English Standard Version

"ESV" redirects here. For other uses, see ESV (disambiguation).

English Standard Version
Full name	English Standard Version
Abbreviation	ESV
Complete Bible published	2001 (revisions in 2007 and 2011); Apocrypha 2009
Derived from	RSV—1971 Revision
Textual basis	OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia with Septuagint influence. Deutero./Apoc.: Göttingen Septuagint, Rahlf's Septuagint and Stuttgart Vulgate. NT: 83% correspondence to Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece 27th edition.
Translation type	Formal Equivalence
Reading level	10.0
Version revision	2007, 2011
Publisher	Crossway Bibles
Copyright	Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a ministry of the Good News Publishers of Wheaton, Illinois, U.S.; Apocrypha Copyright 2009 by Oxford University Press.
Genesis 1:1–3 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. Genesis 1:1 in other translations John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 in other translations

The English Standard Version (ESV) is an English translation of the Christian Bible. It is a revision of the 1971 edition of the Revised Standard Version that employs an "essentially literal" translation philosophy.

History

Work on this translation was prompted, in the early 1990s, by what Dr. Lane T. Dennis stated was a need for a new literal translation by scholars and pastors. A translation committee was formed, and it sought and received permission from the National Council of Churches of Christ in USA to use the 1971 edition of the RSV as the English textual basis for the ESV. About 6% was revised in the ESV.

Translation philosophy

The stated intent of the translators was to follow an "essentially literal" translation philosophy while taking into account differences of grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages.

Revisions

The ESV underwent a minor revision in 2007, and the publisher did not identify the updated text as a revised edition. The update changed about 500 words by focusing on grammar, consistency and clarity. The most notable change was "wounded for our transgressions" to "pierced for our transgressions". Another edition was issued in April 2011, and the 2007 edition has been gradually phased out.

Apocrypha

The publisher, citing that the ESV has been growing in popularity, authorized an edition of the ESV with the Biblical apocrypha included, which was developed by Oxford University Press and published in January, 2009. The publisher's hope for this new edition which includes the Apocrypha is that it will be used widely in seminaries and divinity schools where these books are used as a part of academic study.

The ESV version of the Apocrypha is a revision of the Revised Standard Version 1977 Expanded Edition. The team translating the Apocrypha includes Bernard A. Taylor, David A. deSilva, and Dan McCartney, under the editorship of David Aiken. In the edition including these books, they are printed and arranged in the order of the RSV and NRSV Common Bibles. The Oxford translating team relied on the Göttingen Septuagint for all of the Apocrypha except 4 Maccabees (relying there on Rahlf's Septuagint) and 2 Esdras (the Ancient Greek of which has not survived), which used the German Bible Society's 1983 edition Vulgate.

Use

The ESV has been used as the text of a number of study Bibles, including:

• The Lutheran Study Bible by Concordia Publishing House

• A series of ESV study bibles by Crossway Books: the ESV Global Study Bible, ESV Literary Study Bible, ESV Student Study Bible, and ESV Study Bible

• The MacArthur Study Bible by HarperCollins

• The Reformation Study Bible by Ligonier Ministries

• The Scofield Study Bible III (an update and revision of the classic dispensational premillennialist Scofield Reference Bible) by Oxford University Press

Additionally, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod adopted the ESV as the official text used in its official hymnal Lutheran Service Book, released in August 2006.

Criticism

Mark L. Strauss, in a paper presented at the 2008 annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, criticized the ESV for using dated language and stated it is unsuited for mainstream use. On the other hand, he has defended gender-inclusive language in translation and claims the ESV uses similar gender-inclusive language and speculated that criticism of the ESV by competing Bible translations is contrived for marketing purposes. ESV translator Wayne Grudem has responded that, while on occasion the ESV translates person or one where previous translations used man, it keeps gender-specific language and does not go as far as other translations; the ESV website makes a similar statement. ESV translator William D. Mounce has called these arguments against the ESV ad hominem.

Criticism has arisen in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, which uses the ESV as its official translation, that its frequent translation of the Hebrew word mishpatim ("judgements" or "decrees") as "rules" is not only an impoverished translation of a very rich word, but also somewhat legalistic.

External links

• Official Site
• ESV Bible