Introducing the ESV – January 2012
The Orchard is now using the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible for preaching and for public worship.
For many years we have been using New International Version (NIV), an excellent translation completed in 1984. That translation is no longer available and has been replaced by a revised NIV completed in 2011. In the opinion of our pastors, the ESV is more reliable than the new NIV.
Pastor Colin Smith explains our change when he says, “As your pastor, I want you to have and to use the best available English translation of the Bible so that you can have the highest confidence that what you hold in your hand is the Word of God.”
The following extracts from the Preface to the ESV, set out the principles behind this translation:
“The English Standard Version (ESV) stands in the classic mainstream of English Bible translations over the past half –millennium. The fountainhead of that stream was William Tyndale’s New Testament of 1526; marking its course were the King James version of 1611 (KJV), the English Revised Version of 1885 (RV), the American Standard Version of 1901 (ASV), and the Revised Standard Version of 1952 and 1971 (RSV). In that stream, faithfulness to the text and vigorous pursuit of accuracy were combined with simplicity, beauty and dignity of expression. Our goal has been to carry forward this legacy for a new century.”
“The ESV is an ‘essentially literal’ translation that seeks as far as possible to capture the precise wording of the original text and the personal style of each Bible writer. As such, its emphasis is on ‘word-for-word’ correspondence, at the same time taking into account differences of grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages. Thus it seeks to be transparent to the original text, letting the reader see as directly as possible the structure and meaning of the original.
In contrast to the ESV, some Bible versions have followed a ‘thought-for-thought’ rather than ‘word-for-word’ translation philosophy, emphasizing ‘dynamic equivalence’ rather than the ‘essentially literal’ meaning of the original. A ‘thought-for thought’ translation is of necessity more inclined to reflect the interpretive opinions of the translator and the influences of contemporary culture.”
If you don’t yet have a copy of the ESV, the bookstore has it in a range of sizes and bindings at a modest cost.
Please also read the following documents for a more complete outline of the rationale for this decision.