (Confraternity Version) Tafsiri hii ya Kikatoliki ilitolewa na washiriki wa Chama cha Biblia cha Kikatoliki cha Amerika chini ya udhamini wa Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Lengo la Ushirika huo lilikuwa kuingiza katika toleo hili [mpya] la Biblia Takatifu tafsiri za karibuni zaidi za Katoliki rasmi kwa ajili ya Marekani. Kitabu cha 1 Wafalme-Esteri na 2 Makabayo kilitokana na tafsiri ya Douay. Agano Jipya lilikuwa marekebisho mapya ya tafsiri ya awali ya Challoner-Rheims. Pia katika tafsiri hiyo kuna vitabu vya Apokrifa, utangulizi wa kila kitabu cha Biblia, na maelezo mengi ya Kikatoliki juu ya sehemu mbalimbali za Biblia. Toleo hilo lilitolewa kwa ajili ya Mtakatifu Yosefu "mlinzi wa Kanisa Ulimwenguni pote" na nyakati nyingine huitwa Toleo la Mtakatifu Yosefu la Biblia Takatifu. "Katika sehemu ya kwanza ya kitabu hicho, Papa Pius XII alitoa kitabu cha Ensaiklika ""On the Most Opportunate Way to Promote Biblical Studies,"" ambacho kina maelezo ya jumla, kitabu cha Ayubu, Zaburi, Mithali, na Wimbo wa Sulemani, na picha za nchi takatifu." Tafsiri hii ni nyingi sana katika maduka ya vitabu vilivyotumiwa na ni chanzo cha kupatikana kwa urahisi kwa kuelewa mafundisho ya Kikatoliki na maandishi ya Biblia yaliyotumiwa kuunga mkono. Ingawa tafsiri yenyewe ni huru kabisa ya upendeleo wa Kikatoliki, maelezo ya utafiti katika sehemu nyingi kwa hakika huhifadhiwa kulingana na mapokeo ya Kikatoliki hata wakati maandishi ya Biblia yanapopinga waziwazi. "Msomaji ataona pia kwamba mafundisho fulani ya Kikatoliki kama vile ""sala kwa ajili ya wafu"" na ""kifuniko"" yanategemezwa tu katika vitabu vya Apokrifa na hakuna mahali popote katika vitabu 66 vya Biblia ya Kiprotestanti vilivyokubaliwa ulimwenguni." Biblia ya Biblia ya Amplified ilitolewa katika lugha ya Kiebrania, Kiaramu na Kigiriki katika kipindi cha miaka 1400, na kwa hivyo ina maana ya lugha ya Kiingereza ya kisasa. Kuanzia na tafsiri ya American Standard Version ya mwaka 1901 kama maandishi ya kumbukumbu, Dakt. Frances E. Sievert na watafsiri wengine 12 walianza zaidi ya saa 20,000 za utafiti ili kuchagua kwa uangalifu maneno ya ziada ambayo yangeweza kueleza mambo yaliyofichwa katika lugha za awali katika Biblia ya kisasa ya Kiingereza. Maneno ya ziada ya "kuongeza" yamepunguzwa kutoka kwa maandishi ya kawaida ya Biblia kwa njia ya [brackets] au (parentheses) ambayo wakati mwingine yanaweza kufanya kwa kusoma kwa ghafula. Toleo la kwanza la Amplified New Testament lilitolewa mwaka wa 1958. Baadaye, Biblia nzima ya Amplified Bible ilichapishwa mwaka wa 1965. Wengi wametumia tafsiri hiyo kama Biblia yao ya pili, wakilinganisha na tafsiri yao ya kawaida ili kupata ufahamu zaidi wa Maandiko. Kwa kusudi hili lachache Biblia Iliyoongezwa ni nzuri. Hata hivyo, hatari halisi ya "kutumia vibaya maana" inatokea wakati msomaji anapokuja kuamini kwamba neno moja la kale la Kiebrania au Kigiriki linaweza kuwa na maana kamili ya maneno ya ziada yaliyo katika orodha ya Biblia ya Amplified. Tafsiri hii haipaswi kamwe kutumiwa kuendeleza au kubishana juu ya mafundisho au theolojia ya mtu. "Hata hivyo, Biblia ya Yerusalemu ilichapishwa nchini Uingereza mwaka wa 1966.""" Watafsiri wa Kikatoliki walikuwa na malengo mawili akilini walipokuwa wakitengeneza kitabu hiki, "...uhitaji wa kufuata nyakati, na uhitaji wa kuimarisha mawazo ya kitheolojia" [kutoka utangulizi]. Maandishi ya Biblia ya Yerusalemu yalitafsiriwa kutoka kwa tafsiri ya zamani ya Kifaransa, La Bible de Jérusalem, wakati maandishi ya toleo la Marekani yalitafsiriwa kutoka kwa lugha za awali za Kiebrania, Kiaramu, na Kigiriki kwa kutegemea kazi ya mapema ya Shule ya Mafunzo ya Biblia huko Yerusalemu, Israeli. Biblia ya Yerusalemu inajumuisha vitabu vya Apokrifa na ina vifaa vingi vya kujifunza kama vile utangulizi wa vitabu, maelezo marefu, meza za vipimo na vipimo, na kurasa nane za ramani. "Toleo la Kiingereza la Biblia ya Kigiriki ya Kale lina ""uhuru zaidi kuliko tafsiri nyingine, kama vile Revised Standard Version, kwa sababu watafsiri walijaribu kuonyesha maana ya maandishi ya awali kwa'mtindo wa kisasa wa fasihi wenye nguvu' [kutoka kwenye utangulizi]" (Comfort, ukurasa wa 16)." 81-82). Muda mfupi baada ya kuchapishwa, "Toleo la Wasomaji" lilianzishwa. Toleo hili lilikuwa na maandishi kamili yaleyale kama yale ya awali ingawa maelezo ya funzo na utangulizi zilikuwa zimefupishwa sana ili "kumkomboa msomaji wa kawaida kutoka kwa maelezo yenye kulemaza huku ukidumisha habari muhimu na yenye kusaidia"... [kutoka utangulizi]. Kama ilivyo na tafsiri ya Confraternity na NAB, tafsiri yenyewe ni huru kabisa ya upendeleo wa Kikatoliki, wakati maelezo ya utafiti katika sehemu nyingi yanawekwa kwa hakika kulingana na utamaduni wa Kikatoliki, hata wakati maandishi ya Biblia yanajadili wazi dhidi yake. "Toleo la Biblia la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza.""" "NAB ilitafsiriwa kutoka kwa lugha za awali kwa kutumia kwa ukali vyanzo vyote vya kale na wanachama wa Chama cha Biblia cha Katoliki cha Amerika, kilichofadhiliwa na Kamati ya Maaskofu ya Ushirika wa Mafundisho ya Kikristo. """ Hii ndiyo Biblia ya kwanza ya Kikatoliki ya Marekani kutafsiriwa kabisa kutoka kwa lugha za awali. Tafsiri hiyo ilitengenezwa kwa ushirikiano wa wasomi wa Biblia wapatao hamsini - si Wakatoliki wote - na ilichukua zaidi ya miaka ishirini na mitano. NAB ina utangulizi mfupi kwa kila kitabu cha Biblia na maelezo mafupi ya pembeni yaliyoangazwa kwa kiasi katikati ya maandishi. Tafsiri hiyo imefafanuliwa kuwa "safi, iliyo wazi, na ya moja kwa moja... Ni Kiingereza kizuri cha Marekani, si cha rangi na chenye kupendeza kama NEB. [Biblia Mpya ya Kiingereza]. Tafsiri zake si zenye kuvutia lakini pia si zisizo na ustadi. Yaonekana ni ya kihafidhina zaidi katika maana ya kwamba huwa hawapungukiwi na maandishi ya awali". [Kubo na Specht]. Leo, Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Katoliki ya Amerika. "Kwanza mwaka wa 1962, Kenneth Taylor alichapisha kitabu cha ""The New Testament Epistles.""" ... Kitabu hicho kilichoitwa Living Bible kilichapishwa mwaka wa 1971. .. Kwa kutumia Toleo la Kiwango cha Marekani kama maandishi yake ya kazi, Taylor alibadilisha ASV kuwa usemi wa kisasa ili mtu yeyote - hata mtoto - aweze kuelewa ujumbe wa waandishi wa awali. "Biblia ya Kuishi, badala ya kuwa tafsiri mpya katika maana halisi, ni mkusanyiko wa tafsiri kadhaa za awali zilizochapishwa na Tyndale House chini ya majina tofauti ya ""Maandishi ya Kuishi,"" 1962; ""Unabii wa Kuishi,"" 1965; ""Evangelio za Kuishi,"" 1966; ""Zaburi na Mithali ya Kuishi,"" 1967; ""Mafundisho ya Kuishi ya Maisha na Upendo,"" 1968; ""Vitabu vya Kuishi vya Musa,"" 1969." "Katika utangulizi wa kitabu The Living Bible, Taylor anaeleza maoni yake kuhusu kutafsiri: ""kusema kwa usahihi iwezekanavyo kile ambacho waandishi wa Maandiko walimaanisha, na kusema kwa ufupi, kupanua mahali ambapo ni lazima kwa ajili ya uelewa ulio wazi wa msomaji wa kisasa.""" Ingawa wasomaji wengi wa kisasa wamethamini sana ukweli kwamba The Living Bible iliwafanya wawe na uelewevu wa Neno la Mungu, tafsiri ya Taylor imekosolewa kwa kuwa ya ufafanuzi sana. Lakini hii ni asili ya paraphrases zote. Kutafsiri ni kurudia jambo fulani kwa maneno tofauti na yale yaliyotumiwa na mwandishi wa awali. Lakini wakati wowote ambapo maneno halisi ya mwandishi hayatumiwi kuna uwezekano halisi sana kwamba mtafsiri, hata kama ni mnyoofu, anaweza kuwa akimpa msomaji wa Kiingereza wazo ambalo mwandishi wa awali hakutaka kamwe. Hii ni kwa sababu tafsiri haiongozwi tu na ustadi wa mtafsiri katika kurahisisha mawazo, lakini pia na uwazi wa kile anaamini mwandishi wa awali alimaanisha kusema, na kwa theolojia yake mwenyewe ya kibinafsi na mtazamo wa ulimwengu. Mahali ambapo lugha ya awali haijulikani, theolojia ya kibinafsi na upendeleo wa mtafsiri huwa mwongozo wake, pamoja na hisia yake ya mantiki na hoja. Ikiwa sivyo, basi maandishi ya awali hubaki bila maana yoyote iliyo wazi. Hata hivyo, hilo ni kweli pia, ingawa kwa kiwango kidogo, kwa mtu yeyote anayetafsiri Maandiko bila kujali mtindo wao wa kutafsiri. Hata hivyo, kwa sababu ya mashtaka hayo, Biblia iliyo hai imekuwa maarufu sana miongoni mwa wasomaji wa Kiingereza ulimwenguni pote, na nakala zaidi ya milioni 40 zimeuzwa. Hata hivyo, kama ilivyo katika Biblia ya Amplified, ni afadhali kuitumia kama Biblia ya pili kusomwa pamoja na tafsiri ya neno kwa neno zaidi (NASB, NKJV, NRSV, au NIV). Usiseme maneno yasiyofaa ili kuendeleza au kubishana juu ya mafundisho au theolojia ya mtu. Biblia ya Living Bible ilibadilishwa na kubadilishwa na The New Living Translation (NLT) mnamo 1996. Tafsiri ya leo ya Kiingereza ni tafsiri mpya ambayo haifuati msamiati wa jadi na mtindo unaopatikana katika tafsiri za kawaida za Biblia za Kiingereza; badala yake, inajaribu kuelezea yaliyomo ya Biblia na ujumbe katika kila siku, aina ya asili ya Kiingereza. Lengo la Biblia hii ni kumpa msomaji wa leo uelewaji mkubwa wa yaliyomo katika maandishi ya awali. Kwa lugha, TEV ni tafsiri iliyoundwa kwa ajili ya wale wasiofahamu lugha ya kidini. Kitabu hicho, ambacho hapo awali kiliitwa Biblia ya Habari Njema, kilikuwa jaribio la mapema la kutafsiri kwa kutumia njia inayofanana na ile ya lugha nyingine. Wahariri wake hawakujaribu kutafsiri yale yaliyoandikwa kihalisi; badala yake walijaribu kutafsiri maana. Katika jitihada hii watafsiri wa TEV walifanikiwa kwa sehemu tu, nyakati nyingine wakikazia maoni. Tafsiri ya Tetragrammaton ya Biblia ya Kiebrania, ingawa inafanya maandishi yawe rahisi kusoma, mara nyingi huongeza au kuingiza makosa katika ujumbe wa awali wa waandishi wa Biblia. Katika marekebisho ya 1992, lugha isiyo na jinsia ilibadilishwa sana, na baadhi ya vifungu vinavyozungumzia hasa wanaume viliondolewa. Tafsiri hiyo ilikuwa na nia nzuri, lakini kwa sababu ya makosa mengi, tafsiri ya Kiebrania ya Kiebrania ni tafsiri duni sana na haipendekezi kama Biblia ya kujifunza hata ikiwa inatumiwa pamoja na tafsiri ya neno kwa neno. Licha ya mapungufu makubwa ya toleo hili bado ni maarufu na ni sana kusambazwa kupitia njia za mauzo kama vile Avon na Wal-Mart. "Kwa kutambua thamani ya toleo la American Standard Version (1901), The Lockman Foundation, shirika la Kikristo lisilo la faida lenye makao yake makuu katika La Habra, California, na lililojitolea kueneza injili, lilihisi uhitaji wa haraka wa kusasisha toleo la ASV kwa kuingiza uvumbuzi wa hivi karibuni wa vyanzo vya maandishi ya Kiebrania na Kigiriki na kwa kuirekebisha kuwa lugha ya Kiingereza ya kisasa zaidi.""" Kuanzia mwaka wa 1959, shirika hilo lilitengeneza kikundi cha wasomi 32 (16 NT na 16 OT) ili kutayarisha tafsiri hiyo mpya. Zaidi ya saa 25,000 za utafiti zilitumiwa katika Agano Jipya pekee. "Wanasayansi hao 32 walianza kutengeneza tafsiri ya neno kwa neno... ""kwa kuamini kwamba tafsiri hiyo humleta msomaji wa kisasa karibu kadiri iwezekanavyo na maneno halisi na muundo wa sarufi wa waandishi wa awali.""" "Wakati ilionekana kwamba tafsiri ya neno kwa neno haikubaliki kwa msomaji wa kisasa, ""badiliko lilifanywa kuelekea lugha ya Kiingereza ya kisasa zaidi"" [NASB: Principles of Translation]." NASB inawakilisha mbinu ya kisasa ya kihafidhina, ya kihalisi ya kutafsiri. Ingawa tafsiri hii ilifuata kanuni zinazotumiwa katika ASV, NASB inapaswa kuonekana kama tafsiri mpya badala ya sasisho la ASV. "Kulingana na ASV, jina la cheo ""Yehova"" liliondolewa kwa majina ya cheo ""BWANA"" na ""MUNGU"" yaliyochapishwa kwa herufi ndogo." "Kulingana na RSV, neno la Kiingereza ""bikira"" lilirudishwa kwa neno la Kiebrania ""almah"" katika Isaya 7:14, na ""bikira"" iliwekwa katika pembe kama tafsiri mbadala." Biblia ya New American Standard ilipata majibu tofauti-tofauti ilipochapishwa. Baadhi ya wachambuzi walisifu usahihi wake wa neno kwa neno, huku wengine wakikosoa vikali lugha yake kwa sababu haikuwa ya kisasa au ya kisasa. Katika sehemu fulani inasomwa kwa uthabiti na muundo wa sentensi ni wa ghafula na wa ghafula ikilinganishwa na ASV au RSV. "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika toleo la 1995 la NASB, ""The"" na ""Thou"" hazitumiki tena kwa kutaja Mungu; maneno yameboreshwa; maneno ambayo yamebadilisha maana yameboreshwa; vitenzi vyenye maana mbalimbali vimeboreshwa ili kuelezea vizuri matumizi yao katika muktadha; alama za alama na vifungu vimeboreshwa ili kufaa viwango vya leo; na maelezo kuhusu hati za kale yamebadilishwa ili kujumuisha ukweli mpya na wa kuvutia zaidi." Leo, Biblia ya New American Standard Bible inaheshimiwa kwa haki kuwa Biblia nzuri ya kujifunza ambayo huonyesha kwa usahihi maneno na muundo wa sentensi za lugha za awali. "Toleo la New International Version ni tafsiri mpya kabisa ya Biblia Takatifu iliyofanywa na wasomi zaidi ya mia moja wakifanya kazi moja kwa moja kutoka kwa maandishi bora ya Kiebrania, Kiaramu, na Kigiriki yanayopatikana. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, baada ya miaka kadhaa ya utafiti wa uchunguzi na kamati kutoka Kanisa la Christian Reformed (CRC) na Chama cha Taifa cha Wainjilisti (NAE), kikundi cha wasomi walikutana huko Palos Heights, Illinois, na kukubaliana juu ya haja ya tafsiri mpya ya Biblia katika Kiingereza cha kisasa. """ Utegemezo wa tafsiri hiyo mpya ulipewa na kikundi cha Palos Heights kwa baraza lenye kujitawala la watu kumi na watano, lililofanyizwa hasa na wasomi wa Biblia kutoka vyuo vikuu, vyuo vikuu, na seminari. Mwaka 1967 shirika la New York Bible Society (sasa linaitwa International Bible Society) lilifanya kazi hiyo kwa ukarimu. Wataalamu hao walifanya kazi kwa miaka mingi na katika halmashauri kadhaa ili kutokeza tafsiri bora ya mawazo katika Kiingereza cha kisasa kwa ajili ya matumizi ya kibinafsi na ya umma. "Katika mwaka wa 1973 Biblia ya New International Version ilitolewa, na mwaka wa 1978 Biblia nzima ilitolewa.""" "Tafsiri ya New International Version ilijaribu kutengeneza tafsiri iliyokuwa katikati kati ya tafsiri ya neno kwa neno (kama ilivyo katika NASB) na tafsiri ya bure (kama ilivyo katika The Living Bible)." Lengo lao lilikuwa kueleza kwa Kiingereza mawazo ya waandikaji wa awali. ... Toleo hili limekuwa na mafanikio makubwa. Mamilioni na mamilioni ya wasomaji wamekubali Tafsiri ya Kimataifa Mpya kuwa 'Biblia' yao. Tangu mwaka wa 1987 imezidi zaidi King James Version, ambayo imekuwa ikinunuliwa sana kwa karne nyingi - ishara ya ajabu ya umaarufu wake na kukubaliwa katika jumuiya ya Kikristo" (Comfort, ukurasa wa 25). 79-81) "Kutoka kwa Biblia ya New King James Version (NKJV) ya mwaka wa 1611 hadi mwaka wa 1619, Biblia ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza.""" "Hata hivyo, kulingana na utangulizi, ""Kwa kupatana na kusudi la wasomi wa King James, watafsiri hawajafuatia lengo la uvumbuzi.""" Toleo la Biblia la Kiingereza la KJV lina mtindo wa kisasa wa fasihi na mtiririko wa mashairi wa KJV, lakini ni rahisi kwa wasomaji wa kisasa kusoma na kuelewa. "Kuna uwezekano mkubwa kwamba tafsiri ya KJV ya awali ni ya ""kijani"" kwa sababu ya kujitolea kwa watafsiri na wahariri kufikia ""kufanana kamili na toleo la awali wakati wa kuzingatia historia ya matumizi na etymolojia ya maneno katika muktadha wao.""" Tafsiri hii ni tafsiri ya kawaida ya Biblia ya Kiingereza, lakini ni rahisi zaidi kusoma ikiwa umezoea tafsiri ya King James Version. Hata hivyo, kwa wasomaji wapya ni kidogo choppy kwa sababu inaendelea karne ya 17 sentensi muundo. Kwa ujumla ni tafsiri nzuri, inafaa kwa ajili ya utafiti na usomaji wa ibada, na imepata margin ya umaarufu kwa ajili ya kusoma kwa umma na nukuu katika duru nyingi za Kikristo. "Toleo la Kiwango cha Mpya la Biblia (NRSV) lilitolewa mwaka wa 1990 na kikundi cha wasomi wa dini mbalimbali kutoka Marekani waliofanya kazi pamoja na wataalamu 32 wa dini mbalimbali, na lilitolewa mwaka wa 1952 na mwaka wa 1990.""" Toleo linalotokezwa ni la kisayansi, la kisasa, na lenye heshima, lenye lugha iliyo rahisi na hangaiko la kutoa majina ya watu kwa ujumla. "Bruce Metzger, mwenyekiti wa kamati ya marekebisho ya Biblia, aliandika hivi: ""Toleo Jipya la Biblia la Kiwango cha Revised Standard Version, lililochapishwa mwaka wa 1952, ni marekebisho ya toleo la awali la Biblia ya King James Version, lililochapishwa mwaka wa 1611." "Toleo hili jipya linajaribu kuhifadhi yote yaliyo bora katika Biblia ya Kiingereza kama ilivyojulikana na kutumiwa kwa miaka mingi.""" "Kama kitabu cha Biblia, kitabu hicho kinapaswa kutumiwa katika usomaji wa umma na ibada ya kutaniko, na pia katika funzo la kibinafsi, mafundisho, na kutafakari.""" Kulingana na International Bible Society, tafsiri hii mpya iko mahali fulani kati ya tafsiri ya neno kwa neno ya NASB na tafsiri ya mstari kwa mstari ya NIV. "Lugha ya tafsiri hii, tafsiri yake ya Isaya 7:14, na ushirika wake na RSV, haitakuruhusu kamwe kuwa maarufu sana na mabawa ya kiinjilisti au ya msingi ya Ukristo.""" Kwa vyovyote vile, tafsiri hii inaonyesha usawaziko mzuri kwa kuwa ni yenye kuburudisha na rahisi kusoma huku isipotoka sana kutoka kwa maana ya neno kwa neno ya maandishi ya awali. The Message, iliyochapishwa mwaka 1993 na NavPress, ni tafsiri ya bure, ya kawaida na ya tafsiri ya Agano Jipya na Eugene H. Peterson. "Kifungu cha kwanza cha kitabu cha Wagalatia kilitolewa mwaka wa 1988 na kichwa cha kitabu hicho kilikuwa ""Nuru ya Kusafiri.""" Zaburi na Mithali zilikamilishwa baadaye na baadaye zikifuatiwa na Vitabu vya Kale vya Musa. Biblia nzima itatolewa mwaka 2002. "Kutoka kwa utangulizi: ""Toleo hili la Agano Jipya katika lugha ya kisasa linaweka lugha ya Ujumbe wa Mungu kuwa ya kisasa na ya kisasa na inayoeleweka katika lugha ile ile ambayo sisi hufanya ununuzi wetu, tunazungumza na marafiki wetu, tuna wasiwasi juu ya mambo ya ulimwengu, na tunawafundisha watoto wetu tabia zao za meza." Lengo ni kugeuza sauti, mdundo, matukio, na mawazo kuwa njia tunayofikiria na kusema. Kwa kuwa hii ni tafsiri, tahadhari na pendekezo lile lile linalokuja na Biblia ya Kuishi linatumika hapa pia. Ni bora kutumia tafsiri hii kama Biblia ya pili, ikilinganishwa na tafsiri ya neno kwa neno (NASB, NKJV, NRSV au NIV) ili kupata ufahamu wa ziada katika Maandiko. Usiseme maneno yasiyofaa ili kuendeleza au kubishana juu ya mafundisho au theolojia ya mtu. Oxford Inclusive Language Version (OILV) ni lugha ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza. The New Testament and Psalms: A New Inclusive Translation (Tafsiri ya Agano Jipya na Zaburi: Tafsiri Mpya ya Kutia ndani) - Oxford University Press "Tafsiri hii mpya ya Biblia haionyeshi tu kazi mpya ya wasomi juu ya hati za mkono za kuaminika zaidi zinazopatikana, lakini pia inaonyesha na inajaribu kutarajia maendeleo katika lugha ya Kiingereza kuhusiana na usahihi juu ya masuala kadhaa kama vile jinsia, jamii, na ulemavu wa kimwili. """ Tafsiri ya ujumuishaji ni juhudi ya kubadilisha au kurekebisha lugha zote za jinsia ambazo hazirejelei watu maalum wa kihistoria, marejeo yote ya kudharau jamii, rangi, au dini, na utambulisho wote wa mtu kwa ulemavu wao wa kimwili tu, kwa njia ya kutafsiri, tafsiri mbadala, na njia nyingine zinazokubaliwa za kurekebisha lugha ya kazi kwa wazo la ujumuishaji. Tafsiri hii mpya, yenye kujumuisha, imetumia Tafsiri ya Kiwango Mpya Iliyorekebishwa kuwa mahali pa kuanzia. NRSV, kulingana na masomo ya hivi karibuni ya Biblia inapatikana, imeenda njia ndefu kuelekea maalum zaidi kuhusiana na jinsia ya binadamu. Tafsiri hii mpya, ya kujumuisha, hata hivyo, inazidi NRSV kujumuisha watu wa kila jamii, watu wa kila darasa, watu wenye ulemavu - ili wote waweze kusikia Agano Jipya na Zaburi zikiwazungumza moja kwa moja nao. Pia, tafsiri hii, kinyume na NRSV, hutumia mifano ya Mungu" (kutoka Utangulizi wa Jumla)." "Kutoka maelezo kwenye ukurasa wa uwasilishaji: ""Lugha inatumika usawa kwa wanadamu wote, hasa wakati akirejelea watu wenye ulemavu wa kimwili, wale uliofanyika katika utumwa au utumwa, marejeleo ya Uyahudi na Wayahudi katika nyakati za Agano Jipya, na lugha akirejelea Uungu.""" "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, tafsiri ya Oxford ilivunja kanuni za msingi za tafsiri katika jaribio lake la kufanya Biblia iwe ""sawa kisiasa.""" Wasomi hao wanasema kwamba kwa kubadilisha maana ya msingi ya maneno na dhana katika lugha za awali, Tafsiri ya Oxford imeharibu usahihi ili kuwa yenye kuvutia zaidi kwa wasomaji wa wakati huo. Huduma za Kueneza Neno zinakubaliana na uchambuzi huu. Kazi ya kuhariri Biblia ya Kiingereza ya Kisasa ilianza mwaka wa 1984 na Shirika la Biblia la Marekani. Agano Jipya lilitolewa mwaka wa 1991 na Biblia nzima mwaka wa 1995. Kwa ujumla, tafsiri hii hutumia Kiingereza cha kawaida na kisicho na matatizo. CEV inakuja na safu ya rasilimali za utafiti wa Biblia ikiwa ni pamoja na utangulizi wa kitabu, muhtasari mfupi, makala maalum, ramani, na zaidi - yote yaliyotengenezwa kuvutia msomaji kwenye maandishi na kuingiza upendo wa kusoma Biblia. Kazi ya timu ya kutafsiri ya ABS ilikuwa kutengeneza tafsiri ambayo ingekuwa sahihi ki-Biblia, yenye urafiki kwa msomaji, na inayoeleweka - hata kwa wasomaji wa Biblia wa kwanza. Miongoni mwa mambo ya pekee yaliyokuwa yakihusu masomo hayo ni urahisi wa kusoma bila kuonekana kuwa wa "watoto", uelewekevu wakati wa kusomwa kwa sauti, muundo wa kisasa, ubora wa mtindo, na thamani ya fasihi. Kikundi cha kimataifa cha zaidi ya watu 100, kutia ndani watafsiri, wataalamu wa lugha ya Kiingereza, na wataalamu wa Biblia [walijumuisha] kikundi cha kutafsiri CEV" [kutoka kwenye broshua ya Thomas Nelson]. Ili kufikia malengo hayo ya uwazi, uzuri, na heshima, watafsiri wa Tafsiri ya Kiingereza ya Kisasa walijifunza kwa uangalifu kila neno, usemi, kifungu, na fungu au maandishi ya awali. Kisha, kwa uangalifu sawa, walijitahidi kugundua njia bora ya kutafsiri maandishi, ili yafaa kwa ajili ya kusoma binafsi na kwa ajili ya umma na kwa ajili ya kukariri" [kutoka utangulizi]. Hadi sasa, matumizi machache ya umma ya toleo hili yamegunduliwa na haiwezekani kujua ni wangapi hutumia toleo hili kwa ajili ya kusoma binafsi. Tafsiri ya New Living ni tafsiri ya kipekee ya tafsiri ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza. Wasomi na wasanii hao walirudi kwenye maandishi ya awali ya Kiebrania, Kiaramu, na Kigiriki wakitafuta kutokeza maandishi yaliyofanana zaidi na maandishi ya asili katika Kiingereza cha kisasa. Wasomi kutoka madarasa mbalimbali ya kidini na madhehebu walishirikiana na lengo la kwamba NLT iwe sahihi kwa tafsiri na yenye nguvu kwa lugha. Matokeo yakawa tafsiri inayoweza kusomwa ambayo hutumia msamiati na miundo ya lugha inayotumiwa kwa kawaida na mtu wa kawaida anayezungumza Kiingereza. "Kwa maana kubwa zaidi, Tafsiri ya New Living si tafsiri bali ni tafsiri. "Kila mstari umepimwa kwa uangalifu na matoleo ya kweli zaidi ya maandishi ya Kiebrania na Kigiriki, kwa jitihada ya kutokeza tafsiri ambayo inatoa maana ya maandishi ya awali kwa usahihi.""" The New International Reader's Version (New International Version) ni tafsiri ya Biblia iliyotengenezwa ili kuwawezesha wasomaji wa mapema kuelewa ujumbe wa Mungu. "Toleo la Biblia la New International Version (NIV), lililochapishwa na Shirika la Biblia la Kimataifa na Zondervan Publishing House, limetolewa mwaka wa 1992 na ni tafsiri ya Biblia ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza.""" (kutoka NIrV "Sample Booklet"). NIV ilitengenezwa ili kufanya Biblia iwe wazi na inayoeleweka kwa wasomaji wa mapema, na inaweza kusomwa na mwanafunzi wa kawaida wa darasa la nne. Kwa sababu hiyo, pia ni yenye thamani kwa mamilioni ya watu ambao Kiingereza ni lugha yao ya pili. Inakusudia kutofautishwa na sifa tano za msingi - usomaji, ueleweke, utangamano na NIV, kuegemea na kuaminika. Inasemekana kwamba kitabu hicho kitakuwa kichocheo cha kuingia katika tafsiri ya Biblia ya Biblia ya Kiebrania wakati utakapofika. "Toleo la Kiingereza la Kiingereza la Kiingereza (English Standard Version) linapatikana katika mtiririko wa tafsiri za Biblia za kale ambazo zilianza karibu miaka 500 iliyopita na Agano Jipya la William Tyndale, ziliendelea na tafsiri ya King James Version, na baadaye ziliendelezwa na tafsiri ya American Standard Version na Revised Standard Version.""" "<unk> kutoka jalada la Biblia. Tafsiri ya Kiingereza ya Standard Version inategemea imani ya kwamba maneno ya Biblia ni maneno ya Mungu. Halmashauri ya tafsiri iliongozwa na J.I. "Packard na wengine wengi walijifunza kutoka kwa ""Mashirika ya Biblia"" na ""Mashirika ya Biblia"" na ""Mashirika ya Biblia"" na ""Mashirika ya Biblia"" na ""Mashirika ya Biblia"" na ""Mashirika ya Biblia"" na ""Mashirika ya Biblia"" na ""Mashirika ya Biblia.""" Tafsiri ya Biblia ya Kiingereza ya Kiingereza (ESV) ni tafsiri ya "kihalisi ya neno kwa neno" ambayo inatafuta (kwa kadiri iwezekanavyo) kuwakilisha maneno sahihi ya maandishi ya awali na mtindo wa kibinafsi wa kila mwandishi wa Biblia. Kwa hiyo, inakazia mawasiliano ya "neno kwa neno", huku ikizingatia tofauti za sarufi, syntax, na usemi kati ya Kiingereza cha kisasa cha fasihi na lugha za awali. Kwa hiyo, inatafuta kuwa wazi kwa maandishi ya awali, ikimruhusu msomaji aone moja kwa moja iwezekanavyo muundo na maana ya maandishi ya awali. "<unk>Imetengenezwa kutoka tovuti ya wachapishaji. ESV pia huendeleza kanuni za tafsiri za kale katika mtindo wake wa fasihi. Kwa hiyo, inahifadhi maneno ya kitheolojia kama vile neema, imani, haki, utakaso, ukombozi, kuzaliwa upya, upatanisho, upatanisho, kwa sababu ya umuhimu wao wa msingi kwa mafundisho ya Kikristo na pia kwa sababu maneno ya Kigiriki ya msingi yalikuwa tayari kuwa maneno muhimu na maneno ya kiufundi katika nyakati za Agano Jipya. "Toleo hili la Biblia linatokana na tafsiri ya Kiingereza ya Standard Version, lakini tofauti na tafsiri ya RSV na NRSV, neno la Kiingereza ""bikira"" linatumiwa kwa neno la Kiebrania ""almah"" katika Isaya 7:14 bila tafsiri nyingine iliyotajwa." Katika lugha ya jinsia, lengo la ESV ni kutoa kihalisi kile kilicho katika asili. "Kwa mfano, neno ""mtu yeyote"" linatumiwa badala ya neno ""mtu yeyote"" wakati hakuna neno linalofanana na neno ""mtu"" katika lugha za awali, na neno ""watu"" badala ya ""wanaume"" hutumiwa mara nyingi wakati lugha za awali zinarejelea wanaume na wanawake." "Kwa mfano, maneno ""mwanamume"" na ""wanaume"" yanatumiwa katika Maandiko ya Kigiriki au Kiebrania." "Kwa mfano, neno la Kigiriki ""ndugu"" (litakalotumiwa katika Biblia) linatumiwa katika Biblia kama njia ya kuwasiliana na Wayahudi na Wakristo wenzetu." Kulingana na mchapishaji, kitabu hicho kinafaa sana kwa ajili ya kujifunza Biblia kwa undani. Kwa kweli, kwa sababu ya kukazia ubora wa fasihi, ESV inafaa kwa usomaji wa umma na kuhubiri, kwa kusoma na kutafakari faragha, kwa masomo ya kitaaluma na ya kidini, na kwa kukariri Maandiko. Tayari wengine wanadai toleo hili liingie mahali pa NIV kwa ajili ya usomaji wa umma, wakati wengine wanalifanya liwe chaguo lao la kwanza juu ya NASB kama Biblia ya kusoma kwa undani na kwa kina. Kwa sasa ni mapema sana kusema ni athari gani ambayo toleo hili laweza kuwa nayo hatimaye katika jumuiya ya Kikristo. Tafsiri zote za Biblia za Kiprotestanti na Katoliki zinatia ndani vitabu vilevile 27 vya Agano Jipya. "Katika Biblia ya Kikatoliki, kuna vitabu saba vya Biblia vinavyoweza kuongezwa kwenye vitabu 39 ambavyo Waprotestanti wanaona kuwa ""Agano la Kale.""" Hilo lafanya Biblia ya Kiprotestanti iwe na jumla ya vitabu sitini na sita, ilhali Biblia ya Kikatoliki ina vitabu sabini na vitatu. "Wanafunzi wa Kiprotestanti wana tofauti katika namna wanavyopima vitabu hivi (7-14) hasa kwa sababu ya maoni yao kuhusu mgawanyiko na majina yao.""" "Wanasayansi wa Kiprotestanti wanaona vitabu hivi kuwa ""maandishi ya kati ya Agano la Kale"" kwa sababu ya miaka 400 ya ukimya kati ya kitabu cha Malaki na kuja kwa Yohana Mbatizaji." Kama fasihi ya kati ya Agano la Kale, vitabu hivi vilivyopingwa vimejumuishwa katika Biblia fulani za Kiprotestanti kwa kumbukumbu ya kihistoria, lakini havionwi kuwa vya kawaida (yaani, havionwi kuwa vya ubora sawa na vitabu vingine sitini na sita vya Biblia). Kwa sababu hiyo vitabu hivyo saba vimeondolewa katika Biblia nyingi za Kiprotestanti. Vitabu vilivyohusishwa ni vya Kiyahudi. Biblia za Kikatoliki pia hutofautiana kwa urefu kwa sababu ya hadithi kadhaa za ziada zilizoongezwa kwenye kitabu cha Danieli na sura sita za ziada zilizoongezwa kwenye kitabu cha Esta. Wakristo Waprotestanti huita vitabu vya ziada na marekebisho hayo "Apocrypha" (Neno la Kigiriki linalomaanisha "iliyofichwa"). Kwa kweli, ni hadithi ya jinsi tofauti hii ya maoni ilivyotokea ambayo inachukua zaidi ya karne 16 kufunuliwa. Wakati lugha ya Kiaramu ilipochukua mahali pa Kiebrania kama lugha ya watu wa kawaida, Wayahudi wengi hawangeweza tena kusoma Maandiko katika Kiebrania. Maendeleo hayo yalichochea kutokezwa kwa tafsiri za Kiaramu kwa ajili ya kutumiwa katika masinagogi. Kwa kuongezea, Wayahudi wengi walioishi nje ya Palestina walianza kuzungumza Kigiriki badala ya Kiebrania. Katika siku za mwanzo za Kanisa, kulikuwa na matoleo mawili ya Agano la Kale yaliyokuwa yakitumiwa na Wayahudi. Agano la Kale katika Kiebrania/Aramu lilitumiwa katika Palestina. Toleo hilo halikuwa na vitabu saba vilivyobishaniwa. Agano la Kale lililotafsiriwa katika Kigiriki lilisomwa na Wayahudi wanaozungumza Kigiriki walioishi nje ya Palestina. Tafsiri hiyo ya Kigiriki (iliyoitwa Septuagint au LXX) ilikuwa na vitabu saba vilivyotabutwa. Kitabu hiki cha kwanza kilikataliwa katika Agano la Kale la Kiyahudi wakati wa Sinodi ya Jamnia mwaka wa 90 KK, na kwa hivyo kitabu hicho kiliondolewa katika Agano la Kale. Katika karne ya nne baada ya Kristo, Mtakatifu Jerome alitafsiri Biblia nzima katika Kilatini. Tafsiri yake ya Agano la Kale ilitokana na tafsiri ya Kigiriki ya Septuagint ambayo ilikuwa na vitabu saba vya ziada. Tafsiri ya Mtakatifu Jerome, inayojulikana kama Vulgate, ilikubaliwa na Kanisa [Katoliki] na ikawa tafsiri rasmi ya Kilatini ya Biblia. Katika karne ya 16, waongofu wa dini ya Kiprotestanti walifanya tafsiri yao ya Biblia katika Kijerumani. Tafsiri yao ya Agano la Kale ilitokana na tafsiri ya Kiebrania, wala si ya Kigiriki. Kwa kuongezea, waleta-marekebisho hawakuona vitabu hivyo saba kuwa vya asili na mamlaka ileile iliyoongozwa na Mungu kama vitabu vingine 39 vya Agano la Kale. "Kwa hiyo, Agano la Kale la Kiprotestanti, kama vile toleo la Kiebrania na Kiaramu, halina vitabu saba vilivyo katika Agano la Kale la Kigiriki na Katoliki.""" Vitabu hivyo vilivyochanganyikiwa vilitiwa ndani ya Agano la Kale la Katoliki na Baraza la Trent (1546), lakini waleta-marekebisho walivikubali kwa sababu tu ya thamani ya kihistoria au ya kujengea mtu. "Kutoka kwa Westminster Confession (1647) na ""The New Testament of the Church,"" kanisa la Protestant linasema kwamba vitabu vya Apocrypha havina mamlaka yoyote katika Kanisa la Mungu, na hivyo havina mamlaka yoyote katika Kanisa la Mungu, na hazikubaliwi au kutumiwa kwa njia nyingine isipokuwa kwa maandishi ya wanadamu." Sura ya Kwanza, Kifungu cha Tatu. Kwa ajili ya utafiti wa kina wa malezi ya Agano la Kale, mimi sana kupendekeza kitabu Agano la Kale Canon ya Kanisa Agano Jipya, Roger Beckwith, Eardman Publishing Company, 1985. The Complete Guide to Bible Versions, Philip W. Comfort, Tyndale, 1991 (Kifungu cha kwanza cha kitabu cha The Complete Guide to Bible Versions)