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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Verdict on the ESV: An opinion poll.. | Ps 119:105 | Makarios | 31554 | ||
Greetings everyone! This is a "follow-up" question on the brand new English Standard Version.. After reviewing this translation by reading excerpts of its text and learning more about it, has your opinion of the ESV changed for greater or for worse? And what would you say has influenced your decision of accepting/rejecting the ESV? |
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2 | Verdict on the ESV: An opinion poll.. | Ps 119:105 | waldo700 | 32537 | ||
I have been perplexed on what to make my "translation of choice" for a long time. I used to love reading the NIV, it was my favorite. But as I became more interested in studying and memorizing, I found that I had to go with the NASB although I did not like the renderings as much. (I found the rendings of the NIV more meaningful while still maintaining accuracy.) Anyway, I got very excited about the ESV. It is readable and it seems to be fairly accurate, (though I am no scholar in the original languages; I have compared certain passages with the Greek and Hebrew in my BibleWorks program. The ESV seems to do a good job. I got stuck however as I realized that, as a study tool and as a memorization version, the ESV does not use italics to indicate which words have been "added" to the translation, as the NASB does. So, while I prefer the readability of the the ESV in many ways and even in some of its renderings, I'm a little gun-shy about depending on it: even its own P.R. materials say that it's only "essentially" literal and admit that the NASB is "strictly" literal, (which I suppose is some kind of putdown)... And, also, there's still that issue about the lack of italicizing the "additions". Oh, one other thing: since it's so new, I'd hate to depend on it, memorize it, and then find out that in twenty years it's out of print. It could be a fad that vanishes, while I don't think that's likely with the NASB. Any thoughts in response to these comments? Thanks, waldo700 |
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3 | Verdict on the ESV: An opinion poll.. | Ps 119:105 | Hank | 32542 | ||
Waldo, the matter of italicized additions doesn't bother me a great deal, except in instances where they are inserted with the idea of lending clarity and fail, because many of them are superfluous anyway. The KJV translators were notorious for inserting the little word "even" wherever they could squeeze it in, "even" when it served no discernable purpose. In my initial readings of the ESV I have discovered that they have managed to minimize the needs for italicized fillers by the way they construct their sentences. Additionally, I find the footnotes in the ESV rather copious and they have added notes and alternate renderings that greatly enchance the reader's understanding of difficult passages and complex locutions. As for your concern about the fate of the ESV (or any other version for that matter) twenty years hence, if misery loves company I'm your partner and share your concern. Who knows in this fast-paced world where all these new translations will end up. At the rate we're going, in twenty years we'll have a choice of, shall we say, a couple of thousand translations to choose from. And you think you have problems choosing now! :-) --Hank | ||||||