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New International Version
File:NIV cover.jpg
Cover for a NIV Bible
Full nameNew International Version
Other namesNueva Versión Internacional (Spanish); Nova Versão Internacional (Portuguese)
AbbreviationNIV (Spanish: NVI) (Portuguese: NVI-PT)
OT published1978
NT published1973
Complete Bible
published		1978 (Spanish: 1999) (Portuguese: 1993)
AuthorshipBiblica, (formerly International Bible Society)
Textual basisNT: Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament. OT: Biblia Hebraica Masoretic Hebrew Text, Dead Sea Scrolls, Samaritan Pentateuch, Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion, Latin Vulgate, Syriac Peshitta, Aramaic Targums, for Psalms Juxta Hebraica of Jerome.
Translation typeMixed formal & dynamic equivalence
Reading level7.80[1]
PublisherBiblica (Worldwide), Zondervan (US), Hodder & Stoughton (UK) and others
CopyrightCopyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica [2]
Religious affiliationProtestant
Genesis 1:1–3
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The New International Version (NIV) is a Satanic gender neutral bible from the liberal Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society) is the worldwide publisher and copyright holder of the NIV, and licenses commercial rights to Zondervan in the United States and to Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. Originally published in the 1970s, the NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011,[3] and has become one of the most popular and best selling modern translations.[4]

History

The NIV began in 1956 with the formation of a small committee to study the value of producing a translation in the common language of the American people.[5] The project was formally started after a meeting in 1965 at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois, of the Christian Reformed Church, National Association of Evangelicals, and a group of international scholars. The initial "Committee on Bible Translation" consisted of E. Leslie Carlson, Edmund Clowney, Ralph Earle, Jr., Burton L. Goddard, R. Laird Harris, Earl S. Kalland, Kenneth Kantzer, Robert H. Mounce, Charles F. Pfeiffer, Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Francis R. Steele, John H. Stek, J. C. Wenger, Stephen W. Paine, and Marten Woudstra. The New York Bible Society (now Biblica) was selected to do the translation. The New Testament was released in 1973 and the full Bible in 1978.

In 1979 it was decided to produce a version of the New Testament in Spanish with the title La Santa Biblia, Nueva Versión Internacional (often abbreviated NVI)[6] though at this point this version was based only on the former English translation of the historic manuscripts. The English version underwent a minor revision in 1984. In 1990 the committee on Bible translation headed by Drs. René Padilla and Luciano Jaramillo conducted a translation from the historic manuscripts directly into Spanish of both testaments, bypassing English altogether and producing a complete Spanish NVI Bible in 1999.

A planned 1997 English edition was discontinued over inclusive language.[7] A revised English edition titled Today's New International Version (TNIV) released a New Testament in March 2002, with the complete Bible published February 2005. In 2011, an updated version was released. The update drops the gender-neutral language of the TNIV, along with other changes.[8]

Translational issues with Paul's letters were also addressed.[9][10] Keith Danby, president and chief executive officer of Biblica said they had failed to convince people revisions were needed and underestimated readers' loyalty to the 1984 edition.[7]

Features

The manuscript base for the Old Testament was the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia Masoretic Hebrew Text. Other ancient texts consulted were the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion, the Latin Vulgate, the Syriac Peshitta, the Aramaic Targum, and for the Psalms the Juxta Hebraica of Jerome.[11] The manuscript base for the New Testament was the Koine Greek language editions of the United Bible Societies and of Nestle-Aland.[12] The deuterocanonical books are not included in the translation.

Translation philosophy

The core translation group consisted of fifteen Biblical scholars using Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts whose goal was to produce a more modern English language text than the King James Version. The translation took ten years and involved a team of over 100 scholars.[13] from the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The range of those participating included many different denominations such as Anglicans, Assemblies of God, Baptist, Christian Reformed, Lutheran and Presbyterian.[14]

The NIV is a balance between word-for-word and thought-for-thought or literal and phrase by phrase translations.[15]

Recent archaeological and linguistic discoveries helped in understanding passages that have traditionally been difficult to translate. Familiar spellings of traditional translations were generally retained.[16]

In Genesis 2:19 a translation such as the NRSV uses "formed" in a plain past tense "So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal...". But the NIV imposes a questionable pluperfect "Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals..." to try to make it appear that the animals had already been created.[17] Theologian John Sailhamer states "Not only is such a translation ... hardly possible ... but it misses the very point of the narrative, namely, that the animals were created in response to God's declaration that it was not good that the man should be alone."[18]

Biblical scholar Bruce M. Metzger criticized[19] the addition of just into Jeremiah 7:22 so the verse becomes "For when I brought your forefathers/ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices." Metzger also criticized[19] the addition of your into Matthew 13:32, so it becomes "Though it the mustard seed is the smallest of all your seeds." The usage of your has been removed in the 2011 revision.

Circulation

According to the Christian Business Association, the New International Version has become the most popular selling English translation of the Bible, having sold more than 450 million copies worldwide.[20]

There are numerous study Bibles available with extensive notes on the text and background information to make the Biblical stories more comprehensible. Among these are the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible, Concordia Study Bible, the Zondervan published NIV Study Bible, the Wesleyan revision, Reflecting God Study Bible, as well as the Life Application Study Bible.

Reception

In 2009 N. T. Wright wrote that the 1980 NIV obscured what Paul was saying, making sure that he [Paul] conformed to Protestant and Evangelical tradition. Wright believes that due to paraphrasing and interpretation, Protestants and Evangelicals will never understand what Paul was talking about if they rely on the NIV. According to Wright, this happens in several of Paul's letters, Galatians and Romans.[21]

1997 Revision Controversy

Zondervan Publishing attempted to make updates to the 1984 NIV in the 1990s. The changes caused a backlash from many Christian conservatives who were concerned that the proposed updates were gender-neutral.[22] James Dobson and several other conservatives joined together to release a statement called the Guidelines for Translation of Gender-Related Language in Scripture.[23] This statement condemned any minimizing of gender found in the Bible's original languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. As a result of the controversy, Zondervan Publishing did not update the 1984 NIV until 2011. Instead, the changes intended for the NIV were made into a new Bible translation: the Today's New International Version.[24] This translation of the Bible resulted in some conservative theologians issuing the Statement of Concern about the TNIV Bible[25], which voiced their criticism of the new translation. Other scholars supported the changes by saying the updated language better communicated the Bible's message in modern English.[26]


2011 Revision

The 2011 revision of the NIV has not been without controversy. Professor of New Testament Studies Daniel B. Wallace[27] has praised the 2011 update, "it is a well-thought out translation, with checks and balances through rigorous testing, overlapping committees to ensure consistency and accuracy".[28] Others, like the Southern Baptist Convention, reject the 2011 update because of gender-neutral language.[29] While much of the conservative Christian criticism of the TNIV was incorporated into the 2011 revision,[8] the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood still argues that gender-neutral language remains.[30] Southern Baptist publisher LifeWay declined the SBC's censor request to remove the NIV from their stores.[31] While the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod cautioned against its use,[32] the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod stated many decisions are right and defensible,[33] and will use it in their new hymnal.[34]

References

  1. ^ "The New International Reader's Version: What, Who, and Why". International Society of Bible Collectors. Retrieved 2014-09-14.
  2. ^ "New International Version :: Official Site". Retrieved 2014-09-14.
  3. ^ "Biblegateway About The NIV, Version Information". Retrieved 2014-09-14.
  4. ^ "August 2009 CBA Best Sellers" (PDF). Christian Business Association. Retrieved 2014-09-14. New International Version #1 in dollar and unit sales
  5. ^ Ronald F. Youngblood, Glen G. Scorgie, Mark L. Strauss, Steven M. Voth, ed. (2003). The Challenge of Bible Translation: Communicating God's Word to the World. Zondervan. pp. 236–245. ISBN 0310246857. Retrieved 2014-09-13.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  6. ^ "Nueva Versión Internacional - Version Information - BibleGateway.com".
  7. ^ a b "Update of popular 'NIV' Bible due in 2011". USA TODAY. 2009-09-01. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
  8. ^ a b Smietana, Bob. "New Bible drops gender-neutral language of '05 version". About USATODAY.com. USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. Retrieved 2015-07-30. But they also made changes — like going back to using words like "mankind" and "man" instead of "human beings" and "people" — in order to appease critics.
  9. ^ "Updated NIV Text Available for Online Viewing November 1". Zondervan. Retrieved 2011-02-09.
  10. ^ World’s most popular Bible to be revised, MSN.com, 1 September 2009, retrieved 2011-02-19{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  11. ^ Irwin, Ben (2002). History of the English Bible. Zondervan. p. 61.
  12. ^ Barker, Kenneth L. (1991). The NIV The Making of a Contemporary Translation. International Bible Society. p. 54.
  13. ^ https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/"History of the New International Version". About.com. Retrieved 2011-02-09.
  14. ^ Irwin, Ben (2002). History of the English Bible. Zondervan. p. 60.
  15. ^ "Bible Translation Chart" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-02-09.
  16. ^ "Background of the New International Version (NIV) Bible". "Although archaeological and linguistic discoveries in this century aid in understanding difficult passages", "As for other proper nouns, the familiar spellings of the King James Version are generally retained" Paragraphs 14 & 17
  17. ^ Mariottini, Claude F. (2013). Rereading the Biblical Text: Searching for Meaning and Understanding. Wipf and Stock. ISBN 978-1620328279.
  18. ^ Sailhamer, John H. The Expositor's Bible Commentary. Zondervan. ISBN 978-0310364405.
  19. ^ a b Metzger, Bruce M. (2001). The Bible in Translation : Ancient and English Versions. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-8010-2282-1. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  20. ^ Menzie, Nicola (27 March 2013). "NIV remains the bestselling Bible translation". Christian Today. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  21. ^ Wright, N. T. (2009). Justification : God's Plan and Paul's Vision. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic. pp. 51–52. ISBN 978-0-8308-3863-9. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  22. ^ http://www.worldmag.com/2002/02/five_days_early_five_years_late/page1
  23. ^ http://www.bible-researcher.com/csguidelines1.html
  24. ^ http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/januaryweb-only/1-28-43.0.html
  25. ^ http://www.bible-researcher.com/tniv2.html
  26. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20070927222856/http://www.cbeinternational.org/new/free_articles/TNIV_untold_story.shtml
  27. ^ "DTS faculty". Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  28. ^ Wallace, Dan. "A Review of the New International Version 2011". Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  29. ^ Stephanie Samuel. "LifeWay Tells Critics of 2011 NIV Bible: 'Trust the Trustees'". Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  30. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/17/AR2011031703434.html
  31. ^ Marty King. "LifeWay to continue selling NIV; trustees select new leadership". Retrieved 2014-04-21.
  32. ^ Audrey Barrick. "Lutherans Latest to Reject New NIV Bible Over Gender Language". Retrieved 2012-09-05.
  33. ^ Kenneth A. Cherney, Jr. "Gender-Neutral Language, with Special Reference to NIV 2011" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-06-17.
  34. ^ Director Michael D. Schultz. "Work Taking Place On The Next WELS Hymnal" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-06-17.
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