"The ESV satisfies the preaching, memorizing, studying, and reading needs of our church, from children to adults. We are building all of our future ministry around it.” John Piper
The study Bible gets equally rave reviews.
"An invaluable and inexhaustible resource... I am deeply grateful for this magnificent work." Nancy Leigh DeMoss
"Finest study tool I've seen in 50 years of Bible teaching." Jerry Bridges
With that kind of support what more needs to be said? Well...at risk of showing my ignorance more than anything else, I want to share my thoughts on the new ESV Study Bible. I find that the English flows much better than the NASB which makes it a good Bible for public reading. The study notes and helps are excellent. And I love that when you buy the study Bible you also receive access to the whole thing online.
But I struggle with some of the interpretation choices I've come across in recent study. Romans 12:16 in the NASB says "Be of the same mind toward one another." ESV says, "Live in harmony with one another." I don't think they necessarily mean the same thing and from what I can tell, the NASB better represents the Greek. I see the same kind of thing in Romans 14:1. NASB: "Now accept the one who is weak in faith." ESV: "As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him." Is welcoming someone the same as accepting them? I claim virtually no knowledge of the original languages; I am undoubtedly out-classed in this by the people I have quoted above. So perhaps I am way off base here and over my head. Perhaps I'm trying to make something out of nothing.
Perhaps for me, it is really about preference. I have been reading, studying and memorizing the NASB for over twenty years now, since I was told in Bible school that it was the most literal translation. Obviously I have grown accustomed to and comfortable with it. Could it be simply that, as the previous generation was unwilling to give up the KJV, I prefer to cling to what has become familiar?
I do plan to use the ESV for some personal and public reading. I will make good use of the study aids and will include this translation for study comparison. But for now, I plan to keep the NASB as my main study and pulpit Bible and if anyone asks, will continue to make it my recommendation.
Grace and peace,
Dave
2 comments:
Having not even heard of the ESV Bible before now, and not stopping to look it up before I make this comment, what I would like to say is based on your quote by Sproul. I stopped for a moment to consider the quote before continuing on, and I think that my thoughts are echoing your own.
I'm wondering what Sproul meant exactly by saying that this Bible "achieves a new standard in accurate Bible translations FOR OUR DAY[emphasis mine]". It would seem to me that the most accurate Bible translation would be one that strives to most accurately translate the original text, not one that strives to make it more readable for today's lazy population. Our language hasn't progressed so much of the last 20 years that words don't mean what they once did.
If I'm not mistaken, this is the same point you were making: does welcome now mean the same thing as accept used to? I don't think so. So what exactly makes this "more accurate" than another Bible. If anything it seems to make it less accurate. But that's just my opinion (and I'm far, far, far lower than you are on the expert scale of such things).
I don't think I'm saying quite the same as you are. I think/hope that making it more readable means that it will be read more. In seeking to be literal, the NASB followed the sentence structure of the Greek more closely which often made the English sentences less clear. I think the ESV is a definite improvement in that way. Also, the NASB has been around for nearly 40 years now(I've been using it for 20) and language does and has changed in that time. I do wonder how translators decide on what they believe to be the best translation of any given word. And I still think that for serious Bible study it is best to compare a few quality translations any way.
Dave
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