English Bible Versions
Links updated October 2007
- The Online Parallel Bible Project. By John Isett. A fast-loading site that includes the King James version, English Revised version (1885), American Standard version (1901), New American Standard, Young's Literal Translation, Webster's revision of the KJV, the Bible in Basic English, Darby's version, the Challoner-Rheims, the God's Word translation, the old Jewish Publication Society version of the OT, Tyndale's New Testament, and Weymouth's. Also has several Hebrew and Greek texts (including an interlinear NT with parsing and concordance), commentaries, etc.
- The Bible Gateway. By Nick Hengeveld. Many versions for browsing or searching, including the American Standard Version (1901), New American Standard Bible (with notes), English Standard Version (with notes), New International Version (with notes), King James Version, New King James Version (with notes), Darby's New Translation, Young's Literal Translation, the Amplified Bible, Contemporary English Version, the New Living Translation, The Message, and a modern-spelling edition of Wycliffe's New Testament. Search on whole words, parts of words, or phrases.
- The Unbound Bible. At Biola University. English versions include the New American Standard Bible, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English, Darby's New Translation, the Douay-Rheims version (Challoner revision), King James Version, Webster's revision of the KJV, Weymouth's NT, Young's Literal Translation. Texts include the Hebrew Old Testament, the Septuagint, the Greek New Testament (in four different editions), and the Latin Vulgate. Learning to use this resource is a bit of a challenge.
- The Blue Letter Bible. Here you can search the King James Version, and view the following others: the New King James Version, New Living Translation, New American Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, Webster's Revision of the KJV, Young's Literal Translation, Darby's Translation, American Standard Version, and the Latin Vulgate. You can also view the Hebrew or Greek text, and for each word of the original text you can see the entry in the Hebrew lexicon of Gesenius (as translated by Tregelles) or the Greek lexicon of Thayer.
- Olive Tree Bible. Search or browse the New King James Version, New American Standard Bible, King James Version, Revised Standard Version, Modern King James Version, Literal Translation Version (Green), American Standard Version, Darby's New Translation, Weymouth New Testament, Young's Literal Translation, Contemporary English Version, Today's English Version, International Standard Version, Rotherham's Emphasized Bible, and the Jewish Publication Society translation (1917).
- Bible Database Online Bibles. By Brent Maurer. The King James, Webster's, Young's Literal Translation, American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, and the Wycliffe New Testament online in chapter files. This site also has many Bibles in other European and Asian languages.
- Crosswalk.com's Bible Study Tools. There are some recent versions on this site that are not available elsewhere. The catch is, you have to view them in a little window surrounded by agressive ads for the latest foolheaded books and videos. But this may be an appropriate setting for some of the new versions! Included are the New American Standard Bible, American Standard Version, New King James Version, King James Version, Third Millennium Bible, New Living Translation, New Revised Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, Today's English Version, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner Revision), New Century Version, God's Word Translation, World English Bible, The Bible in Basic English, The Darby Translation, The Webster Bible, Young's Literal Translation, Holman Christian Standard Bible, Wesley's New Testament, and the Latin Vulgate.
- English Standard Version (Crossway, 2001). The recently published evangelical revision of the RSV, now available for browsing or searching online. Sophisticated advanced search options allow even searching of the marginal notes.
- Holman Christian Standard Bible. The entire HCSB Bible with its marginal notes.
- The NET Bible. From the Biblical Studies Foundation. This is a new on-line English translation, featuring thousands of text-critical and philological annotations. For reading only, with no search program. The notes are the really valuable thing here.
- Browse RSV and KJV Bibles in Frames. From the University of Virginia. Search or browse the King James Version and the Revised Standard Version of the Bible and Apocrypha side by side.
- New Revised Standard Version. Complete text with notes, courtesy of Dr. Barry Bandstra of Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
- New Revised Standard Version, Anglicized Edition (1995). Complete text with its marginal notes. From the Oremus Bible Browser. Also available here is the text of the original American edition of the NRSV (1989) without the notes, and three different liturgical Psalters that have been used in the Anglican Church.
- The New American Bible. Full text of the official Roman Catholic version, courtesy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
- J.B. Phillips' paraphrase of the New Testament (1962 edition), provided by Gordon Smith of Wales. Very nicely formatted. With introductions and other helps.
- Wesley's New Testament of 1790, minus the notes, in book files. Provided by the Wesley Center for Applied Theology at Northwest Nazarene College, Nampa, Idaho.
- Jewish Publication Society Translation of the Old Testament (1917 edition), courtesy of Mechon Mamre. Also here.
- Good News Bible, British usage edition (1994). Put online by the British and Foreign Bible Society. Also on this site is the British edition of the Contemporary English Version (1997).
- Parallel KJV and ERV (1885) — The Parallel Bible. The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments translated out of the Original Tongues: being the Authorised Version arranged in parallel columns with the Revised Version (Oxford University Press, 1885).
- The Online Bible. An first-rate Bible program you can download to your computer for free. After downloading and installing the program, you can return to the site to add many different English versions, also for free. This is much better than trying to study online at the several sites listed above, because a program on your hard drive is many times faster than anything operated from the web.
- The Sword Project. Another program similar to the Online Bible, with many versions and original language texts.
- E-Sword. Another free Bible program, with commentaries (including Barnes, Clarke, Gill), dictionaries (ISBE, BDB), and a large variety of translations (including the English Standard Version and the Holman Christian Standard Bible).
- Bible Database. By Brent Maurer. Another free downloadable Bible study program with multiple versions.
- The Unbound Bible download page. Download several English versions and original language texts in zipped archive format.
- The Cædmon Manuscript: parts of Genesis, Exodus and Daniel in Old English verse, illustrated with Anglo-Saxon drawings, c. A.D. 1000. From the Early Manuscripts at Oxford University. Extremely large (3-4 megabyte) digital facsimiles of complete manuscripts, scanned directly from the originals.
- A transcription of the Cædmon Manuscript (Codex Junius 11) and of the Paris Psalter are online at the Labyrinth Library of Old English Literature.
- Modern English translation of the Cædmon manuscript (Codex Junius 11). By George W. Kennedy, The Caedmon Poems (New York, 1916). Provided by the Online Medieval and Classical Library.
- The Complete Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Poetry has electronic texts of many Anglo-Saxon works, including the text of the Caedmon poems and the Paris Psalter.
- The Paris Psalter. Richard Stracke at Augusta State University. An edition of the Latin and Old English of the first fifty psalms in the Paris Psalter (ms. bibliothèque nationale fonds latin 8824), with introduction, notes, and glossary.
- The Polyglot Bible. By Mark Davies at Brigham Young University. This resource includes the Gospel of Luke in Anglo-Saxon.
- The Gothic and Anglo-Saxon Gospels in parallel columns, with the versions of Wycliffe and Tyndale, arranged with preface and notes by the Rev. Joseph Bosworth. 2nd ed. (London: Smith, 1874).
- Tyndale's first edition of the New Testament (1526), in modern spelling, provided by Mario Valente of New Jersey. The same text is also available with verse numbering on the same site.
- Tyndale's New Testament (1534 edition) in original spelling, online in text files. This transcription has some problems. See my critique here.
- Searchable Tyndale New Testament at studylight.org. Although this is labeled "Tyndale New Testament (1526)," it is not the 1526 text: it is the 1534 text, derived from the Fedosov transcription (original spelling), with a search utility. Bear in mind that when searching for words you must use the old spelling, and you must take account of the errors in this transcription.
- An answer to sir Thomas More's dialogue, by William Tyndale. In this book Tyndale responds to More's criticism of his New Testament translation.
- William Tyndale's Five Books of Moses, Called the Pentateuch: Being a Verbatim Reprint ..., edited by Jacob Isidor Mombert.
- The Bible in the Renaissance - William Tyndale. By Henry Wansbrough. An interesting study on the background and character of Tyndale's translation.
- William Tyndale - Heretical Blasphemer? By Michael Scheifler. An energetic defense of Tyndale against Sir Thomas More's criticisms.
- The Stuttgart Volume of Tyndale's 1526 New Testament. A full description with good images, courtesy of the Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart.
- William Tyndale: Covenant Theologian, Christian Martyr. Part 1: Background and Early Biography and Part 2: Later Biography. By Jules Grisham, at Third Millenium Ministries. This is the best biography of Tyndale on the web.
- William Tyndale resource page of the "Bibliotheca Augustana" maintained by Prof. Ulrich Harsch in Augsburg, Germany.
- The First Printed English New Testament. Seven large PDF files containing images of an old facsimile edition of the uncompleted Cologne quarto (1525), with lengthy introduction by Edward Arber (London, 1871). Provided by the Case Western Reserve University Library. Arber's introduction: part 1 (128KB, 7 pages); part 2 (1,539KB, 41 pages); part 3 (799KB, 25 pages); Facsimile of Tyndale's edition: part 1 (1,871KB, 20 pages); part 2 (1,584KB, 16 pages); part 3 (1,553KB, 16 pages); part 4 (1,406KB, 15 pages).
- The First printed English New Testament. Same book as above, online in separate page images.
- William Tyndale and the History of the English Bible. Several files on aspects of Tyndale's life and work, provided by the drama troupe "Fire for the Ploughman."
- The Tyndale Society. A scholarly society that promotes the study of Tyndale and his times. The site has some good articles from The Tyndale Society Journal, notices of books published by members, and a good links page.
- Tyndale resources compiled by Anniina Jokinen.
- Tyndale's New Testament of 1526 — The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: published in 1526. Being the First Translation from the Greek into English, by that Eminent Scholar and Martyr, William Tyndale. Reprinted Verbatim: with a Memoir of his Life and Writings, by George Offor. Together with the Proceedings and Correspondence of Henry VIII., Sir T. More, and Lord Cromwell (London: Samuel Bagster, 1836). Also here in an American reprint (Andover: Gould and Newman, 1837).
- 1560 Geneva Bible in original spelling, in html format. The original notes may also be seen by clicking on a link on the right side of the page.
- Searchable Geneva Bible at studylight.org. Full text in original spelling, with a search utility. The notes are omitted.
- The Geneva Bible. A brief history of the version, and files giving all the annotations of a 1599 edition of the Geneva Bible. Please note: the annotations that are given here (and on many other sites) are not the original notes of the Geneva Bible as published in 1560. Copies of the Geneva Bible printed after 1587 generally contain a New Testament revised and annotated in 1576 by one Laurence Tomson of Geneva.
- The Geneva Bible Of 1560. By Bruce M. Metzger. A detailed description of the version, originally published in Theology Today.
- The Geneva Bible. By C. Matthew McMahon.
- Modern Spelling Edition of the Geneva Bible's four Gospels and Romans, by David L. Brown.
- 1560 Geneva Bible. Scans of the entire first edition in pdf format, each book in a separate file.
- 1583 Geneva Bible. The front matter and the book of Genesis online in images, from an edition of the Geneva Bible published in London by Christopher Barker, 1583. Provided by the Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text & Image at the University of Pennsylvania Library.
- Complete Bishops' Bible at studylight.org. Full text of the version (Fedosov transcription in original spelling) with a search utility.
- The Real Douay-Rheims Study Bible. By William von Peters. At this site you can buy a CD or download the entire Rheims New Testament of 1582 in a PDF file, complete with prefaces and marginal notes, in modern spelling. Volume 1 of the Douay Old Testament is also available. Very useful for seeing details of how Roman Catholics interpreted the Bible at the time of the Reformation.
- Douay-Rheims Bible Online. The full text of the Challoner-Rheims (a substantial revision of the Douay-Reims done in 1764), with a search utility. Includes notes from the edition approved by Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore. The same text with notes is here, without search utility. The same text without the notes is available with some special concordance features here.
- Douay Bible article from the Catholic Encylopedia. Also here.
- The History of the Text of the Rheims and Douay Version of Holy Scripture. By John Henry Newman. From Tracts Theological and Ecclesiastical. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1908
- Douay-Rheims: A Story of Faith. By Sidney K. Ohlhausen, from Catholic Heritage May/June 1999. A brief history of the version, its revisions and editions. Also here.
- Uncomfortable Facts About The Douay-Rheims. By James Akin. A look at the origins, strengths and weaknesses of the Douay-Rheims and Challoner-Rheims Bible. Akin, though Catholic, is especially concerned to debunk traditionalists claims that this is the only "pure" and "official" translation of the Catholic church.
- The Douay-Rheims Version: The English Version of the Catholic Church. A page from the Dr. Gene Scott Bible Collection tour.
- The Douay Rheims Bible: The Achilles Heel of Papal Infallibility. By Michael Scheifler. A discussion of the importance of the Douay-Rheims translation of Genesis 3:15, "she shall crush thy head."
- The Part of Rheims in the Making of the English Bible. By James G. Carleton (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902). Complete book online, at Google Books. Describes the influence of the Rheims New Testament on the KJV.
General and Miscellaneous
- Westcott on the history of English Versions — B. F. Westcott, A General View of the History of the English Bible. First edition (1868); Second edition (1872); Third ed, revised by William A. Wright (1905).
- Bissell’s ‘Historic Origin of the Bible’ — The Historic Origin of the Bible: A Handbook of Principal Facts from the Best Recent Authorities, German and English, by Edwin Cone Bissell. New Edition (New York: Randolph & Co., 1889). A conservative introduction to the history of the Bible. Part I is a history of English versions; Part II is an introduction to the New Testament; Part III is an introduction to the Old Testament.
- Lectures on Bible Revision, with an Appendix Containing the Prefaces to the Chief Historical Editions of the English Bible, by Samuel Newth (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1881).
- The Evolution of the English Bible: An Historical Sketch of the Successive Versions from 1382 to 1885, by Henry William Hoare (London: John Murray, 1901).
- The Ancestry of Our English Bible: An Account of Manuscripts, Texts, and Versions of the Bible. By Ira Maurice Price (7th ed., Philadelphia: Sunday School Times, 1920).
- Anderson’s ‘Annals of the English Bible’ — Christopher Anderson, The Annals of the English Bible (London: W. Pickering, 1845): vol. 1; vol. 2.
- Considerations On the Revision of the English Version of the New Testament, by Charles John Ellicott (London: Longmans, 1870).
- On a Fresh Revision of the English New Testament by Joseph Barber Lightfoot (London: MacMillan, 1871). also here.
- Parallel Text of Historic Bibles. The New Testament from Wycliffe, Tyndale, Geneva Bible, and King James Version in parallel columns, provided by Mario Valente of New Jersey. See also the same versions for The Pentateuch & Jonah in the same format.
- Images of Historic Bible Versions. Large high-resolution images of pages from early editions of the Bishops' Bibe, Coverdale's Bible, the Geneva Bible, the Great Bible, the King James Version (1611), Matthew's Bible, the Rheims New Testament, and Tyndale's New Testament.
- Formatting the Word of God: the Charles Caldwell Ryrie collection. An outstanding online exhibition of historic Bibles, hosted by the Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, from the CD-ROM edited by Valerie R. Hotchkiss & Charles C. Ryrie.
- Prof's Soapbox: The Text and Translation of the New Testament. By Dr. Daniel Wallace, Dallas Theological Seminary. A collection of many good articles on English versions.
- History of the English Bible. Here is a tour of the "Dr. Gene Scott Collection" of historic Bibles, with some good images and an historical commentary.
- From Papyri to King James: The Transmission of the English Bible. From the University of Michigan. A very brief history featuring some good images.
- History of the English Bible. By Rev. Ronald D. Lesley, D.D. At the Fundamental Baptist Institute website.
- The Development of the English Bible: How Our English Versions Came Into Being. By William E. Paul, editor of Bible Collector's World.
- English Bible Translations. Some good images of pages from Coverdale's Bible, the Great Bible, Geneva Bible, and the King James Bible.
- The Bible Through The Ages. An excellent scholarly article by Dr. Richard D. Balge.
- The Scottish Metrical Psalter of 1650, along with other historic metrical Psalters, provided by Music for the Church of God.
- The Bay Psalm Book (1640). Scanned from the original, in one large pdf file (6.78 MB).
- The 1662 Prayer Book Psalter. Based on Coverdale's Translation of the Psalms.
- 1979 Episcopal Prayer Book Psalter. Also here (in one big file).
- Parallel Latin/English Psalter. By Glenn Gunhouse. Gives the Latin text of the Book of Psalms from the Vulgate with the English text of the Book of Psalms from Challoner's revision of the Douay translation.
- Murder, Mayhem and the Making of the King James Bible. Transcript of a discussion of the history of the English Bible broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's radio program The Spirit of Things (Dec. 8, 2001). Alister McGrath is one of the participants.
- Bibles and Testaments page of the Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts Company. This is a bookseller's site for serious collectors. The descriptions of the old editions they are selling are very informative, providing background information on translators, editors, and printers.
- Mace New Testament (1729) at studylight.org. Full text of the version with a search utility. This (unitarian) version is of some historical interest. See my description of Mace's New Testament in the bibliography of 18th-century versions.
- A Paraphrase upon the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians by Thomas Boston (1676-1732). An interesting example of paraphrase from the early eighteenth century. Boston was a notable Calvinist author and a minister in the Church of Scotland. From the website of Presbyterian's Armoury Publications in Australia.
Various Versions
- LOCAL 20th Century Versions and 21st Century Versions. A complete list of versions arranged by date, with detailed reviews of many. By Michael Marlowe.
- Comparison of Bible Translations. By Christopher Lee Pope, a student at Southern Seminary in Louisville. An intelligent and detailed discussion of differences, in several areas of comparison.
- Translation and Versions articles at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.
- A Comparative Study of Major Translations of the Prologue to the Gospel of John. By Philip Comfort, chief editor of the New Living Translation New Testament. An interesting and highly detailed comparative study from Comfort's book, Essential Guide to Bible Versions.
- Translating the Bible: Scholars are still laboring. By Barry Hoberman, from the February 1985 Atlantic Monthly. Contains some strange factual errors, but on the whole it gives a very helpful account of the RSV and the plans for the NRSV. The Good News Bible is well described. The Living Bible and the Inclusive Language Lectionary are also discussed (unfavorably) at length.
- Bible Translations. By David Robert Palmer. Here is a thoughtful discussion of translation issues, comparison of versions, reference chart of manuscripts, and a new translation of the Gospels by the author of the site.
- Bible Translation: Why, What, and How? By Donald W. Burdick of the Cincinnati Bible College & Seminary, from the Seminary Review, XXI, 1 (March, 1975). A Good overview of the whole subject. Favors the NIV.
- A View of the Versions. By Al Maxey. Articles on the King James Version, New International Version, Revised Standard Version, Living Bible, New World Translation, New American Standard Bible, and the American Standard Version. Worth reading.
- Comparing Bible Versions. By Reese Currie.
- The Use of Modern Translations and Their Effect in Replacing the King James Version. By Joel Frank.
- InnVista - Bible Versions. An anonymous site, in which quite a few versions are briefly described and compared. The descriptions resemble advertisements, consisting of uncritical excerpts from dust-jackets and prefaces. The affiliation of the compilers is not indicated, but we note the presence of anti-Trinitarian remarks in at least one place, at the bottom of this page.
- The Joseph Smith Translation in Light of the New Testament: An Examination of Key Passages in the Gospel of John. By Joel B. Groat at the Institute for Religious Research. The Joseph Smith "Translation" used by Mormons is the strangest and most heretical English Bible ever produced.
- Review of the New English Bible by Henry J. Cadbury, Theology Today 18/2 (July 1961).
- Information at the publisher's website: A brief history of the Lockman Foundation, a more detailed history giving background information on the NASB, information on the NASB translation principles and translators, and a comparison of the NASB update with the original NASB and with other versions.
- The New American Standard Bible: Is This the Answer? By Armin J. Panning. Panning reports the opinions of the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Translation Review Committee, which rendered a largely favorable verdict on the version. The article discusses at length the criteria for a good version, and applies them to the NASB. Theologically sensitive passages are discussed very thoroughly.
Negative reviews of the ESV
- Allan Chapple in Australia gives a long and negative review, published in Reformed Theological Review 62/2 (August 2003). The argument is rather strange. Chapple's main point is that the ESV is not as literal as the NASB, but he prefers the NIV because it is even less literal. He seems to think that there is no call for a version that tries to strike a balance between the literalism of the NASB and the looseness of the NIV.
- Rodney Decker (Baptist Bible Seminary in Clarks Summit, Penn.) takes the same tack as Chapple. His review is largely an attempt to defend the NIV against criticism leveled against it by ESV-promoters, by showing that the ESV itself is not perfectly literal. But he ignores the fact that the ESV was not designed to be strictly literal. It was designed to occupy a middle ground between the NIV and the NASB.
- The Disappointing ESV and HCSB by John Ronning criticizes the ESV for "liberalisms" carried over from the RSV.
- Information about the Revised Standard Version. By Roy Davison. This new site, which currently consists mostly of external links, is designed "as a focal point for information about the Revised Standard Version."
- What Does Almah Mean? By William F. Beck. This is Beck's scholarly response to the RSV's interpretation of Isaiah 7:14.
- The RSV-Ecumenical Edition. By Bruce M. Metzger. Metzger tells of the production and reception of various "ecumenical" editions of the RSV.
- The New American Bible. Full text of the official Roman Catholic version, courtesy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
- The Revision of the New Testament of the New American Bible. By the Rev. Francis T. Gignac, chairman of the board of editors for the revision. This article, besides giving a detailed account of the NAB revision of 1986, includes a brief and interesting review of the early history of the English Bible, in which the author is very gracious towards the Protestant translators. Also here.
- Report on the New American Bible Revised New Testament as an Inclusive Language Translation. By Rev. Francis T. Gignac, chairman of the board of editors for the revision. Also here.
- The New American Bible: Is It Good for Catholics? By Ben Douglass. A detailed critique of the NAB marginal notes by a traditional Catholic. Also here.
- Bible Babel. By Richard John Neuhaus, from First Things, May 2001.
- More on Bible Babel. By Richard John Neuhaus, from First Things, January 2006. "The NAB introduces unwarranted novelties that not only further erode what remains of a common biblical vocabulary but are often blithely indifferent to the Church's tradition of theological reflection." Also here.
Favoring free translation:
- SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics) and Wycliffe International (formerly known as the Wycliffe Bible Translators) are very much committed to the method of "functional equivalence." See their rather understated Statement on Basic Principles and Procedures for Bible Translation (Wycliffe) and Translation Principles (SIL), and the formal committment of both organizations to this method as agreed upon in the Qualifications for Translation Consultants issued by the Forum of Bible Agencies. The SIL site also has an interesting list of SIL Publications on Translation.
- NIV Bible - New International Version Resources. The International Bible Society (which also subscribed to the above-mentioned "Qualifications") has put here some books and articles explaining the method of translation used in the NIV, which sometimes employs "dynamic equivalence."
- The History and Practice of Bible Translation: A Brief Survey. By Dr. David G. Burke, at the American Bible Society's Research Center for Scripture and Media. A presentation that focuses upon the work of the American Bible Society, explaining and advocating "functional equivalence" as used in the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version.
- UBS Translation. Translation resources from the United Bible Societies. More of the same.
- The Bible Translator. Fifty-one years (1950-2000) of the American Bible Society's quarterly journal online, in JPEG images. Many scholarly articles on translation are available here, if you have the time to download the large page images. (NOTE: if a dialog box asking for your username and password appears, enter the word "any" in both fields.) A complete database of article abstracts for 1950-2000 is available at the UBS website, with links to the articles.
- Translation Process for Scholars. From the God's Word to the Nations translation website, explaining and advocating "closest natural equivalence."
- An Evaluation of the 'Colorado Springs Guidelines'. By Ellis W. Deibler. Deibler, a Bible Translation Consultant with the Wycliffe Bible Translators, criticizes the Colorado Springs Guidelines from the standpoint of "dynamic eqivalence" translation theory. (Read Vern Poythress's two-part response to this article here and here.)
- God's Word or God's Words? By Ervin Bishop, Senior Translation Consultant, World Bible Translation Center. The "World Bible Translation Center" is the Bible agency that produced the New Century Version (1991). Bishop's article defends the "dynamic equivalence" approach by arguing against the doctrine of verbal inspiration. His thesis is, "the Bible is the Message of God expressed in the words of men." Also here.
- An Open Letter on Translating. By Martin Luther, in defense of his German translation, which sometimes employed non-literal renderings.
Articles favoring more literal translation:
- LOCAL Against the Theory of Dynamic Equivalence. By Michael Marlowe.
- LOCAL Was the Bible written in Street Language? By Michael Marlowe.
- Bible Translation Differences: Criteria for Excellence in Reading and Choosing a Bible Translation. By Dr. Leland Ryken at Wheaton College. A 32-page booklet summarizing the arguments in Ryken's recent book, The Word of God in English.
- The Word of God in English. By Dr. Leland Ryken. The full text of the book can be downloaded in a PDF file from this page.
- Theoretical Orientations In Bible Translation: A Comparative Analysis of Two English-language Bible Versions. By Tommy Wasserman (2001). An academic paper that criticizes dynamic equivalence while comparing the Good News Bible with the New Revised Standard Version.
- We Really Do Need Another Bible Translation. By Raymond C. Van Leeuwen, in Christianity Today, October 22, 2001. Discusses at length the problems associated with "dynamic equivalence" and the virtues of literal translation. Also here.
- A Bible for Everyone. By Alan Jacobs, Professor of English at Wheaton College. Criticism of dynamic equivalence, esp. in the NLT, published in First Things 138 (December 2003). Recommends use of essentially literal versions, esp. the ESV.
- An Open Letter Regarding The NET Bible, New Testament. By Daniel B. Wallace, the Senior New Testament Editor of the version. An article published in Notes on Translation 14.4 (2000). Wallace defends some of the more literal renderings of the NET Bible, and offers some judicious comments about the downside of "dynamic equivalence" in general.
- Thoughts on Bible Translations. By R. Scott Clark, Associate Professor of Church History, Westminster Theological Seminary, California.
- Does it mean what it says? By Gene Edward Veith, in World, Vol. 17, No. 7 (Feb. 23, 2002). "Secular linguists—such as Stephen Prickett, in Words and the Word and Origins of Narrative—describe the dynamic equivalent approach as 'naïve' and 'simplistic' in its understanding of language ..."
- Retuning the Psalms. By Robert Alter, in First Things 58 (December 1995): 45-48. A critical review of a "dynamic equivalence" version of the Psalms.
- Robert Alter's Fidelity. By Alan Jacobs, professor of English at Wheaton College. A review of Alter's translation of the Pentateuch (The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary) published in First Things 155 (August/September 2005), in which Jacobs broadly defends the literal approach to translation for literary reasons.
- The Church's Way of Speaking. By Robert Louis Wilken, Professor of History at the University of Virginia. An article published in First Things 155 (August/September 2005), in which Wilken challenges the idea that Biblical and liturgical translations need to use the idiomatic "patois of modernity." Translators and liturgists should take account of the fact that "Christianity is a culture in its own right," and there is a need for the Church to "insist on its own way of speaking."
- Committee on Bible Translations Report. From the minutes of the 1995 General Synod of the Canadian Reformed Churches.
- Dynamic Equivalence: Method of Translation or System of Hermeneutics? By Robert L. Thomas, in The Master's Seminary Journal.
- Bible Translations: Link between Exegesis and Expository Preaching. By Robert L. Thomas, in The Master's Seminary Journal.
- Principles of Bible Translation. By Charles L. Winkler.
- The Excellence of the Authorized Version. By William Einwechter, from Chalcedon Report, June 1997.
- Dynamic Equivalency: Its Influence and Error and Dynamic Equivalency: Death Knell of Pure Scripture. By David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service.
- Theology and the Great Tradition of English Bibles. By Cameron A. MacKenzie, Concordia Theological Seminary. The same article is available in Adobe format here
- Which Translations of the Scriptures are Accurate? By Mark Sarver
- Which Bible Translation? By Robert Beecham
- The Difference Between Translator and Teacher. A tract opposing dynamic equivalence, from Chick Publications.
- Unmanning the Bible. By S. M. Hutchens, in Touchstone Journal 15/5 (June 2002). "The goal of the translator must be to transform or reform, not submit to, a conceptually or grammatically deficient receptor language." Also here.
- Political Correctness and Bible Translation: A Preliminary Response to Ellis W. Deibler and A Response to Dr. Deibler on the Colorado Springs Guidelines, by Vern S. Poythress. Poythress, Professor of New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary, defends literal translation of gender terms against the claims of "dynamic equivalence." Also here and here.
- Foreignizing and Domesticating Translations: the Case of Pindar. By Steven J. Willett. This is an abstract of an article which describes the method of "foreignizing" translation which has been challenging the "domesticating" method (i.e. "dynamic equivalence") in recent theoretical discussions.
- Why a Literal Translation? By Jay N. Forrest. A good essay from a supporter of the New King James Version.
- Bible Translation and Contextualization: Theory And Practice in Bangladesh. By Vern S. Poythress. Interesting discussion of how some missionary translators in a third world country play fast and loose with the text for political reasons.
- The Languages of Biblical Translation. By Fr. Paul Mankowski, SJ, from Adoremus Bulletin 13/4 (June 2007).
- Relevance Theory and Translation: Toward a New Realism in Bible Translation. By Ernst-August Gutt. A paper presented at the 2004 International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. Argues that dynamic equivalence theory has been based upon "a serious lack in realism, arising from an inadequate understanding of the cognitive processes involved in human communication."
Other Translation Topics
- Interfaith group asks publishers to erase anti-Jewish language from children's Bibles. By David Crumm, at the Detroit Free Press (June 30, 2001). Describes the Bible revision agenda of the American Interfaith Institute.
- Offensive references to Jews deleted in new Bible. By Debra Nussbaum Cohen, at the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (September 29, 1995).
- Good cause, bad method. By Marvin Olasky, at World Magazine (April 14, 2001).
- The Narratives of Jesus' Passion and Anti-Judaism. By Dr. Raymond E. Brown, America magazine, 1 April 1995. A moderately liberal scholar's explanation of how the expression "the Jews" came to be used for opponents of Jesus and his followers in the New Testament, despite the fact that the first Christians were Jewish. Also here.
- How Have Inclusiveness and Tolerance Affected the Bauer-Danker Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (BDAG)? By Vern S. Poythress, published in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 46/4 (2003). Criticizes changes in the third English edition (2000) of Bauer's Greek lexicon that are designed to make translators stop using the English word "Jew" for the Greek word Ioudaios.
- Translating Hoi Ioudaioi in the New Testament. By David G. Burke. "The problem is not how well the English locution reflects the Greek text or the escalating polemical realities of the first century situation, but rather its effect on the (poorly informed) modern reader."
Gender-Neutral Bibles
Books on Translation
