The ESV has quickly become one of the leading biblical translations. Much has changed on the landscape of English translations in the past few decades. Our knowledge of the original languages and our understanding of textual traditions and historical backgrounds has increased. Coupled with those changes, English usage has shifted under our feet. One crucial detail to recognise about any translation is that it is an interpretation. The ESV is, broadly speaking, an attempt to bring into 21st century English, the translation that has its tradition in the King James Version.
There is much to be said for the ESV:
1. The translators have tried hard to convey the linguistic features of the originals. When words with related roots are used in the original, the ESV typically captures this in the English.
2. The ESV typically tries to leave ambiguous what is ambiguous in the original. It is very popular but completely unhelpful to think of the ESV as a literal translation and that literal is better. The ESV has to (and does) make interpretive calls on a regular basis (see #3) but the closer it stays to the original languages the less useful a translation it ends up being*.
3. The evangelical tradition from which the ESV comes is well served by the interpretive decisions the translators have made. The text is often fresh and yet remains memorable. The interpretive calls that have been made are in line with historical Christendom and will enlighten rather than alarm us.
4. My favourite aspect of the ESV is its translation of the Old Testament. I had been using the NASB quite regularly before using the ESV with any frequency. The NASB often "overtranslates" the Hebrew where the ESV, I find has a much simpler rendering and far more clearly linked to the original texts.
I nevertheless maintain certain misgivings with regards to the ESV:
1. My impression is that the translators have bought too much into the idea of "literal" translations (and many of their customers are to blame). The result is a sometimes (certainly not always) clunky rendering in English that is more laborious than pleasurable to read (the NLT, on the other hand, is managing to capture this essential aspect of translation far more effectively)
2. The idea that it is a literal translation means that the ESV gives the impression that it is not making interpretive calls. Any translator (including those on the ESV committee) will tell you that they are interpreting in order to translate, my gripe is that there is a somewhat deceptive sales pitch going on when those who favour word-for-word translations are sold the ESV as a literal version.
3. Coming out of Christian tradition, the ESV has failed to break free of the idiosyncrasies of Christian-eese, that is the English that is unique to Christians. The more recent NIV11 has responded well by making use of Collins Bank of English to critically examine its own use of English and discovered words like "men" are only used of "humanity" within Christendom (in other words, outside of Christendom, the average person will read the word "men" and think "a bunch of guys"). If we really believe the Bible should be made accessible to the average person, we need to break out of our own usage of English. This is especially true given that gender is such a hot topic and our translations end up gender exclusive in the ears of the world when the original languages are actually inclusive.
Who should/should not use the ESV?
1. I love using the ESV and it is still my primary text. That said, I have knowledge of original languages and I use it because I like the predictability of the translation decisions that the committee has made. So scholars and pastors will be well served by the ESV.
2. In a Bible study I was running with college level students, I found that often even they were struggling to understand the syntax of the English used especially when read aloud. For this reason, the translation I recommend by default is the NIV.
3. I would highly recommend the ESV to someone wanting to explore Scripture more deeply. The NLT is fantastically readable and an excellent guide especially to new readers. The ESV makes you work harder at understanding the text.
4. I would also recommend that the ESV not be the only translation used. Sometimes the ambiguities are only in the English and not in the originals and other translations can show that. Also, other translations are done by scholars just as brilliant as those behind the ESV, the difference is that they are given a different mandate.
The ESV is a wonderful translation, I warmly commend it to you.
* The job of a translator is to convey the meaning of the original. If a translation stays as close as possible to the original, it foregoes the opportunity to unveil what the original language is trying to convey (for more on this, see Doug Moo's talk "We Still Don't Get It: Evangelicals and Bible Translation ..." available as pdf and on youtube).
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Beautiful Bible!
I have used the KJV Bible nearly all my life. Our church switched to the ESV 5 years ago. We have an excellent pastor and elders, so I decided to try the ESV for myself this year. So far, it makes the sermons much easier to follow. The Bible itself is just beautiful! The first copy arrived dented, bent and filthy, as it was just thrown into an Amazon shipping bag with no cardboard sleeve. I returned it with pictures of the damage and they sent this pristine copy. It was in a white cardboard sleeve, then sealed into a shrink wrapped corrugated cardboard packaging material. The 12 point text size is just perfect for easy reading.
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Keith Poulin
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Reviewed in Canada on February 28, 2024
