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CHAPTER 1
PROTESTANT TRANSLATIONS
King James Version (1611)
The King James Version was translated in 1611 by a
committee of 47 translators. It was revised in 1613, 1629,
1638, 1762, and 1769. It is a revision of the Bishops' Bible
of 1568. The underlying New Testament text was the TEXTUS
RECEPTUS. The underlying Old Testament text was the Masoretic
Text. It took the KJV 80 years to be accepted by the English
speaking world, but then it became the standard English Bible
until the present day. It was a British translation, and it
included the Apocrypha at first. It was a good translation
for its day.
John Wesley's New Testament (1755)
This revision of the KJV by Wesley in 1755 was an
attempt to improve the KJV in three areas: (1) Better text:
He used his own Greek text, based on BENGEL'S GNOMON WITH
CRITICAL APPARATUS of 1734, which was an improvement on the
TEXTUS RECEPTUS; (2) Better interpretation; and (3) Better
English usage.
Literal Translation of the Bible (1862)
This is a private translation by Robert Young, completed
in 1862. Young was an Edinburgh bookseller, and author of
the valuable ANALYTICAL CONCORDANCE. It is very literal.
Dean Alford's New Testament (1869)
This is a private revision of the KJV by Henry Alford,
Dean of Canterbury, made in 1896. He used his own edition of
the GREEK NEW TESTAMENT as a basis for translation.
The Holy Bible,
Containing the Old and New Testaments,
in the Common Version,
with Amendments of the Language (1833)
This is a revision of the English in the KJV by the
American lexicographer, Noah Webster, in 1833. His work was
in the area of proper English and did not involve using a
better text. It was sound as far as it went. (Luther A.
Weigle, CHB).
Revised Version (1885)
This is a committee revision of the KJV, in 1885. The
New Testament was published in 1881, the Old Testament in
1885, and the apocrypha in 1895. The committee included B.
F. Wescott, F. J. A. Hort, J. B. Lightfoot, W. Milligan, W.
F. Moulton, F. H. A. Schrivener, and G. Vance Smith (a
Unitarian). Westcott and Hort's text, THE NEW TESTAMENT IN
THE ORIGINAL GREEK (1881) was used to translate the New
Testament, which was an improvement over the TEXTUS RECEPTUS.
The MASORETIC TEXT was used for the Old Testament
translation. (This was the same text used for the KJV, but
the Revised Version had better scholarship). This is a
British translation. It is faithful to the texts, but weak
in English. It is literal, making it a good study Bible.
The Emphasized Bible (1897)
This is a private translation by Joseph Bryant Rotherham
in 1897. The New Testament was first translated in 1872 with
the underlying text being Tregelles. The third edition of
the New Testament was based on Westcott and Hort's text.
He attempted to "convey the most detailed shades in the
original." This is the first translation to use YAHWEH for
the name of God in the Old Testament. It is a scholarly,
literal translation. (Bruce).
American Standard Version (1901)
This revision of the KJV was published mostly because of
American translator differences with the British translators
of the Revised Version. American scholars, with Philip Schaff
as president of the committee, had been invited to help with
the Revised Version. Later, nine surviving members of the
American committee published the American Standard Version
under the title, "The Holy Bible containing the Old and New
Testaments translated out of the original tongues, being the
version set forth A.D. 1611 compared with the most ancient
authorities and revised A.D. 1881-1885. Newly edited by the
American Revision Committee A.D. 1901."
Like the Revised Version, it also is a literal transla-
tion, faithful to the texts, but weak in English. It is a
good study Bible.
The Holy Bible in Modern English,
containing the complete sacred scriptures
of the Old and New Testaments,
translated into English
direct from the original
Hebrew, Chaldee and Greek (1903)
This is a private translation by Ferrar Fenton, in 1903.
Fenton was a businessman, apparently sincere, but lacking in
scholarship. His translation was popular because of his
apparent sincerity.
The New Testament in Modern Speech (1903)
This is a private translation by Richard Weymouth, in
1903. It is based on his own RESULTANT GREEK TEXT (1886).
Weymouth died before it was published. E. Hampden-Cook, a
Congregational minister who helped translate The Twentieth
Century New Testament, edited it and saw that it was
published. It was revised by J. A. Robertson in 1924.
Weymouth wanted his translation to be used alongside the KJV
and Revised Version. It is a good translation.
The Twentieth Century New Testament (1904)
The translating work was done by Mrs. Mary Higgs (the
wife of a Congregational minister in Oldham), Ernest de
Merindol Malan (a signal and telegraph engineer of Hull, who
was the grandson of a Swiss preacher), plus an assortment of
preachers and laymen that numbered less than 30 total. It
was published from 1898-1901 in three volumes. The purpose
was to be readable by children and working people. It was
revised in 1904. The full name was "The Twentieth Century
New Testament: A Translation into Modern English Made from
the Original Greek." Westcott and Hort's text was the
underlying text. "How they succeeded in producing such an
excellent version is difficult to understand." (Bruce).
Modern Reader's Bible (1905)
This translation was completed by R. G. Moulton in 1905.
The 1911 Tercentenary Commemoration Bible
The KJV was lightly corrected by biblical scholars in
North America and issued under this name. A similar revision
was published three years later by E. E. Cunnington in
London.
The Riverside New Testament (1923)
William G. Ballantine translated the New Testament in
1923, based on NESTLE'S GREEK TEXT (1901). It was revised in
1934. It was in modern English.
Complete Bible: An American Translation (1931)
Edgar J. Goodspeed published the New Testament in 1923.
Four other scholars published the Old Testament in 1931. The
Bible was revised in 1935.
The New Testament
in the Language of the People (1937)
Charles B. Williams translated this New Testament with
the idea of revealing tense distinctions in the Greek verbs.
It is neither a literal translation or a paraphrase. Bruce
Humphries copyrighted the work in 1937 and Edith S. Williams
renewed the copyright in 1965. It is a conservative transla-
tion published by Moody Press.
Revised Standard Version (1952)
This is a revision of the American Standard Version of
1901 by a committee of 32 American scholars. The New
Testament was published in 1946, the whole Bible in 1952.
The underlying texts are eclectic. The Apocrypha was a
revision of the 1611 and 1895 versions. It was copyrighted by
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of Christ in the USA. In spite of being
criticized as being liberal, it was possibly the best
multiple use translation of its day (general scholarly
consensus).
The Interlinear Greek-English
New Testament (1958)
Beginning with Eberhard Nestle's NOVUM TESTAMENTUM
GRAECE (TEXT), Alfred Marshall gives an English translation
parallel to the Greek text. As such, it cannot be a smooth
translation. However, it does give the reader who cannot
read Greek a sense or "feeling" of the Greek text. It was
published by Zondervan. For those who cannot read Greek, it
should be read along with a good New Testament translation.
The New Testament in Modern English (1958)
J. B. Phillips, a vicar in the Church of England,
finished this translation of the New Testament in 1958, which
he had begun in 1947. "It occasionally follows. . .readings
of inferior Greek manuscripts or departs from the Greek
text. . .or omits part of it, or incorrectly translates it.
On the whole, however, a most excellent meaning-for-meaning
translation." (Hawthorne). It is a paraphrase.
The Old Testament is in the process of translation.
The Holy Bible:
The Berkeley Version
in Modern English (1959)
Gerrit Verkuyl, a Baptist, translated the New Testament
in 1945. Under the editorship of Verkuyl, the Old Testament
was translated by 20 scholars, in 1959. The New Testament
was revised in 1969. It is called the Berkeley Version be-
cause it was published in Berkeley, California. It is a
"conservative counterpart of the RSV." (Bruce). The Gideons
have distributed the New Testament.
Expanded Translation
of the New Testament (1959)
Kenneth S. Wuest translated the New Testament, which was
published in 3 volumes, 1956-1959. It is a study Bible for
the "Greekless student of the New Testament." It "does for
all the parts of speech what Charles B. Williams does for
the verb. . . ." (Bruce).
The New World Translation (1960)
The "New World Translation of the Christian Greek
Scriptures" was published in 1950. It was followed by the
"New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures" from
1953-1960. This is a translation by the Jehovah's Witnesses,
and it is published by their company, the Watch Tower Bible
and Tract Society, Inc. The translation includes both
literal and colloquial renderings. However, it is colored by
the Jehovah's Witnesses' doctrine. Apart from this, it is a
good translation. (Bruce).
The New Testament
in the Language of Today (1963)
William F. Beck, a Lutheran, made this translation in
1963. It is "reasonably faithful" to the Greek text, with
"very little paraphrase but good translation of cultural
concepts. . . ." "It is . . .unusually good/. . . for
reading aloud." (LeSor). Beck writes in everyday speech.
Beck comments: "If Jesus came into hour home today, how would
he talk? Just as we talk to one another. He would take the
words out of our lives and put heaven's meaning into them."
(Preface to the 1964 printing). It is a conservative
translation, published by Concordia Publishing House.
The Amplified Bible (1965)
The Amplified Bible was translated by a committee of 12
editors in 1965. Frances E. Siewert was the Research
Secretary. The New Testament was published in 1958. The New
Testament was based on Westcott and Hort's text. The Old
Testament was based on the MASORETIC TEXT. It is an
"expanded" version by which the rich shades of meaning in the
original texts are more fully expressed. Key words in the
texts are especially defined and amplified. It is published
by the Lockman Foundation of La Habra, California. The
fourfold aim of the translation committee was,
That it should be true to the original Hebrew and
Greek; that it should be grammatically correct;
that it should be understandable to the masses;
that it should give the Lord Jesus Christ His
proper place, the place the Word gives Him. (The
Amplified Bible jacket, 1965).
It is conservative, and a good study Bible.
New Testament: A New Translation (1969)
William Barclay produced this translation in 2 volumes:
"The Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles" (1963), and "The
Letters and the Revelation" (1969). It has a British-
Scottish thrust, "made by a long-time, skilled master of
Greek." (Ehrenstein).
New English Bible (1970)
This version was produced by the best British scholars,
in 1970. The New Testament was published in 1961.
The New Testament text is eclectic, and was published
by R. V. G. Tasker as THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT, BEING THE TEXT
TRANSLATED IN THE NEW ENGLISH BIBLE 1961.
The Old Testament text is the third edition of Kittel's
BIBLIA HEBRAICA (1937).
The Living Bible (1971)
Kenneth Taylor is the main translator of this work, that
was finished in 1971. Taylor's translation grew out of
family devotions--he tried to communicate the Word of God to
his children in contemporary English terms they could
understand. It is paraphrase of the ASV. (Ehrenstein). It
was reviewed by a team of Greek and Hebrew experts for
accuracy, and by English critics for style. It was translated
from a "rigid evangelical position." (The Living Bible Pre-
face, 1973). It is especially suitable for youth and those
not having a church background. People would be wise to begin
their Bible reading with The Living Bible and then graduate
to a general purpose Bible like the New International Bible
and a good study Bible like the New American Standard Bible.
The New American Standard Bible (1971)
The New American Standard Bible was published in 1971.
It is a committee revision of the American Standard Version
of 1901. The New Testament was translated in 1963. The New
Testament text was Nestle's NOVUM TESTAMENTUM GRAECE. The
Old Testament text was Kittel's BIBLIA HEBRAICA. It
represents a 9 year effort by 58 scholars representing
Presbyterian, Methodist, Southern Baptist, Church of Christ,
Nazarene, American Baptist, Fundamentalist, Conservative
Baptist, Free Methodist, Congregational, Disciple, and
Independent Baptist backgrounds. It is a literal translation
that is true to the text and therefore suitable for a study
Bible. The NASB New Testament was the best version for study
of its time (Earle).
The Common Bible (1973)
This was a new edition of the RSV, the first translation
to be approved by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Greek
Orthodox leaders.
Today's English Version (1976, 1992)
This translation is sometimes called Good News for
Modern Man or Good News Bible. The New Testament was
translated by Robert Bratcher, a Southern Baptist missionary,
in 1966. The New Testament underlying text was the United
Bible Societies' GREEK NEW TESTAMENT (third edition, 1975),
the best text available at the time. The New Testament was
sponsored and published by the American Bible Society.
A Catholic version with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha was
released in 1979.
The Old Testament was a committee translation, finished
in 1976. The underlying Old Testament text was the Masoretic
Text as found in Rudolph Kittel's BIBLIA HEBRAICA (third
edition, 1937). The line drawings were by Miss Annie
Vallotton. The translation of the Old Testament was sponsored
by the United Bible Societies, which also published the whole
Bible.
The genius of this translation is the vocabulary selec-
tion. Words are used that are understood by common people and
people who use English as a second language. If Jesus were
here today, he would communicate in such language. The
Today's English Version New Testament is "most like what the
New Testament was to its original readers. Superb!"
(Hawthorne).
The second edition was published in 1992.
New International Version (1978)
The New Testament was completed in 1973, and represents
the work of conservative scholars. The entire Bible was
completed in 1978, and was revised in 1984. A self-
governing Committee on Bible Translation, composed of 15
people, included Ralph Earle. It was international in scope,
drawing scholars from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand. The denominational backgrounds of
the translators included Anglican, Assemblies of God,
Baptist, Brethren, Christian Reformed, Church of Christ,
Evangelical Free, Lutheran, Mennonite, Nazarene,
Presbyterian, Wesleyan and others.
The Greek text used in translating the New Testament was
eclectic.
The Hebrew text used in translating the Old Testament
was the Masoretic Text as published in the latest editions of
BIBLIA HEBRAICA.
The New York Bible Society International was the sponsor
and publisher--its name has since been changed to the Inter-
national Bible Society. The New International Version is
neither literal or paraphrased, and is well suited for
general use. It is probably the best translation available
today.
New King James Version (1979)
The New King James Version was the result of 7 years
work of over 100 scholars from most of the English-speaking
nations. It was first published in 1979 and revised in 1980
and 1982. The translators and editors have attempted to
continue in the tradition of the earlier translators of the
KJV.
The underlying text of the Old Testament was the
1967/77 Stuttgart edition of BIBLIA HEBRAICA.
The underlying text of the New Testament is the
antiquated Textus Receptus.
New Century Version (1987)
The New Century Version is a new translation, published
in 1987 by Worthy Publishing, Fort Worth, Texas. The third
edition of the United Bible Societies' Greek text was the
underlying Greek text. The BIBLIA HEBRAICA was the under-
lying text for the Old Testament. The Septuagint was con-
sulted.
The English translation was made with the idea of clear
understanding by the reader. The sentences were kept short
and simple. Vocabulary choice was based on THE LIVING WORD
VOCABULARY by Dr. Edgar Dale and Dr. Joseph O'Rourke (World-
book-Childcraft International, 1981)--the vocabulary used by
THE WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA. Rhetorical questions were
changed into their implied answer. Figures of speech were
changed into their meanings--this is good, because some could
misinterpret the original writers' intended meaning. Idio-
matic cultural expessions of the original cultures were
translated so today's readers could understand them.
Billy Graham chose to publish the New Testament under
the name, THE EVERYDAY BIBLE. This endorsement speaks highly
of the translation.
The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
The New Revised Standard Version was a revision of the
Revised Standard Version (1952), which was a revision of the
American Standard Version (1901), which embodied earlier re-
visions of the King James Version (1611).
The Revised Standard Version Bible Committee is a group
that continues to function. It is comprised of about thirty
scholars of men and women, representing Protestant, Catholic,
Eastern Orthodox and Jewish faiths.
The underlying Greek text was THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT,
prepared by the United Bible Societies (1966; third edition,
corrected 1983).
The underlying Hebrew text was the BIBLIA HEBRAICA
STUTTGARTENSIA (1977; ed. sec. emendata, 1983). It is the
Masoretic text of the Old Testament.
The NRSV is a literal translation with this qualifica-
tion: "As literal as possible, as free as necessary."
Scholar Bruce Metzger is a member of the translation
committee, which speaks highly for the translation.
The Catholic version was published with Apocryphal/
Deuterocanonical Books.
The NRSV was copyrighted in 1989, by the Division of
Christian Education of the National Churches of Christ in the
United States of America.
Contemporary English Version (1991)
The Contemporary English Version New Testament was a
fresh translation from the Greek text of the United Bible
Societies (third edition, corrected, 1983). It is a meaning-
for-meaning translation. That is, it seeks to be both
RELIABLE to the Greek text and READABLE for common people.
Theological language is translated into easily-understood
English terms. Language was selected for all English-speaking
people.
The New Testament translation was sponsored by the
American Bible Society, under the title, Bible for Today's
Family, New Testament. It fills a need to communicate God's
Word to a largely secular society.
Hopefully, an Old Testament translation will be forth-
coming.
The Message:
The New Testament in Contemporary Langauge
(1993)
The Message: The New Testament in Contemporary Language
was a new translation by Eugene H. Peterson. It is a fresh
translation from the Greek text of the United Bible Societies
(third edition, corrected, 1983). It is a meaning-for-meaning
translation by Pastor Eugene H. Peterson. He says,
The goal is not to render a word-for-word conver-
sion of Greek into English, but rather to convert
the tone, the rhythm, the events, the ideas, into
the way we actually speak.
The New Testament translation was sponsored by the Navi-
gators and published by NAVPRESS. An exegetical committee of
five scholar consultants checked the translation for accuracy
and style. Billy Graham endorsed the translation.
The Old Testament is in the process of being translated.
An exegetical committee of twelve will check the translation.
END
