|
Have you protected your copyright yet? Copyright piracy is estimated to cost millions every year. Before letting anyone see your work, make sure you've registered your work for copyright protection. For more information, click here.
The Good News Bible - In 1966 the American Bible Society issued Today's English Version (also entitled Good News for Modern Man), a translation of the New Testament, in simple, contemporary English. The aim of this version was similar to the preceding basic English and plain English versions, but The Good News Bible used no limited vocabulary list. In 1976 the entire Bible in Today's English Version was published.
The translators of The Good News Bible worked to achieve "dynamic equivalence." They wanted this translation to have the same effect on modern readers that the original text produced on those who first read it. The Good News Bible has gained wide acceptance, and similar translations have been produced in a number of other languages.
Miscellaneous Simplified Versions - Other simplified translations of the Bible include Clarence Jordan's Cotton Patch Version (1968-70), which renders portions of the New Testament into the unique idiom of the American South. Also included in this category is Carl Burke's God Is For Real, Man (1967) and Treat Me Cool, Lord (1969). These were written in the unique language of prison inmates while Burke was serving as a jail chaplain.
New American Standard Bible. An editorial board of 54 scholars began work on this translation in the 1960 s. They were determined to issue a new and revised translation based on the American Standard Version of 1901 in order to keep that version alive and usable among the Bible-reading public. Sponsored by the Lockman Foundation, the complete Bible of the NASB was published in 1971 after 11 years of careful, scholarly work. The translators used the most dependable Hebrew and Greek texts available. The editorial board has continued to function since publication of the Bible, making minor revisions and refinements in the translation as better texts of the original languages of the Bible became available.
New International Version. The New International Version (NIV) is a completely new translation of the Bible, sponsored by the New York International Bible Society. It is the work of an international and transdenominational team of scholars, drawn mainly from the United States but also including scholars from Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. The sponsors of the NIV claim it is "written in the language of the common man," but its language is more literary than the "common English" of the Good News Bible.
The translators of the NIV were familiar with traditional Bible English. They used the language of the King James Version where it was "accurate, clear, and readable." But they made many significant changes. Unlike the RSV and NEB (which retained "thee," "thou," and "thy" when God was being addressed), the NIV uses "you" and "your." The New Testament of this version was published in 1973; the whole Bible appeared in 1978.
New King James Version. The original King James Version, first published in 1611, has been the favorite translation among English-speaking peoples for more than three centuries. During its long history, the King James Bible has been updated and revised several times to reflect changes in speech as well as growing knowledge of the original text of the Scriptures. Previous major revisions of this translation were issued in 1629, 1638, 1762, and 1769.
During the 1970 s, Thomas Nelson Publishers of Nashville, Tennessee, sensed the need for a fifth major revision. Over 130 Bible scholars were selected to work on the New King James Version. The translators worked from the earliest and most trustworthy Hebrew and Greek texts available and also used the 1769 King James revision as a general guide to make sure the new edition preserved the majestic style and devotional quality of the original King James.
The most noticeable change in the New King James is replacement of the "thee's" and "thou's" and other archaic pronouns with their modern English equivalent. The "-est" and "-eth" verb endings also were eliminated in favor of more contemporary English idioms. The New Testament with Psalms was released in 1980, followed by the Old Testament in 1982.
Miscellaneous Translations. Many English translations have not been mentioned in this article. Among Jewish translations of the Hebrew Bible, special reference should be made to A New Translation of the Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, produced in installments since 1963 by a committee working under the chairmanship of H. M. Orlinsky. The Authentic New Testament (1955) is a translation by a well-known Jewish scholar, Hugh J. Schonfield.
Brief mention should also be made of the following translations: The Penguin Classics edition of The Four Gospels, by E. V. Rieu (1952) and The Acts of the Apostles, by C. H. Rieu (1957); the Berkeley Version (New Testament, 1945; Bible, 1959), revised as The Modern Language Bible (1969); the New World Translation of Jehovah's Witnesses (1961); The New Testament in the Language of Today, by William F. Beck, a Lutheran scholar (1963); and The New Testament in the translation of William Barclay (1968-69).
(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright � 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
|
