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The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, released in 1989, is an update of the Revised Standard Version (RSV).
There are three editions of the NRSV:
- the NRSV standard edition, containing the Old and New Testaments (Protestant canon);
- the NRSV with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books in addition to the Old and New Testaments;
- the NRSV Catholic Edition containing the Old Testament books in the order of the Vulgate.
There are also Anglicised editions of the NRSV, which modify the text slightly to be consistent with British spelling and grammar.
History
The NRSV was translated by the Division of Christian Education (now Bible Translation and Utilization) of the National Council of Churches, an ecumenical Christian group. There has also been Jewish representation in the group responsible for the Old Testament.
Only one of the translators of the main original RSV, Harry Orlinsky, was also involved with the NRSV. However, the Chairman of the NRSV translators, Bruce Metzger, had been involved with the RSV Apocrypha.
Principles of Revision
Improved Manuscripts and Translations
The original Old Testament translation of the RSV was completed before the Dead Sea Scrolls were generally available to scholars. The NRSV was intended to take advantage of these and other manuscript discoveries, and to reflect advances in scholarship since the RSV had been released.Elimination of Archaicism
The RSV retained the archaic second person familiar forms ("thee and thou") when God was addressed, but eliminated their use in other contexts. The NRSV eliminated all such archaicisms.Gender Neutrality
In the preface to the NRSV, Bruce Metzger wrote for the committee that "many in the churches have become sensitive to the danger of linguistic sexism arising from the inherent bias of the English language towards the masculine gender, a bias that in the case of the Bible has often restricted or obscured the meaning of the original text." * The RSV observed the older convention of using masculine nouns in an inclusive sense (e.g. "man" instead of "person"), and in some cases used a masculine word where the source language used a neuter word. The NRSV by contrast adopted a policy of gender-neutral language: "The mandates from the Division specified that, in references to men and women, masculine-oriented language should be eliminated as far as this can be done without altering passages that reflect the historical situation of ancient patriarchal culture."Translating the Deuterocanonicals
The RSV translation of the deuterocanonical books was made after the fact as an ecumenical gesture. The NRSV translated these works as part of its initial effort, though the standard edition omitted these books.Approval of the NRSV
Many Protestant churches officially accept the NRSV or commend it to their members. For example, the Episcopal Church added the NRSV to the list of translations in Canon II.2 which are approved for reading in church services, and the Presbyterian Church (USA) website commends the translation.
Although the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approves only the New American Bible for liturgical use, the NRSV is used in the English-language edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and is the version authorized for liturgical use in Canada. Several versions of the Bible, including the NRSV, carry an imprimatur.
Controversies
While the NRSV quickly became the de facto standard in many denominations, some of its translation decisions were criticized.
The NRSV retained the RSV decision to translate "almah" in Isaiah 7:14 as "young woman" instead of "virgin", though a footnote acknowledged that the Septuagint read "virgin" (that is, "parthenos"). Conservatives continued to object to this; the Septuagint and the Gospel of Matthew translate the word into Greek as "parthenos" (virgin), and English translations prior to the RSV had followed the Greek. Other nontraditional translations were also criticized (e.g. preferring "wind" for "rûach" in Genesis 1 instead of "spirit").
The gender-neutral language policy was also criticized. The feminist influence was questioned, and the types of translation techniques used to accomplish this policy were not all accepted. For example, the NRSV tends to translate adelphoi as "brothers and sisters", but this is not strictly speaking a translation; it is an interpretation which parallels the understanding in English of "brethren" to include sisters as well as brothers. Many critics felt that the translation should reflect the underlying text more exactly and should avoid the espansions and deletions which the NRSV used in pursuit of this policy.
Some Protestants criticized the inclusion of the deuterocanonical books, since most Protestant groups do not include them in the canon of scripture.
Conservative evangelical dissatisfaction with the NRSV, combined with a desire for a more up-to-date translation in the KJV tradition, led to the publication in 2001 of the English Standard Version (ESV). It eschewed the gender-inclusive terminology used by the NRSV, and reversed many controversial RSV translation decisions; for example, in Isaiah 7:14 it returned to the translation of "almah" as "virgin", as a against the RSV's "young woman".
In spite of Orthodox participation in the translation, Orthodox churches have mostly been cool to the NRSV. Annotated versions of the RSV were accepted by some Orthodox, but the Orthodox Study Bible chose the New King James Version New Testament as a starting point, and the Old Testament committee chose to make a new translation of the Septuagint rather than use any existing English translation. Orthodox criticism of the NRSV generally followed conservative Protestant lines, but in addition criticized the use of the Masoretic text as the Old Testament textual basis. In 1990 the synod of the Orthodox Church in America decided not to permit use of the NRSV in liturgy or in bible studies.
Study Editions
- The Harper Study Bible (1991, ISBN 0310902037)
- The HarperCollins Study Bible with Apocrypha (1997, ISBN 0060655275)
- The Spiritual Formation Bible (1999, ISBN 0310900891)
- The Access Bible with Apocrypha (1999, ISBN 0195282175)
- The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha, 3rd edition (2001, ISBN 019528478X)
- The New Interpreter's Study Bible with Apocrypha (2003, ISBN 0687278325)
- The Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible with Apocrypha (2005, ISBN 0060671084)
External links
- National Council of Churches: About the NRSV
- Preface to the NRSV from the National Council of Churches website
- oremus Bible Browser
- THE NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION: A REVIEW by Arthur L. Farstad in Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, Autumn 1990—Volume 3:2 (a conservative POV on the translation)
- Pastoral letter of Bishop Tikhon of San Francisco explaining the 1990 decision of the OCA Synod not to permit use of the NRSV
"New Revised Standard Version"