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NASB | Psalm 119:105 ¶ Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Psalm 119:105 ¶ Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. [Prov 6:23] |
Bible Question:
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? |
Bible Answer: 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 |