Modern English Version

Modern English Version (MEV), edited by James F. Linzey, is a 400-year update of the King James Version (KJV), re-translated from the original Masoretic Text and the Textus Receptus. The ecumenical Committee on Bible Translation (Committee) is comprised of 47 scholars from the three branches of Christendom: Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox.

Vision

In June 2005, Southern Baptist minister and chief editor Rev. James F. Linzey saw the need to update the KJV to enhance Bible translation on the mission field and preserve the legacy of the KJV for future generations, and he set out to assemble an ecumenical Committee on Bible Translation comprised of vetted scholars, including Stanley M. Horton serving as the senior editorial advisor. The Committee produced an updated edition of the KJV called the MEV, which is the KJV in a more modern English vernacular. The translators began their work on June 2, 2005; they completed the New Testament on October 25, 2011, and the Old Testament on May 28, 2014.

Mission

Christian missions have always included translating Scripture. Consequently, missionaries have translated Scripture into over four hundred languages today. Due to limited training in biblical linguistics, such as Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic, missionaries have usually translated the KJV into the target language. Likewise, the MEV is useful to missionaries to continue the mission to provide the Holy Bible to all people groups throughout the world.

Translation Philosophy

The Committee re-translated the Textus Receptus and the Jacob ben Hayyim edition of the Masoretic Text, using the KJV as a reference. The translators adhered to the principle of formal equivalence, to be as literal as proper English syntax and grammar would allow. Due to the impossibility of translating each word from Greek and Hebrew into English while using proper syntax, some words were left untranslated. As an example, the Semitism in Matthew 11:4 transliterated as, ' kai apokritheis Ho Iesous eipen autois, ' is translated in the KJV as ‘Jesus answered and said unto them.’ Since this is not an effective rendition in the modern English vernacular due to the repetitive words, the phrase was translated as ‘Jesus answered them.’ This in no way makes the MEV less literal than the KJV, whose translators did not intend to produce a literal translation, as stated in the original preface of 1611. To illustrate, neither the KJV nor the MEV translators translated the Greek ‘Ho’ as ‘the,’ or translated ‘apokritheis’ literally as ‘answering.’ This would not have made sense. The goal of both committees of the KJV and the MEV was to use proper English grammar and syntax in the modern English vernacular of their day. The differences between the KJV and the MEV may give the appearance that a Greek text other than the Textus Receptus may have been used for the MEV. On the contrary, a different English rendering was sometimes used to re-translate the Textus Receptus.

One of the major goals of the MEV translators was to avoid archaic and non-standard, purely literalistic English in order to achieve a contemporary English translation of the Textus Receptus, and use what is known today about linguistics and ancient literary and cultural understandings. This was the same approach used by the original translators of the KJV for their own cultural and linguistic setting.

Ecumenical Composition

Forty-seven American and English translators have formed an ecumenical translation committee, representing churches such as the Baptist Union of Great Britain, Charismatic Episcopal Church, International Church of the Nazarene, Church of Christ, Church of England, Church of God, Elim Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Free Methodist Church of North America, General Council of the Assemblies of God, International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, Methodist Church of Great Britain, Orthodox Church, Presbyterian Church in America, Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, Roman Catholic Church, Southern Baptist Convention, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, and United Reformed Churches in North America.

Academic Background

As professors or graduates, the translators represent institutions such as the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, the College of William and Mary, Evangel University, Fuller Theological Seminary, Geneva College, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Harvard University, Hebrew Union College, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Oklahoma Baptist University, Oral Roberts University, the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Pentecostal Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Saint Leo University, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Stanford University, the University of Notre Dame, Vanguard University of Southern California, Westminster Seminary California, Westminster Theological Seminary, and Yale University.

Committee on Bible Translation

Senior editorial committee: Stanley M. Horton, Th.D., senior editorial advisor; James F. Linzey, M.Div. chief editor; N. Blake Hearson, Ph.D., editor-in-chief, Old Testament; Edward W. Watson, Ph.D., editor-in-chief, New Testament.

Sectional editors: T. J. Betts, Ph.D., editor, Pentateuch; Eric A. Mitchell, Ph.D., editor, Historical Writings; David M. Morgan, Ph.D., editor, Poetic and Wisdom Literature; Ishwaran Mudliar, Ph.D., editor, Major Prophets; Stephen L. Herring, Ph.D., editor, Minor Prophets; Jonathan M. Watt, Ph.D., editor, Synoptic Gospels and Acts; Edward W. Watson, Ph.D., editor, Pauline Corpus; Jeffrey S. Lamp, Ph.D., editor, Hebrews and General Epistles; Daniel Fletcher, Ph.D., editor, Johannine Corpus.

Translators of the Pentateuch: William C. Baron, S.T.D., Ph.D.; T. J. Betts, Ph.D. ; Jack J. Chinn, M.Div.; N. Blake Hearson, Ph.D.; David M. Morgan, Ph.D.; Rob E. Noland, M.A., M.Div.; Paul A. Smith, Ph.D.; Donald R. Vance, Ph.D.

Translators of the Historical Writings: Scott N. Callaham, Ph.D., R. Adam Dodd, M.Div., Th.M., Ph.D. Candidate; Archie W. England, Ph.D.; Robert J. Lucas, D.D.; Eric A. Mitchell, Ph.D.; Randy Payne, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate; David W. Plank, Ph.D.; John B. Porter, Ph.D.; Jeffrey Rankin, Ph.D.

Translators of the Poetic and Wisdom Literature: John Berger, M.Div.; Jack J. Chinn, M.Div.; Richard D. Israel, Ph.D.; Verna M. Linzey, D.D. ; Lee Roy Martin, Th.D.; David M. Morgan, Ph.D.; John B. Porter, Ph.D.

Translators of the Major Prophets: Robert J. Lucas, D.D.; Ishwaran Mudliar, Ph.D.; John B. Porter, Ph.D.

Translators of the Minor Prophets: Jack J. Chinn, M.Div.; Stephen L. Herring, Ph.D.; Robert J. Lucas, D.D.; David M. Morgan, Ph.D.; John B. Porter, Ph.D.; Eugene C. Ulrich, Ph.D.; Ting Wang, Ph.D.

Translators of the Synoptic Gospels and Acts: R. Glenn Brown, M.Div., Th.M.; Jeffrey S. Lamp, Ph.D.; James F. Linzey, M.Div.; Michael Pacella, III, M.Div., Th.M.; John B. Porter, Ph.D.; Arthur R. Stull, II, M.Div.

Translators of the Pauline Epistles: William C. Baron, S.T.D., Ph.D.; Derke P. Bergsma, Th.D., Rel.D.; Daniel Fletcher, Ph.D.; Rudolph D. Gonzalez, Ph.D.; James Hough, M.Div.; Richard D. Israel, Ph.D.; Glen R. Kelso, M.Div.; Jeffrey S. Lamp, Ph.D.; Rob E. Noland, M.A., M.Div.; Michael Pacella, III, M.Div., Th.M.; Jerry Sutton, D.D.; Jonathan M. Watt, Ph.D.

Translators of Hebrews and the General Epistles: Nicolas Camacho, M.Div.; Tommy Keene, Ph.D.; Rob E. Noland, M.A., M.Div.; Michael Pacella, III, M.Div., Th.M. ; Gail E. Porter, M.Div.; Richard Prendergast, D.D.; Edward W. Watson, Ph.D.

Translators of the Johannine Literature: Robert A. Berg, Ph.D. ; Jim F. Betz, M.Div.; David C. Cleaveland, M.Div.; Robert J. Lucas, D.D. ; Michael Pacella, III, M.Div., Th.M. ; John B. Porter, Ph.D.