Are the NRSV and the ESV Both Revisions Of Old RSV?

[JesusFan]

Do they use same texts, are both considered good study translations?

 

[TCassidy]

Yes, yes, and not in my opinion.

 

[Jerome]

From ESV publisher Crossway:

the 1971 RSV text providing the starting point for our work

 

[TomVols]

I say yes, and a qualified yes to good study translations. The ESV and NRSV would be slightly superior to the RSV for the most part. Depends on the text as to which one wins between the ESV and NRSV. The best study text is usually one that's most literal, so I'd go with the NASB and NET for a study text, with supplementation from the ESV/NRSV.

 

[Deacon]

TO THE READER
This preface is addressed to you by the Committee of translators, who wish to explain, as briefly as possible, the origin and character of our work. The publication of our revision is yet another step in the long, continual process of making the Bible available in the form of the English language that is most widely current in our day. To summarize in a single sentence: the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible is an authorized revision of the Revised Standard Version, published in 1952, which was a revision of the American Standard Version, published in 1901, which, in turn, embodied earlier revisions of the King James Version, published in 1611.
Preface to the New Revised Standard Version


The English Standard Version (ESV) stands in the classic mainstream of English Bible translations over the past half-millennium. The fountainhead of that stream was William Tyndale’s New Testament of 1526; marking its course were the King James Version of 1611 (KJV), the English Revised Version of 1885 (RV), the American Standard Version of 1901 (ASV), and the Revised Standard Version of 1952 and 1971 (RSV). In that stream, faithfulness to the text and vigorous pursuit of accuracy were combined with simplicity, beauty, and dignity of expression. Our goal has been to carry forward this legacy for a new century.
From the Preface of the English Standard Version


The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, …
From the title page of the English Standard Version

 

[Jerome]

In lieu of royalties, ESV publisher Crossway paid the National Council of Churches (owner of the RSV) a hefty lump sum for ten years' rights to publish a derivative work:

The Christian Century (14 Aug. 2002) "New Funds Boost NCC":

But through cost-cutting measures and, most recently, a $500,000 grant from the Lilly Endowment and a $625,000 advance royalty check from a conservative Bible publisher, the National Council of Churches has balanced its books

The $625,000 check from Crossway Books received this summer carried with it a bit of irony. Well before Edgar was elected to the NCC's chief executive post in late 1999, the council had sold special rights to its Revised Standard Version Bible to Crossway. That publisher edited "a derivative" version for a theologically conservative market—the English Standard Version. Other publishers with rights from the NCC use the updated NRSV translation. Rather than stringing out royalty checks over the term of the ten-year contract, Crossway negotiated a large advance payment. "It's a win-win situation for us both," said John Briscoe, NCC director of development. The sum in turn enabled the NCC to erase a debt...

The irony is that the ESV kept the liberal National Council of Churches financially solvent.

One wonders if Crossway has recouped it all yet from all the theologically conservative ESV buyers.

Talk about gullible. Follow the money.

 

[TomVols]

The irony is that the ESV kept the liberal National Council of Churches financially solvent.

I doubt the miniscule royalties from the ESV's permission to use the RSV as a parent-text is doing a fraction of what denominations and other groups are doing.

One can extrapolate this to anyone who buys from Thomas Nelson, buys a NKJV, Zondervan, etc., or uses material from Radio Bible Class, etc. All financially support the NCC in some way, shape or form eventually.

 

[Jerome]

No, even the United Methodist Church had suspended contributions to the NCC at that time. The influx of ESV money came at just the right time and prevented the liberal church group from having to disband.

(AP) "Troubles Bedevil 50-Year-Old National Council of Churches"

the National Council of Churches has reached a historical low point as it celebrates its 50th anniversary at a meeting starting Tuesday in Cleveland.

A cover cartoon for this week's Christian Century, a liberal Protestant magazine friendly to ecumenism, shows the council's New York headquarters building all but toppling into the Hudson River. Analyst Jean Caffey Lyles writes that insiders wonder whether the council "is likely to survive for very long after the ambitious celebration and, if so, in what form."

the council last year hired the Pappas Consulting Group of Greenwich, Conn., to overcome what Pappas depicts as years of financial and administrative chaos.

last month when the Methodist church, the biggest council member, suspended further contributions to the central operating fund.