convicted1
Guest
I just bought an NIV the day after CHRISTmas, and I have to admit, I really love it. Now, what are the good and bad in regards to this translation? What makes it really good, and what makes it really bad? Any info would help.
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NIV strong points and weaknesses?
- Thread starter convicted1
- Start date
franklinmonroe
Active Member
Why not just decide for yourself?
convicted1
Guest
I agree with you. I just wanted to see other people's opinion, too.
plain_n_simple
Active Member
NIV
Acts 8
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”
38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
KJV
Acts 8
36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
In the NIV, the most important verse in this teaching is reduced to a footnote.
Here are a few I've noticed as I work though 1 Corinthians in a multi-translation morning class.
The NIV's :
STRENGTHS: 1) Reads smoothly and easily; particularly good for reading out loud.
2) Updated scholarship – they have added quotation marks where it is thought that the author quoted another source (e.g. 1 Corinthians 7:1; 8:1).
3) They have corrected some mistaken translations from the earlier NIV (e.g. 1 Cor. 7:1).
WEAKNESSES: As with any translation, when moving smoothly from one language to another some loss of structure of the original text occurs. Structure was not a high priority in the NIV.
Personally I like to see some of the original structure and am willing to sacrifice smooth reading.
I'm not a regular user of the NIV however that's begining to change a bit as I use it in class.
I recently purchased an NIV Study Bible for a friend for Christmas because I thought it suited his needs best.
Al-in-all I feel it's a very worthy translation.
Rob
The NIV's :
STRENGTHS: 1) Reads smoothly and easily; particularly good for reading out loud.
2) Updated scholarship – they have added quotation marks where it is thought that the author quoted another source (e.g. 1 Corinthians 7:1; 8:1).
3) They have corrected some mistaken translations from the earlier NIV (e.g. 1 Cor. 7:1).
WEAKNESSES: As with any translation, when moving smoothly from one language to another some loss of structure of the original text occurs. Structure was not a high priority in the NIV.
Personally I like to see some of the original structure and am willing to sacrifice smooth reading.
I'm not a regular user of the NIV however that's begining to change a bit as I use it in class.
I recently purchased an NIV Study Bible for a friend for Christmas because I thought it suited his needs best.
Al-in-all I feel it's a very worthy translation.
Rob
seekingthetruth
New Member
Good point
In many instances, the NIV denies or leaves out scripture that supports the diety of Jesus. Compare the uses of the words "God" and "Jesus" between the NIV and the KJV. Yes, Jesus is God, but for proper understanding sometimes we need to know whether it is referencing God the Father, or God the Son, as the entire meaning of the scripture can change if the distinction is not made.
To me, this blurs the message and causes confusion. If the two translations have two different interpretations of a particular scripture, then only one can be right.
After all, there can be only one truth.
John
Good idea.
Jude 25
25to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. [NIV]
25To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. [KJV]
KJV OMITS Jesus Christ our Lord
Romans 1:4
4and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. [NIV]
4And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead [KJV]
KJV OMITS Jesus Christ our Lord
Acts 4:25
25You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
" 'Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain? [NIV]
25Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? [KJV]
KJV OMITS Holy Spirit, denying inspiration
Colossians 2:9
9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, [NIV]
9For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. [KJV]
KJV changes "Christ" to "him", uses archaic "Godhead" instead of "Deity"
See also:
Acts 13:38, Heb. 3:3; KJV : this man NIV : Jesus
Mark 3:20, Mark 7:19, John 10:40; KJV [nothing] NIV : Jesus
Rom 9:5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. [NIV]
Rom. 9:5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. [KJV]
AND
Phillipians 2:6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, [NIV]
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: [KJV]
KJV softens the Diety of Christ
John, I have several different versions of the bible. And this is what bothers me the most when working between them. Which one is right? And in the case of the NIV, it can't agree with itself. Which one is right? Will there be another NIV in 5 years, or so that disagrees with the previous ones?
Here's a King James site with indepth comparisons of the NIV versions and comparisons to the KJV. This isn't an endorsement of KJVO, as I'm not, at this point in time. That said, there's much leg-work here to consider when doing an evaluation of the NIV. And several other versions, as well. http://brandplucked.webs.com/whatabouttheniv2011.htm
Read and evaluate as the Holy Spirit leads.
Which edition of the NIV did you get? The 2011? Or?
Easy readability because it uses modern English. Easier to comprehend. Great for new converts to understand. Great for established Christians to read to get more insight into the scriptures.
I have the 1984 NIV and can't think of anything 'really' bad.
This in a nutshell would be my conclusions also, after reading through it.
To be fair the NIV is NOT the only translation that does this. These verses (and others) were in dispute before the NIV came into existence.
...leaving verses out, hummmmm.....
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.
Psalm 145:13 NIV
Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
Psalm 145:13 KJV
Don’t these verses like these make you want to know why there are differences?
Doesn’t this make you curious as to why these versions differ?
Wouldn’t a student of scripture want to know why?
To be truthful, the NIV doesn’t leave these verses out – to say so is disingenuous!
The NIV puts questionable verses in a footnote and lets you know the reason… they are not in the older manuscripts of scripture … a point even the footnotes of the NKJV sometimes makes.
The conclusion the NIV translators make is that some of these verses were probably not in the original writings.
A simpleton might infer the difference makes one version dumb and leave it at that.
An old-timer should want to find out why there are differences.
Rob
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.
Psalm 145:13 NIV
Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
Psalm 145:13 KJV
Don’t these verses like these make you want to know why there are differences?
Doesn’t this make you curious as to why these versions differ?
Wouldn’t a student of scripture want to know why?
To be truthful, the NIV doesn’t leave these verses out – to say so is disingenuous!
The NIV puts questionable verses in a footnote and lets you know the reason… they are not in the older manuscripts of scripture … a point even the footnotes of the NKJV sometimes makes.
The conclusion the NIV translators make is that some of these verses were probably not in the original writings.
A simpleton might infer the difference makes one version dumb and leave it at that.
An old-timer should want to find out why there are differences.
Rob
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OldRegular
Well-Known Member
The NIV is simply a very brief commentary by a group rather than an individual!
OldRegular
Well-Known Member
Is determining the age of a manuscript equivalent to determining the age of the universe? It is not the age that is important, it is the reliability of the copy!
I really like the NIV's ease of reading and smooth flow of English. I have used the NIV since it first came out and reading it is like talking to an old friend. I know some people that see the NIV's conversational style as a weakness because they say it is not as memorable as the KJV is. The main weakness I see is that the NIV is too interpretative in spots. IMO, the positives of the NIV far outweigh the negatives.
convicted1
Guest
I would probably be in the same camp with you in regards to what you wrote in your last sentence. I bought the $4.97 NIV @ Wally-World, because I didn't want to pay for a high dollar one and not like it. Well, I can honestly say I love it! I am hoping to buy the giant print NIV(14 pt size). Not that I am blind, but I like to read a bigger size. Just imagine, a few years ago I was KJVO, and now I have the Hebrew-Greek 4 volume set by Jay Green(an awesome read), an ESV study bible(what little I have read of it, it seems good), and now an NIV. Is the NIV2011 better, or should I get an older edition?
Thanks to all who have responded to my thread!! :thumbs::thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:
You're right about that.
It's been an interesting study over the last year or so on which bibles agree and disagree with each other. Which ones follow the majority text and the ones based on the minority text considering all the differences between the two. And considering the impact that Hort and Westcott have had on bible versions since 1881.
You mean what translations are similar.
The Majority Text is not the same as the TR. There few translations based on the Majority Text.
Indeed.
Would say that the Niv 2011 would be one of the better english translations ....
Would say that it does use modern scholarship, and that the Commitee did NOT have an agenda to water down the Bible, denying Christ etc!
Would say that it, along with the HCSB, best "mediating" compromise version
would also say though that for serious study, that the Niv 2011 is good, but the NASB and NKJV would be even better!
Also, NOT a fan of going so much inclusive language renderings for now, some OK, not the amount getting done in current versions though!
I use the 1984 edition the most. I did like many of the improvements that the TNIV made. I recently purchased a cheap NIV2011 to evaluate. If I like it, I will buy a better one and if not, I will stick with the 1984. My plan is to finish reading the NASB and then dig into the new NIV.