Of the following eight Bible translations listed below...

[robycop3]

I use the older Bishop's, "Great", Tyndale, & Wycliffe versions for study, as well as the KJV.

 

[alexander284]

I generally avoid the NIV & NLB.

I use the NKJV & NASV as my primary versions as they're literal, with as little paraphrasing as possible. (SOME paraphrasing is necessary in any English translation to make certain passages understandable in English.)

And what are your thoughts regarding the "essentially literal" ESV?

 

[John of Japan]

Exactly, as you say, includes unusable translations, translations not in print, translations long abandoned, etc. Only proved my point. The number is overblown.

I'm really not sure what point you are making with this. My point was there are and have been far too many English translations when there are over 3000 languages in the world with not a single verse of Scripture. Do you not agree that we are not fulfilling the Great Commission? Do you somehow think we need more English translations?

You can easily prove me wrong. Just list 13 American English translations which are actively being kept updated, are in print, not someone’s unfunded pet project, and not a purposeful mistranslation like the NWT.

I think this would be easy to do, but I'm not sure what point you are trying to make. (Why "being updated"?). Ever hear of the "Cepher Bible"? It's being updated.

Thank you for clarifying your thoughts.

Any time.

How often should a translation be revised?

I think once every 50 years is plenty. Try reading the original ASV. Easy! I can read the "Japanese Colloquial Version" of the 1950's with no problem. IMO, modern English Bible translators underestimate the intelligence of the typical reader.

Ever hear of the linguistic theory of universal grammar? This is the idea, most commonly set forth by Noam Chomsky & his generative grammarians, that all humans are born with the ability to learn languages. In my lecture on the first day of Greek 101 I tell the students that they each have a God-given language ability, and can learn Greek.

What changes most in a given language over relatively short periods of time (say, 10 years) is the slang and vulgarities, neither of which are useful in doing a Bible translation. Cultural changes such as feminism (birthing the gender controversy) also occur, but IMO they should have little effect on a modern Bible translation.

 

[rlvaughn]

All that money which could be used to fulfill the Great Commission. Many years ago I read a book evaluating various versions which said that there were over 200 English Bible translations. Now there are far more.

According to the American Bible Society, with caveats at the linked article, there are over 900. I have easy access to probably 50 to 75 different ones at Bible Gateway. Just last night we had a missionary at our church who is going to a tribe with no Bible in their language. Seems some effort there would be much better than another translation or update in English!

Number of English Translations of the Bible | Articles | News | American Bible Society

 

[John of Japan]

According to the American Bible Society, with caveats at the linked article, there are over 900. I have easy access to probably 50 to 75 different ones at Bible Gateway. Just last night we had a missionary at our church who is going to a tribe with no Bible in their language. Seems some effort there would be much better than another translation or update in English!

Number of English Translations of the Bible | Articles | News | American Bible Society

Well said! Millions of dollars go to support each revision of the major translations, and then many millions of dollars come in profit. Yet the only major translation organization that supports foreign translations that I know of is the Lockman Foundation (NASB).

I am willing to be updated on this. Does anyone know a major English Bible translation organization that supports missionary translations? If not, I am forced to conclude that the other major translations (ESV, NIV, CSV, etc., are simply in it for the money. (Note that this is my opinion, and I don;t have any smoking gun to prove it.)

 

[McCree79]

Well said! Millions of dollars go to support each revision of the major translations, and then many millions of dollars come in profit. Yet the only major translation organization that supports foreign translations that I know of is the Lockman Foundation (NASB).

I am willing to be updated on this. Does anyone know a major English Bible translation organization that supports missionary translations? If not, I am forced to conclude that the other major translations (ESV, NIV, CSV, etc., are simply in it for the money. (Note that this is my opinion, and I don;t have any smoking gun to prove it.)

There is other things a company can use their money for other than make other language translations and not be "simply in it for the money." Crossway, publisher of the ESV, has used it's profits to do the following.

offered the ESV Bible for free online and via mobile apps, with tens of millions of users from nearly every country;

supported the printing and distribution of over 250,000 Chinese-English Bibles in China;

provided funding to translate the ESV Study Bible notes into Mandarin Chinese;

produced a quarter of a million Global Study Bibles for strategic distribution through ministry partners in Africa, India, and across Asia;

enabled the translation of the ESV Study Bible notes and many Crossway books into more than 50 languages; and

provided hundreds of thousands of ESV Bibles and books to pastors, teachers, students, missionaries, and ministry leaders across the globe.



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[John of Japan]

There is other things a company can use their money for other than make other language translations and not be "simply in it for the money." Crossway, publisher of the ESV, has used it's profits to do the following.

offered the ESV Bible for free online and via mobile apps, with tens of millions of users from nearly every country;

supported the printing and distribution of over 250,000 Chinese-English Bibles in China;

provided funding to translate the ESV Study Bible notes into Mandarin Chinese;

produced a quarter of a million Global Study Bibles for strategic distribution through ministry partners in Africa, India, and across Asia;

enabled the translation of the ESV Study Bible notes and many Crossway books into more than 50 languages; and

provided hundreds of thousands of ESV Bibles and books to pastors, teachers, students, missionaries, and ministry leaders across the globe.
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Thank you. That helps me. That is what a Bible publisher should be doing with the profits.

These are certainly all worthy projects. Again, though, there are over 3000 languages still with not a single verse of the Bible, so I hope some of those 50 languages were first time translations.

P.S. As a missionary, never got one of those free ESVs, buy my son gave me a copy and I read it through.

 

[Dave G]

Does anyone know a major English Bible translation organization that supports missionary translations?

Trinitarian Bible Society ?

 

[JonC]

Thread is closed. Please feel free to continue the discussion on a new thread.