 English Standard VersionThe English Standard Version (ESV) is an English translation of the Holy Bible, published in the United States by Crossway Books, and in the United Kingdom by Harper-Collins UK. The first edition was completed in 2001.
Translation Philosophy
In their own words, the translators of the ESV sought to follow an "essentially literal" translation philosophy. To that end, they sought as far as possible to capture the precise wording of the original text and the personal style of each Bible writer, while taking into account differences of grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages. The result is a translation that is more literal than the popular New International Version, but more idiomatic than the New American Standard Bible (which is commonly known as the most literal of the modern translations).
Textual Basis
First and foremost, the ESV is an update of the Revised Standard Version (RSV) of 1971 that replaces the non–Christian interpretations in the RSV, improves the accuracy throughout with more literal renderings, and somewhat updates the language.
When necessary to translate difficult passages, the translators referred to the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible (as found in the second edition of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia), to the United Bible Societies' fourth edition of the Greek New Testament, and to the twenty–seventh edition of Nestle and Aland's Novum Testamentum Graece. In a few exceptionally difficult cases, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Septuagint, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Syriac Peshitta, the Latin Vulgate, and other sources were consulted to shed possible light on the text, or, if necessary, to support a divergence from the Masoretic text.
History
Work on this translation began with discontent (largely amongst Evangelical Christians) over the perceived looseness of style and content of modern English Bible translations, as well as the apparent trend toward gender-neutral language in emerging translations, such as the Today's New International Version and the New Revised Standard Version, among others.
In 1997, Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family called together a meeting of individuals concerned with these issues, and from it came the "Colorado Springs Guidelines" (http://www.bible-researcher.com/csguidelines.html): a set of translation principles that ruled out the use of gender–neutral language. After this, permission was sought, and granted, from the National Council of Churches to use the 1971 revision of the RSV as the English textual basis for the ESV.
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