Ben Witherington has a good post on buying Bibles. I'm surprised he recommends the TNIV over the NRSV. Shocked, is probably a better descripture. His post ventures slightly into the reasoning for different translations and the need for good ones. He doesn't appreciate/like the ESV, which is very surprising. Overall, a very helpful post: check it out...
2 comments:
I am not shocked that Ben Witherington prefers the TNIV over the ESV. The TNIV has far better quality English. The ESV has some English which was becoming obsolete by 1740 A.D. There are many strange English wordings in the ESV. Also, the ESV retains problem wordings from the KJV-Tyndale tradition, a beautiful tradition, but with problems nevertheless. Any totally new essentially literal translation (such as the HCSB) should be better than the ESV since the ESV uses old, outmoded English, retained from the RSV.
In spite of all the negative comments from anti-TNIV people, the TNIV is actually a very conservative translation, with important translation improvements made to the NIV due to newer scholarship and exegetical understanding. The hundreds (thousands, by now) of so-called "inaccuracies" in the TNIV are not inaccuracies at all, when we study them. They are simply the result of different exegetical and translational opinions. Those who have created lists of TNIV "inaccuracies" are not using the word "inaccuracy" with its normal meaning to refer to something which is translated incorrectly. For instance, translating Matt. 5:9 as "children of God," as does the KJV, is not an "inaccuracy" but, rather, a recognition that many Greek scholars understand hoi huioi of this verse to refer to both males and females, not to males only. Most of the other so-called inaccuracies in the TNIV are of this same nature.
Thanks for this Wayne. I'm not at all familiar with the TNIV so this is a welcomed statement. I mostly use the NRSV or UBS for my studies. But the ESV is gaining a reputation in a few of the circles I mix as being better. No doubt more research on part is now required. Are there any published articles explaining/defending the TNIV? I'd be interested to read more about this...
thanks much, s D.
Post a Comment