Evaluation of the English Standard Version Bible Translation

Photo Attribution: “Friday Morning” By Jona Park; CC 2.0

Introduction:

The English Standard Version (ESV) is a version of the Bible that was published by Crossway in 2001, and later revised to the current version in 2011. According to the Preface, it is an “essentially literal” translation of the Bible, meaning its goal is to have transparency in accordance with the original biblical languages while holding to the modern styles of English grammar, writing, and oratory. The ESV takes steps to make sure the best nuances of the original languages are reflected as accurately as possible, while making the proper changes to meet the needs of English sentence structure.

Text:

The English Standard Version of the Bible has numerous predecessors in its line of translations, including William Tyndale’s New Testament (1526), the King James Version (1611), the American Standard Version (1901), and the Revised Standard Version (1952, 1971).
Originally grounded in biblical languages, the foundation for the ESV is the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible, or the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (2nd ed., 1983), while the New Testament was based on the UBS Greek New Testament (4th corrected ed.) and the Novum Testamentum Graece (27th ed.), edited by Nestle and Aland. In the most difficult areas, the translators of the ESV consulted such texts as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Septuagint, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Syriac Peshitta, the Latin Vulgate, as well as other lesser-know older manuscripts.

In this translation, one of its main goals is to preserve God’s word in its entirety, while adhering to the best resources possible by using methods of textual criticism. In many disputed passages, the ESV offers footnotes that will provide alternative wordings or explanations that are more consistent with older, more reliable manuscripts while keeping what has been translated in most English Bible traditions still alive. For example, in 1 Samuel 13:1, the text reads “Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when hen had reigned for two years over Israel,” while the footnotes on this particular disputed passage read “some Greek manuscripts give Saul’s age when he began to reign as thirty years.” The ESV opted to provide what has traditionally been translated based on what manuscripts were available for a long time, while making the possible alternative wording available to the reader.

Since the ESV is an “essentially literal” translation, many disputed passages or parts of passages have been omitted due to textual analysis of manuscripts, which are considered to be more reliable than those of some of its predecessors. For example, comparing the ESV to a translation hinged more on the Byzantine tradition of Bible manuscripts, such as the King James Version, may reveal certain verses or parts of verses lacking in the ESV. In reality, those verses were more likely added in by scribes of the Byzantine tradition, because older manuscripts scholars consider to be more reliable have been discovered since the printing of the KJV that reveal certain things that were most likely not in Bible autographs. For example, Acts 8:37 is a disputed text, and the translators of the ESV have chosen to omit it from the translation, based on reasons listed above. With this translation, disputed passages are almost always omitted from the text and demoted to footnotes, with the exception of Mark 16:9-20. The ESV keeps this section in the text with an extensive explanation at the bottom. 1 John 5:7-8 omits the section on Father, Word, and Holy Spirit. John 7:53-8:11 is a disputed passage, but they keep it in with a note at the bottom. The same is with Mark 16: 9-20. The verse in John 5:4 was omitted, as well as Mark 6:13b.

Accuracy:

As mentioned above, the ESV is a version that comes from a legacy of Bibles improving on existing translations. Its earliest predecessor being William Tyndale’s New Testament of 1526, other Bibles in this line would be the King James Version (1611), the American Standard Version (1901), and the Revised Standard Version (1952, 1971). The ESV is one of the most up-to-date Bible translations to this day. Its original copyright was by Crossway in 2001, with its latest update and printing in 2011. The translations first and foremost commitment is to the original languages, while secondarily keeping with the translation style of its predecessors and modern English linguistic trends.

The ESV has a publishing team of over a hundred people, all of whom have a love for God’s word and a commitment to keeping Christian orthodoxy. A fourteen-member Translation Oversight Committee headed the translation team with more than 50 biblical experts serving as Translation Review Scholars. The team as a whole was comprised of leaders from many different denominations, therefore keeping doctrinal bias to a minimum.

Readability:

Unlike most essentially literal translations, the ESV reads at an eighth grade reading level; which is the average adult reading level for people in the United States. Considering it is a literal translation, transparency was very important to the scholars assembling it. The ESV includes various theological terms, such as grace, justification, sanctification, redemption, and regeneration, as well as many sentence connections that are so fluent in the original languages (repetitively using words such as “but,” “and,” and “for.”) that it would not be beneficial to change them for fluidity purposes while sacrificing transparency. Stylistic experts were used to make sure the transparency of original meaning did not sacrifice readability in modern English. The ESV follows linguistic styles of modern American English, while remaining a word-for word translation.

Use:

According to the Preface to the ESV, this translation is ideal for use in many different situations. From scholars, seminary students, to home study, personal devotion, and preaching. However, due to repetitive sentence connections, some people find it somewhat dry to use for public reading, although it can still be used for that purpose.

Notes/Annotations:

The particular Bible I am examining is the Wide Margin Reference Bible. There are no notes in it, only cross-references to different passages.

Format:

The print in the Bible I am using is at a comfortable size for most readers. It is set up with the traditional two columns of biblical texts, with one-inch margins on all sides so the reader may make notes as needed. There are section headings added in by the publisher, while poetic language and references to the Old Testament in the New Testament are in poetic form.

Inclusive Language:

This translation uses inclusive language where the translators deemed it to be exegetically correct. The ESV makes no attempt to try to be politically correct as some translations have, however there are many areas in scripture where the correct English translation of a pronoun may be gender neutral. For example, in Genesis 1:26, there is still exclusivity in the statement “Let us make man in our own image.”

Oral reading/Aural Comprehension:

The ESV can be a more difficult version of the Bible to hear out loud, considering its use of theological terms and many pauses and repetitive sentence connections. Considering it is at an eighth grade reading level, it can still be useful for public reading, however there are many translations with a more dynamic equivalence that may be more suited for that purpose than the ESV.

Conclusion:

The English Standard Version is an overall brilliant translation of the Bible. The team of translators did an amazing job prayerfully and carefully putting together a Bible in English that can be used for different purposes.

The best uses of the ESV are scholarly, personal study, preaching, and personal devotion. The area where it may be lacking is the area of public reading of scripture. As stated above, it can be somewhat difficult for listeners to comprehend because of the format, sentence structure, and choice of words. However, it is a great Bible for every day Christians to use, do to the fact that it is very readable but also very literal. I would highly recommend this Bible to any Christian.