New Revised Standard Version
New Revised Standard Version | |
---|---|
Full name | New Revised Standard Version |
Abbreviation | NRSV |
Complete Bible published | 1989 |
Textual basis | OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia with Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint influence. Apocrypha: Septuagint (Rahlfs) with Vulgate influence. NT: United Bible Societies' The Greek New Testament (3rd ed. corrected). 81% correspondence to Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece 27th edition.[1] |
Translation type | Formal equivalence, with some mild paraphrasing (especially gender neutral language). |
Reading level | High School |
Version revision | 2021 |
Copyright | 1989, 2021 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA |
Religious affiliation | Ecumenical, but generally mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic in respect to public teaching and devotional use[2] |
Website | https://www.nrsv.net/ |
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. |
The Bible in English |
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The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches.[3] The NRSV was intended as a translation to serve devotional, liturgical and scholarly needs of the broadest possible range of Christian religious adherents. At present, the New Revised Standard Version is the version most commonly preferred by biblical scholars; this is due to its basis on what are often considered the oldest and reliable manuscripts, and its strict adherence to word-for-word translation.[4][5][6]
The tradition of the King James Version has been continued in the Revised Standard Version and in the New Revised Standard Version.[3][7] The full 84 book translation includes the Protestant enumeration of the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, and the New Testament; another version of the NRSV includes the deuterocanonical books as part of the Old Testament, which is normative in the canon of Roman Catholicism, along with the New Testament (totalling 73 books).[5][8][9]
The translation appears in three main formats: (1) an edition including the Protestant enumeration of the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, and the New Testament (as well an edition that only includes the Protestant enumeration of the Old Testament and New Testament); (2) a Roman Catholic Edition with all the books of that canon in their customary order, and (3) the Common Bible, which includes the books that appear in Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox canons (but not additional books from Oriental Orthodox traditions, including the Syriac and Ethiopian canons).[9] A special edition of the NRSV, called the "Anglicized Edition," employs British English spelling and grammar instead of American English.[10]
History
The New Revised Standard Version was translated by the Division of Christian Education (now Bible Translation and Utilization) of the National Council of Churches. The group included scholars representing Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Christian groups as well as Jewish representation in the group responsible for the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament. The mandate given the committee was summarized in a dictum: “As literal as possible, as free as necessary.”[9]
Principles of revision
Improved manuscripts and translations
The Old Testament translation of the RSV was completed before the Dead Sea Scrolls were available to scholars. The NRSV was intended to take advantage of this and other manuscript discoveries, and to reflect advances in scholarship.[3]
Gender language
In the preface to the NRSV Bruce Metzger wrote for the committee that “many in the churches have become sensitive to the danger of linguistic sexism arising from the inherent bias of the English language towards the masculine gender, a bias that in the case of the Bible has often restricted or obscured the meaning of the original text”.[3] The RSV observed the older convention of using masculine nouns in a gender-neutral sense (e.g. "man" instead of "person"), and in some cases used a masculine word where the source language used a neutral word. This move has been widely criticised by some, including within the Catholic Church, and continues to be a point of contention today. The NRSV by contrast adopted a policy of inclusiveness in gender language.[3] According to Metzger, “The mandates from the Division specified that, in references to men and women, masculine-oriented language should be eliminated as far as this can be done without altering passages that reflect the historical situation of ancient patriarchal culture.”[3]
Translation committee
The following scholars were active on the NRSV Bible Translation Committee at the time of publication.[9]
- William A. Beardslee
- Phyllis A. Bird
- George Coats
- Demetrios J. Constantelos
- Robert C. Dentan
- Alexander A. DiLella, OFM
- J. Cheryl Exum
- Reginald H. Fuller
- Paul D. Hanson
- Walter Harrelson
- William L. Holladay
- Sherman E. Johnson
- Robert A. Kraft
- George M. Landes
- Conrad E. L’Heureux
- S. Dean McBride, Jr.
- Bruce M. Metzger
- Patrick D. Miller
- Paul S. Minear
- Lucetta Mowry
- Roland E. Murphy, O. Carm.
- Harry Orlinsky
- Marvin H. Pope
- Jimmy Jack McBee Roberts
- Alfred v. Rohr Sauer
- Katharine D. Sakenfeld
- James A. Sanders
- Gene M. Tucker
- Eugene C. Ulrich
- Allen Wikgren
Reception
The New Revised Standard Version is the version most commonly preferred by biblical scholars, according to Mark D. Given of Missouri State University. This is due to its basis in what are often considered the oldest and best manuscripts, and its strict adherence to word-for-word translation.[4]
Many mainline Protestant churches officially approve the NRSV for both private and public use. The Episcopal Church (United States) in Canon II.2 added the NRSV to the list of translations approved for church services. It is also widely used by the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Presbyterian Church in Canada,[11] the United Church of Christ, the Reformed Church in America, the United Church of Canada, and the Uniting Church in Australia.
In accordance with the 1983 Code of Canon Law, Canon 825.1, the NRSV with the deuterocanonical books received the Imprimatur of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops,[12] meaning that the NRSV (Catholic Edition) is officially approved by the Catholic Church and can be profitably used by Catholics in private study and devotional reading. The New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition also has the imprimatur, granted on 12 September 1991 and 15 October 1991, respectively. For public worship, such as at weekly Mass, most Catholic Bishops Conferences in English-speaking countries require the use of other translations, either the adapted New American Bible in the dioceses of the United States and the Philippines or the English Standard Version and Revised New Jerusalem Bible in most of the rest of the English-speaking world.[13][14] However, the Canadian conference and the Vatican approved a modification of the NRSV for lectionary use in 2008.[2] The NRSV, along with the Revised Standard Version, is also quoted in several places in the English-language edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the latter of which summarizes Catholic doctrine and belief in written form.
In 1990 the synod of the Orthodox Church in America decided not to permit use of the NRSV in liturgy or in Bible studies on the grounds that it is highly "divergent from the Holy Scriptures traditionally read aloud in the sacred services of the Church",[15] though the National Council of Churches notes that the translation has "the blessing of a leader of the Greek Orthodox Church."[9]
2021 Updated Edition (NRSVue)
A three-year process of reviewing and updating the text of the NRSV was announced at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature.[16] The update will be managed by the SBL following an agreement with the copyright-holding NCC. The stated focuses of the review are incorporating advances in textual criticism since the 1989 publication of the NRSV, improving the textual notes, and reviewing the style and rendering of the translation. A team of more than fifty scholars, led by an editorial board, is responsible for the review, which goes by the working title of the New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition (NRSVue).[17] It was released on December 25, 2021, for digital purchase, the first print editions were released in 2022.[18]
Study editions
- The Harper Study Bible (Zondervan, 1991, ISBN 0-310-90203-7)
- NRSV Reference Bible with the Apocrypha (Zondervan, 1993, ISBN 0-310-90227-4)
- NRSV Student Bible (Zondervan, 1996, ISBN 0310926823)
- The Cambridge Annotated Study Bible (Cambridge University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-521-50777-4)
- The HarperCollins Study Bible with Apocrypha (Society of Biblical Literature, 1997, ISBN 0-06-065527-5)
- The Access Bible with Apocrypha (Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-19-528217-5)
- The Spiritual Formation Bible (Zondervan, 1999, ISBN 0-310-90089-1)
- The New Interpreter's Study Bible with Apocrypha (United Methodist Publishing House, 2003, ISBN 0-687-27832-5)
- The HarperCollins Study Bible: Fully Revised & Updated (HarperOne, 2006, ISBN 978-0060786854)
- The Green Bible (HarperOne, 2008, ISBN 978-0061951121)
- The Discipleship Study Bible (Westminster John Knox, 2008, ISBN 978-0664223717)
- The Life with God Bible (Renovaré, 2009, ISBN 978-0061627644)
- Lutheran Study Bible (Augsburg Fortress, 2009, ISBN 978-0806680590)
- The Wesley Study Bible (United Methodist Publishing House, 2009, ISBN 978-0-687-64503-9)
- The Guidebook: The NRSV Student Bible (Zondervan, 2012, ISBN 978-0061988189)
- The Jewish Annotated New Testament, 2nd edition (Oxford University Press, 2017, ISBN 978-0190461850)
- The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha, 5th edition (Oxford University Press, 2018, ISBN 978-0190276072)
- NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Zondervan, 2019, ISBN 978-0310452683)
- Baylor Annotated Study Bible (Baylor University Press, 2019, ISBN 978-1481308250)
- The Word on Fire Bible (Volume 1): The Gospels (Word on Fire, 2020, ISBN 978-1-943243-53-2)
Canon
The New Revised Standard Version is available in an 84-book Ecumenical Bible that includes the Old Testament, Apocrypha and New Testament; a 66-book Protestant Bible that only includes the Old Testament and New Testament; and a 73-book Catholic edition containing the Catholic enumeration of the Old Testament and the New Testament.[8][9][19] A third edition incorporates the Eastern Orthodox canon.
References
- ^ Clontz (2008), "The Comprehensive New Testament", ranks the NRSV in eighth place in a comparison of twenty-one translations, at 81% correspondence to the Nestle-Aland 27th ed. ISBN 978-0-9778737-1-5
- ^ a b Swan, Michael (September 5, 2007). "NRSV Bible gets Vatican recognition". The Catholic Register.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c d e f Preface to the NRSV Archived 2010-02-06 at the Wayback Machine from the National Council of Churches website
- ^ a b Given, Mark D. (13 February 2015). "A Discussion of Bible Translations and Biblical Scholarship". Missouri State University. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
- ^ a b Bertone, John (1 September 2016). Finding God in Scripture. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-5326-0475-1.
The NRSV was published in 1989 and is popular among academics and church leaders. It is an ecumenical Bible translation whose committee consists of thirty men and women who are among the top scholars in America today. They come from Protestant denominations, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Greek Orthodox Church. The committee also includes a Jewish scholar. The NRSV is available in three forms: a standard edition with or without the Apocrypha; a Roman Catholic Edition, which includes the so-called "Apocryphal" or "Deuterocanonical" books in the Roman Catholic canonical order; and the Common Bible, which includes all books belonging to the Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox canons.
- ^ "New Revised Standard Version". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (NRSV) was published in 1989 and has received the widest acclaim and broadest support from academics and church leaders of any modern English translation.
Since 2022, BibleGateway.com now hosts the Updated Edition of the NRSV but not the 1989 edition. - ^ Durken, Daniel (17 December 2015). New Collegeville Bible Commentary: Old Testament. Liturgical Press. ISBN 978-0-8146-3587-2.
The King James tradition was continued in the Revised Version of 1881 and 1885, the Revised Standard Version of 1946 and 1952, and the New Revised Standard Version of 1989.
- ^ a b "New Revised Standard w/ Apocrypha (NRSA)". Bible Study Tools. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f "New Revised Standard Version - Home". Marketing Pages. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
Standing in this tradition, the NRSV is available in three ecumenical formats: a standard edition with or without the Apocrypha, a Roman Catholic Edition, which has the so-called “Apocryphal” or “Deuterocanonical” books in the Roman Catholic canonical order, and The Common Bible, which includes all books that belong to the Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox canons.
- ^ Amazon.co.uk entry for Anglicized NRSV
- ^ "PCC Writer's Style Guide" (PDF). Presbyterian Church in Canada – Life and Mission Agency. November 2009. p. 19. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is the official Bible standard for The Presbyterian Church in Canada.
- ^ The Go-Anywhere Thinline Bible Catholic Edition New Revised Standard Version. HarperOne. 2011. p. ix. ISBN 978-0062048363.
...and an edition of the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books placed between the two Testaments. The text of the latter edition received the Imprimatur (official approbation) of the United States and Canadian Catholic Bishops.
- ^ "A New Lectionary for Scotland". Scottish Catholic Media Office. July 24, 2020. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
- ^ "New Zealand helps with new lectionary project". www.cathnews.co.nz. 2021-05-10. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
- ^ Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald). "Bishop's Pastoral Letter on the New Revised Standard Version". Retrieved 2007-04-22.
- ^ "SBL to Provide a Review and Update to the New Revised Standard Version" (PDF). SBL Society Report. 2017. p. 7.
- ^ "FOLLOWING THE TRAIL OF BREADCRUMBS FOR THE UPCOMING NRSV REVISION". Catholic Bible Talk. 2019.
- ^ "NRSV Updated Edition".
- ^ "New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition". Archived from the original on 2021-07-26.
Standing in this tradition, the NRSV is available in three ecumenical formats: a standard edition with or without the Apocrypha, a Roman Catholic Edition, which has the so-called "Apocryphal" or "Deuterocanonical" books in the Roman Catholic canonical order, and The Common Bible, which includes all books that belong to the Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox canons.
Bibliography
- Barker, Margaret (2001). "Isaiah". In Dunn, James D.G.; Rogerson, John (eds.). Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802837110.
- Childs, Brevard S (2001). Isaiah. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664221430.
- Coogan, Michael D. (2007). "Isaiah". In Coogan, Michael D.; Brettler, Mark Zvi; Newsom, Carol Ann (eds.). New Oxford Annotated Bible. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195288803.
- Ehrman, Bart D. (1999). Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-512473-6.
Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium.
- Rhodes, Ron (2009). The Complete Guide to Bible Translations. Harvest House Publishers. ISBN 9780736931366.
- Saldarini, Anthony J. (2001). "Matthew". In Dunn, James D.G.; Rogerson, John (eds.). Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802837110.
- Sweeney, Marvin A (1996). Isaiah 1 – 39: with an introduction to prophetic literature. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802841001.
External links
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