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The NIV Is In Good Company

The Parson

Member
Site Supporter
Interesting, isn't it? We Baptists only had a few things like Calvinism and eschatology to bicker about in the 18th and 19th centuries. Wow, now we have a whole lot more to argue about with the new translations. Now how did that happen exactly?
 

Craigbythesea

Well-Known Member
Utter nonsense has been thrown about regarding the use of inclusive language. Some prattle on and on about the sanctity of retaining man and he when reference is made to be people in general. Well, I would like to give some examples were the NIV does not stand alone among Bible translations in this regard. The translation methodology of the NIV and other Bible versions is not driven by some feminist plot. Simply, these translations give renderings in clear, natural language. It's the vernacular we speak in the second decade of the 21st century.

Genesis 6:7
NIV : "I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created."
NLT,CEB : human race
GW : humans
LEB, NET : humankind
ISV,NAB,NRSV : human beings

Genesis 9:6
NIV : "Whoever sheds human blood..."
NET,ISV,GW,CEB : human blood
NLT : human life
NRSV : the blood of a human
NAB : the blood of a human being

Exodus 32:28
NIV : "...three thousand of the people died."
NLT,GW : people died
NRSV,NAB : people fell
LEB : persons fell
WEB : there fell of the people
CEB : people were killed

2 Samuel 24:15
NIV : "...seventy thousand of the people...died
CEB,NAB,NLT,NRSV : people died

James 1:12
NIV : "Blessed is the one..."
NET : the one
NRSV : anyone
LEB : the person

James 1;20
NIV,NLT,NET,LEB : human anger
I find it odd that the subject of gender inclusiveness would be discussed in a thread about the NIV rather than in a thread about gender inclusive translations. The NRSV is also a gender inclusive translation, but it is primarily a formal equivalence translation while the NIV is a dynamic equivalence translation.
 

SovereignGrace

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
To pick back up on this thread....

Brother Smyth, I noticed your distain for the NIV per this post...

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, sorry to say, if we disagree, one of us must be wrong. Why should the footnote be trusted, when every good translation disagrees (all with their own Hebrew experts) and the NIV 2011 is produced by people I don't trust?
Greek is a much more detailed and understood language than ancient Hebrew. I consulted Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton's translation of the Septuagint, and it uses the phrase, "God of my righteousness". This bypasses the issue of Hebrew syntax.
Why do you not trust the ppl who produced the NIV 2011? I know it is not the Westcott & Hort CT, because both the NIV and ESV are based off of the it. I truly love the NIV and have been reading from an HCSB, which is another dandy translation. Thanks in advance.
 

Smyth

Active Member
Why do you not trust the ppl who produced the NIV 2011? I know it is not the Westcott & Hort CT, because both the NIV and ESV are based off of the it. I truly love the NIV and have been reading from an HCSB, which is another dandy translation. Thanks in advance.

I have no use for the NIV or HCSB. The NIV is too much of a paraphrase to be a good study Bible. And, the NIV 2011 panders too much to non-biblical values (such as gender neutrality) to be a good casual Bible. The HCSB is shamelessly filled with doctrinal bias and odd translation choices. You can see an example in reply #7 of this thread.

If you want an easy-to-read Bible, I suggest the NKJV or ESV (FYI, I'm not a huge fan of Westcott & Hort CT).
 

SovereignGrace

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
I have no use for the NIV or HCSB. The NIV is too much of a paraphrase to be a good study Bible. And, the NIV 2011 panders too much to non-biblical values (such as gender neutrality) to be a good casual Bible. The HCSB is shamelessly filled with doctrinal bias and odd translation choices. You can see an example in reply #7 of this thread.

If you want an easy-to-read Bible, I suggest the NKJV or ESV (FYI, I'm not a huge fan of Westcott & Hort CT).
But doesn't the ESV use the Westcott & Hort CT? Or is there another CT?

I will have to graciously disagree with you and your assessment of the NIV. But you have every right to disagree with me, too. :)

I read the ESV a little, and it seems 'choppy'. I have a friend who lives in Myrtle Beach and pastors a reformed SBC and he loves the NIV...but I think he likes the 1984 version better. I have not read that edition, only the 2011. But he also said the ESV read 'choppy' to him, too. He said that very word I said...'choppy'. So much for great minds think alike. :( Confused
 

SovereignGrace

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
I have no use for the NIV or HCSB. The NIV is too much of a paraphrase to be a good study Bible. And, the NIV 2011 panders too much to non-biblical values (such as gender neutrality) to be a good casual Bible. The HCSB is shamelessly filled with doctrinal bias and odd translation choices. You can see an example in reply #7 of this thread.

If you want an easy-to-read Bible, I suggest the NKJV or ESV (FYI, I'm not a huge fan of Westcott & Hort CT).
But I am going to dig it out and read it some. It uses 'adjure', and that pastor friend of mine said he has a Master's Degree and had to look that word up. As I was reading the NASB the other day, I found that very same word...'adjure'. Confused :Cautious :eek:
 

TCassidy

Late-Administator Emeritus
Administrator
But doesn't the ESV use the Westcott & Hort CT? Or is there another CT?
Complicated question! The ESV is a revision of the Revised Standard Version edition of 1971 (using UBS 4th edition Greek New Testament) which was a revision of the Revised Standard Version edition of 1948/52 (edited using the NA17 Greek New Testament), which was a revision of the ASV of 1901 (which was based on the Westcott/Hort Greek New Testament of 1881) a revision of the English Revised Version of 1885 (which was also based on the W/H GNT of 1881).

So, the answer to your first question is "yes" and "no." The ERV/ASV was based on the W/H text, but all revisions were based on subsequent eclectic Greek texts. (All of which fall, generally, under the heading "Critical Text.")

Another CT? Well, yes. Several. NA is now in its 28th revised text and UBS is now in its 5th revised text.

Much of the early resistance to the ESV was due to it being a revision of the RSV which most of Conservative Evangelicalism rejected due to the "de-Christianizing" of some of the Old Testament (see Isaiah 7:14 for an example). However, the ESV corrects most of the passages in question.

I, being a Byzantine Priority Preferred fellow, am not a great fan of the ESV, but it is the pulpit bible in the church where we presently serve but we are allowed great soul liberty (love those Baptist Distinctives) so last week when I taught one of the adult Sunday School classes I used my NKJV, and this coming Sunday I will be preaching in the early, Traditional service from my trusty old KJV. :)
 

TCassidy

Late-Administator Emeritus
Administrator
What's the difference in the W/H & NA transcripts...or are they manuscripts?

#confused
The Nestle-Aland text is intended for New Testament textual criticism and work in New Testament studies.

The United Bible Societies (UBS) text contains pretty much the same base text as NA. The primary difference between the Nestle-Aland and UBS editions is that the UBS is aimed at translators and so focuses on variants that are important for the meaning of passages where variants occur, whereas NA is aimed at textual critics and other scholars and so includes the relevant variants for that purpose (even if the meaning is not seriously impacted).

I can understand your confusion. This is a very confusing subject. After over 40 years of study I still sometimes throw my hands in the air and just walk away. :)
 

TCassidy

Late-Administator Emeritus
Administrator
And what makes the UBS differ from the other two?

Another #confused
The first edition of NA, published by Eberhard Nestle in 1898, combined the readings of the editions of Constantin Tischendorf (the man who discovered Codex Sinaiticus at St. Catherine's Monastery on Mt. Sinai), Westcott/Hort, and Richard Weymouth (The Resultant Greek Testament, an eclectic text based on the work of eighteenth and nineteenth century textual critics), placing the majority readings of these in the text and the variant readings in the textual apparatus. In 1901, he replaced the Weymouth New Testament with Bernhard Weiss's text ( A New Text of the Greek New Testament).

So, NA is a departure from the WH text edited using the works of the other three men.

The United Bible Societies had its start as the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804 and slowly merged with other bible societies to eventually form UBS. The publisher of NA, (the German Bible Society), is a member society of UBS and the primary editors of the UBS 5 were members of that Society (Barbara and Kurt Aland).
 

TCassidy

Late-Administator Emeritus
Administrator
So, in your opinion, of all the manuscripts available, which is most accurate?
Tough question. At least for the Gospel accounts I would nominate Codex Alexandrinus as the most accurate early Greek manuscript of the Gospels. Codex Angelicus, although a bit later, is an excellent example of Acts, the Church and Pauline Epistles.
 

robycop3

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
We see a trend in English over the years to view "man, men" as being inclusive of both genders when the context so indicates.
 

Rippon

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
The first edition of NA, published by Eberhard Nestle in 1898, combined the readings of the editions of Constantin Tischendorf (the man who discovered Codex Sinaiticus at St. Catherine's Monastery on Mt. Sinai), Westcott/Hort, and Richard Weymouth (The Resultant Greek Testament, an eclectic text based on the work of eighteenth and nineteenth century textual critics), placing the majority readings of these in the text and the variant readings in the textual apparatus. In 1901, he replaced the Weymouth New Testament with Bernhard Weiss's text ( A New Text of the Greek New Testament).

So, NA is a departure from the WH text edited using the works of the other three men.

The United Bible Societies had its start as the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804 and slowly merged with other bible societies to eventually form UBS. The publisher of NA, (the German Bible Society), is a member society of UBS and the primary editors of the UBS 5 were members of that Society (Barbara and Kurt Aland).

Maurice Robinson has said that the NA agrees with W&H 95% of the time.
 

Rippon

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
We see a trend in English over the years to view "man, men" as being inclusive of both genders when the context so indicates.
No, the exact opposite. Those very words are seen as excluding females. They are seen as exclusive --not inclusive.
 

Rippon

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
I find it odd that the subject of gender inclusiveness would be discussed in a thread about the NIV rather than in a thread about gender inclusive translations. The NRSV is also a gender inclusive translation, but it is primarily a formal equivalence translation while the NIV is a dynamic equivalence translation.

No, it is not. It is a mediating translation as is the HCSB,NET,NAB and others. The NLT is more in the dynamic category.
 

Rippon

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
I have no use for the NIV or HCSB. The NIV is too much of a paraphrase to be a good study Bible.
You don't know what you prate on about.
And, the NIV 2011 panders too much to non-biblical values (such as gender neutrality) to be a good casual Bible.
Being gender accurate is not = to gender neutrality. What nonsense you engage in.
If you want an easy-to-read Bible, I suggest the NKJV or ESV (FYI, I'm not a huge fan of Westcott & Hort CT).
The NKJV and ESV are certainly NOT "easy-to-read" versions.A very easy to read translation is the NIrV. Just plain easy to read versions are the NLT,GWT,CEB etc.

And what in the world does W&H have to do with easy-to-read versions?
 

Rippon

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Tough question. At least for the Gospel accounts I would nominate Codex Alexandrinus as the most accurate early Greek manuscript of the Gospels.

Yet you think that the rest of the N.T. that it includes, is inferior?
 

TCassidy

Late-Administator Emeritus
Administrator
Yet you think that the rest of the N.T. that it includes, is inferior?
I would not characterize the Alexandrian textform as "inferior."

I believe the Byzantine textform is more likely to be closer to the original manuscripts than is the Alexandrian textform. However, those differences are, for the most part, insignificant and do not affect any doctrine of Christendom.
 
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