Bible Reading Comprehension Tests

[Just_Ahead]

The Christian Standard Bible is a very read-out-loud-friendly text... in my opinion, one of the best!

Another is the Common English Bible, although I don’t like some of the textual choices they’ve made.

Rob

I think the CSB and CEB have similar "dynamic" followings, but with different theological environments. The more conservative prefer the CSB, the less conservative prefer the CEB. However, the leading dynamic continues to be NIV.

 

[37818]

An online Christian book seller has the following grade level ratings:

Translation — Grade Level

• KJV — 12
  
  
• RSV — 12
  
  
• NRSV — 11
  
  
• NASB — 11
  
  
• ESV — 10
  
  
• HCSB — 7-8
  
  
• NIV — 7-8
  
  
• CEB — 7
  
  
• CSB — 7
  
  
• NKJV — 7
  
  
• NLT — 6
  
  
• GW — 5
  
  
• Message — 4-5
  
  
• NCV — 3
  
  
• NIrV — 3
  

Keep in mind that not everyone agrees about the grade level of every translation or the formulas used to calculate them. These grade levels above are offered as general guidelines, and wherever possible, are taken from information provided by the publishers of the various translations, or the generally accepted grade level or range of grade levels.

<snip>

Bible Translation Reading Levels - Christianbook.com

 

[church mouse guy]

An online Christian book seller has the following grade level ratings:

Translation — Grade Level

• KJV — 12
  
  
• RSV — 12
  
  
• NRSV — 11
  
  
• NASB — 11
  
  
• ESV — 10
  
  
• HCSB — 7-8
  
  
• NIV — 7-8
  
  
• CEB — 7
  
  
• CSB — 7
  
  
• NKJV — 7
  
  
• NLT — 6
  
  
• GW — 5
  
  
• Message — 4-5
  
  
• NCV — 3
  
  
• NIrV — 3

Keep in mind that not everyone agrees about the grade level of every translation or the formulas used to calculate them. These grade levels above are offered as general guidelines, and wherever possible, are taken from information provided by the publishers of the various translations, or the generally accepted grade level or range of grade levels.

<snip>

Bible Translation Reading Levels - Christianbook.com

There could be financial interests or political interests in all of these rankings. Calvinists are the unhappy ones it seems.

 

[alexander284]

Overall yes, but we have many adults who are very poor readers in this country.



Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Actually, I would argue that we are (generally speaking) "less smart" than previous generations!

Just as an example ("off the top of my head," so to speak): do you recall the time when obtaining a high school diploma actually required diligence, hard work, quite a bit of effort, and actually was considered an achievement, of sorts?

Now, it's primarily a matter of just showing up for class on a (somewhat) regular basis, and merely having the patience or endurance to finish what you started!

 

[Rob_BW]

There could be financial interests or political interests in all of these rankings. Calvinists are the unhappy ones it seems.

Bible versions in the Cal v Arm debate.

 

[Logos1560]

There could be financial interests or political interests in all of these rankings. Calvinists are the unhappy ones it seems.

The great majority of the Church of England makers of the KJV were Calvinists, and its chief underlying NT text was edited by a Calvinist Theodore Beza.

There are Calvinists who are KJV-only.
Some non-Calvinists or anti-Calvinists have claimed that there is pro-Calvinist bias in the KJV.

There may be bias or KJV-only interests in which reading level tests that KJV-only advocates choose to cite as they try to discount or minimize the possible effects of the archaic language in the KJV on the understanding of its present-day readers.

 

[Logos1560]

.

Flesch-Kincaid can read the Svenska Folkbibeln Swedish Bible at a U.S. 8th grade level. Most Americans probably can't read it at any level.

The fact that the computer reading-level tests could rate a foreign language Bible translation at a certain grade level would demonstrate the point that they are not reliable or useful in determining whether an English Bible translation is understandable to present-day readers.

Mark Ward observed that reading-level “tools measure a word’s complexity by syllable count, but that’s not a reliable way of judging whether a word can be understood” (Authorized, p. 54).

Mark Ward also asserted: “Reading-level analyses run by computers do not yield reliable or useful results when applied to archaic English” (p. 59).

 

[church mouse guy]

The decline in public education makes Elizabethan English seem more difficult than it is. Nevertheless, I myself think that the KVJ is doomed in the USA for several reasons, most of these reasons are what we used to call vested interests.

 

[rlvaughn]

There could be financial interests or political interests in all of these rankings.

Yes, when the companies trying to sell their Bibles rank them to target their market, there is some reason to suspect the rankings. Would be nice to have them ranked by someone who doesn't have a horse is the race, but I'm not sure who that would be.

 

[church mouse guy]

The fact that the computer reading-level tests could rate a foreign language Bible translation at a certain grade level would demonstrate the point that they are not reliable or useful in determining whether an English Bible translation is understandable to present-day readers.

Mark Ward observed that reading-level “tools measure a word’s complexity by syllable count, but that’s not a reliable way of judging whether a word can be understood” (Authorized, p. 54).

Mark Ward also asserted: “Reading-level analyses run by computers do not yield reliable or useful results when applied to archaic English” (p. 59).

I am not sure what is meant by archaic but I infer that it means mostly verb endings.

 

[alexander284]

Yes, when the companies trying to sell their Bibles rank them to target their market, there is some reason to suspect the rankings. Would be nice to have them ranked by someone who doesn't have a horse is the race, but I'm not sure who that would be.

Yes, it would be nice if we had a "Consumer Reports" for this purpose!

 

[Logos1560]

I am not sure what is meant by archaic but I infer that it means mostly verb endings.

The authors and books that discuss archaic words or archaic language in the KJV are not typically referring mostly to verb endings.

Whole words that are no longer commonly used in present-day standard English and that may have no definition listed in a typical present-day one-volume English dictionary or whole words which are used with a very different meaning than they have in present-day English or for which a typical one-volume English dictionary does not list the meaning for how it was used in the KJV or lists that meaning as archaic would be what is referred to as archaic English.

 

[Logos1560]

KJV-only author David Cloud wrote: “Admittedly, the antiquated language in the KJV is difficult for new readers and especially for those who read English as a second or third language” (Glorious History of the KJB, p. 215).

 

[Rob_BW]

Yes, when the companies trying to sell their Bibles rank them to target their market, there is some reason to suspect the rankings. Would be nice to have them ranked by someone who doesn't have a horse is the race, but I'm not sure who that would be.

But christianbook.com sells all versions. They have an interest in selling Bibles, no matter the version.

 

[37818]

With the various issues with Bible versions. Reading level is a minor one. The choice of underling text. Theological biases. How texts are translation. The translators understandings and interprations. It is not simple.

 

[rlvaughn]

But christianbook.com sells all versions. They have an interest in selling Bibles, no matter the version.

My point includes the fact that Christianbook probably doesn't come up with their own ratings. I don't think they make that clear on their web site, but their ratings are the same as the ones on Bible Gateway, and Bible Gateway says the information came from the publishers. In other words, The Lockman Foundation supplied the reading levels for the NASB, Thomas Nelson for the NKJV, Biblica for the NIV and NIrV, and so on.

 

[MartyF]

Someone has said that the best way to determine Bible reading comprehension is by observing whether what is being read is also being lived. Perhaps that person nailed it best.

Does Satan have no reading comprehension? -joking

So, I’ll talk about what reading comprehension is and isn’t.

Reading comprehension is not

1. Being able to sound out words..
2. Knowing what the words mean.
3. Being able to describe what a sentence says.
4. Identify grammar, parts of speech, verb tense, etc.
5. Argue about what a single sentence says.
6. Etc.

Reading comprehension is

1. Identifying the reason something was written.
2. Identifying a motif.
3. Identify the style of writing and how the style changes meaning
4. Identify the feelings that the writing is suppose to convey.
5. Etc.

A great example is when I replied to your message on a previous thread. I read the sentences and understood sentences one by one. But I miscomprehended your entire post.

If one was honestly going to put a “grade level” to the NLT or Message, it would be 16.

Think about it. Can the average sixth-grader who never heard of the Bible, hasn’t been told any of the stories, etc. read and fully understand the entire Bible?

Of course not.

 

[Van]

I think pretty much everybody would like to present the inspired text such that an average reader of today could find it easy to read. But we part company when to improve readability we remove words and phrases and just present what we think the original meant.

Removing the conjunctions and replacing them with periods such that long sentences in Greek are rendered as ordinary sentences in English greatly lowers the "reading level" score. And while I have not studied the process, my cursory reaction is it does not alter the message and is therefore a good thing.

OTOH, removing words and phrases is a bad practice, and changing the grammar gets no prize either.

 

[rlvaughn]

...their ratings are the same as the ones on Bible Gateway, and Bible Gateway says the information came from the publishers.

Found a link (no longer available) which indicates Crossway used the Flesch-Kincaid test for the text of the ESV and found it to about 8th grade (7.4 on the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level test). This is interesting since it differs from the ESV rating on Bible Gateway and Christianbook (10+). Perhaps the 2007, 2011, and 2016 revisions bumped it up a couple of grades, or maybe they just got it wrong to start with?

 

[Just_Ahead]

... But we part company when to improve readability we remove words and phrases and just present what we think the original meant.

Well, we certainly have been warned--

Revelation 22:18-19 King James Version (KJV)
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.