ESV and NRSV politically motivated?

is ANY version NOT politically motivated in any way?

i know that the KJB was politically motivated. on a scale of 1 to 10, it probably scores the highest of any among English versions, no thanks to its "Defender of the Faith" sponsor.

 

I don't believe it's politics. It's a matter of the theology of the translators. That's why the ESV is far superior to the NRSV.

 

The NRSV? Yes. Its intructions in translating was to eliminate the male gender as much as possible.

The ESV? No. Its translation philosophy is to translate as accurately as possible. This makes it gender accurate, but not gender-neutral.

 

I would say that it is something of a mix.
What we often are talking about are choices
in translation. A translator has to make
choices and the translator comes to the
original with certain ideas about how a
passage must be translated. It is a very
difficult job.

That is why I prefer standard, committee
translations. That does not mean I do not
use other translations or those by individuals,
but that I believe there is great strength
in using the classic, "standard" translations
like the RSV, KJV, ASV, NKJV, NASB, and
now the ESV. I have found it is best to start
with one of these and then move on to other
translations.

Clay