Tags: NET

Tags: NLT, Tyndale, Wide-Margin

Tags: HCSB, Wide-Margin

Tags: NLT, Cambridge, Pitt Minion

Tags: HCSB

Tags: NIV, NIV 2011, TNIV

Tags: NIV, TNIV, NIV 2011

Tags: Accordance, Logos

Tags: Accordance, Logos

Tags: Accordance, Logos

Tags: NLT

Tags: Biblical Illustrator, Accordance

Accordance on the Web

• Accordance Main Website: the main resource for finding out about Accordance and ordering software
• Accordance Blog: updated multiple times a week with tips, help and module profiles
• Accordance Forums: an incredible source for finding help from other users and representatives from Oak Tree software. In fact, Oak Tree has the fastest, personal response to questions I’ve ever seen from any company. Users can also offer their own tips and suggestions as well as request new modules.
• Accordance FaceBook Page: A great way to keep up with what’s new in Accordance as well as interact with other Facebook Accordance users.
• Lighting the Lamp Video Podcast: A brand new weekly video podcast hosted by Dr. Timothy Jenney.
• Accordance YouTube Channel: Features many of the videos available on the main website, but may be easier to embed on personal websites and blogs.
• Accordance Twitter Account: keep up with all things new and interesting about Accordance via Twitter.
• Accordance Exchange: At no extra cost, every level of Accordance comes with the ability to create your own user tools, user Bibles, user notes and distribute them to others. The Accordance Exchange is a great resource for accessing these files created by other Accordance users.
• Banners for User Websites: Accordance users can help to promote Accordance on their own websites and blogs. You’ll see one of these in the left sidebar that I’ve had on This Lamp for a while.
• Video Demos and Instructional Tutorials: Note two separate links at this bullet. The video demos show off the most recent version of Accordance. The instructional videos contain the entire training DVD, now available for free online.

Tags: Accordance

“Of making many NIV Bibles there seems to be no end, and a lack of TNIV Bibles wearies my soul.”
(With apologies to Qoheleth and Ecclesiastes 12:12)

I took an online survey from Zondervan tonight for a YANIVB. What’s a YANIVB? Well, YANIVB stands for “Yet Another NIV Bible.” While the TNIV seems to be losing ground everyday, it seems that there’s no end in sight for new NIV Bibles.

The Bible in question here? Well, it’s based upon the work of Lee Strobel and called The Case for Faith Study Bible. It’s so early in development stage that if you run a Google search on this Bible right now--even if you put quotation marks around it--you won’t get any hits. At least if you run your search within a close timeframe for my writing this post.

The main thrust of the survey was to select which cover I liked best:

Incidentally, I liked the top right cover best and the bottom left cover second best.

Of course, as you would guess, I’ve got a HUGE problem with this Bible. No, it’s not the theme. For what it’s worth, I think Lee Strobel is a great guy, and I’ve given away some of his books. My problem with this Bible is that it’s a NEW Bible released with the NIV as its text rather than the TNIV.

I really don’t understand this. The NIV continues to cannibalize sales of the TNIV and lessen the latter’s chance of acceptance. It is clearly shortsighted for Zondervan to keep the NIV as its flagship translation to the neglect of the TNIV, to continue to promote NEW products based around the NIV while new TNIV projects are few and far between. One day the NIV will slip from its spot as bestselling translation, but it won’t be the TNIV to take its place because the TNIV will have died from neglect by that time.

But do you want to know what makes creating Lee Strobel’s Bible around the NIV most egregious?

Well, if you go over to TNIV.com, click on the “Who’s Reading It” tab, and then click on the “Who Recommends It” tab, guess who appears FIRST!

Thats right! There’s Lee Strobel, front and center, stating “I’m thankful to have the TNIV as one more valuable tool in reaching the next generation.”

Well, too bad, Mr. Strobel, we’re going to make you use the Bible of the last generation: the NIV!

I’ve said over and over that Zondervan needs to put strong testimonial power behind the TNIV for people to consider it. Lee Strobel and The Case for Faith Study Bible would be a perfect match for the TNIV. And yet, before it ever even sees print, it becomes another wasted opportunity for Zondervan to move its resources behind the TNIV. YANIVB is what it becomes. When will the tide turn?

Of course, for all of Lee Strobel’s wish for the TNIV to become a valuable tool in reaching the next generation, and for all of Zondervan’s original marketing of the TNIV as a Bible for the 18 to 34 crowd, can anyone tell me why The Student Bible has been revised since the release of the TNIV, and yet still remains an NIV Bible?

Here’s a new slogan: “TNIV: The Best Bible No One Ever Read.”


HT: Jay Davis

Tags: NIV, TNIV, study Bibles

1. I very much approve of it for people who want a second (third, fourth, or whatever) take on the text,
2. or who want to hear it in a fresh way,
3. or who simply for whatever reason want a dynamically equivalent rather than a formally equivalent (or hybrid) translation.

Tags: NLT

Above: The Cyrus Cylinder which includes detail of the king’s granting expatiates permission to return to their homelands.
Source: Bible Lands Photo Guide, version 3 (Accordance)

I try very hard when I’m preparing a lesson to attempt interpretation by myself first before consulting commentaries. I had to admit (although it seems somewhat obvious now) that I was stumped by this reference to God loosening the loins of Cyrus’ rival kings. I’ve begun teaching from the New Living Translation on Sundays, and I consulted Isa 45:1 in the NLT:

This is what the LORD says to Cyrus, his anointed one,
whose right hand he will empower.
Before him, mighty kings will be paralyzed with fear.
Their fortress gates will be opened,
never to shut again.

Most formal translations simply translate the phrase literally, “loose the loins of kings” or something similar. The NLT certainly gets the end result across. I understood that. None of the kings who went before Cyrus would be able to stand before him. But what did the phrase actually mean? I wondered if it meant that foreign kings would be impotent before Cyrus, or perhaps it meant they would wet themselves. The problem, as I would later discover, was that my focus was too literally loin-centered.

Incidentally, when I taught the lesson Sunday and was relaying Cyrus’ rather colorful history, one person in the class asked whether Cyrus came “before or after ‘that guy’ in 300.” I told him that Cyrus came before Xerxes who was featured (rather outlandishly) in the movie 300. But I pointed out that the incredibly large army depicted in that movie had not been built by Xerxes (for the most part), but rather by Cyrus much earlier before him.

Using Accordance, I tried running searches for the exact phrase and then similar phrases, but to my knowledge (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong), there are no other occurrences of loins being loosened, only tightened up, or more appropriately girded up. And then suddenly it made sense! My problem was that I had not been thinking in terms of Hebrew and ANE culture.

At this point, thinking I’d figured it out, I went ahead and consulted a number of commentaries that confirmed my hunch. In the Bible, to “gird up one’s loins” (see Exod 12:11; 1 Kgs 18:46; 20:32; 2 Kgs 1:8; 4:29; 9:1; Job 12:18; 38:3; 40:7; Jer 1:17, esp. in more formal translations) was to tuck the ends of one’s garments into one’s belt so as to be ready for any kind of action, whether fight or flight. What was being described in Isa 45:1 was just the opposite.

Thus, before Cyrus, God would immobilize any king or king’s army who would oppose him. Their readiness for battle would come to nothing. The TNIV renders the phrase “strip kings of their armor” which nicely captures the military aspects just as the NLT’s rendering above relates the psychological end result. The ESV translates the phrase as “to loose the belts of kings,” but that sounds a bit too much like the aftereffects of a Thanksgiving meal.

Regardless, it’s clear in the passage that the God of the Bible is sovereign, choosing to use whom he will when he will, often despite the objections of those who feel themselves to be part of the “in group” (Isa 45:9-13). To those who first objected, God had this message:

“I will raise up Cyrus to fulfill my righteous purpose,
and I will guide his actions.
He will restore my city and free my captive people—
without seeking a reward!
I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”” (Isa 45:13, NLT)

And as history records, that’s exactly what happened.

Tags: Isaiah, Cyrus

Tags: atonement, NLT

Tags: NIV, Wide-Margin

What girl doesn’t love horses? Filled with beautiful features and photographs, horse lovers will be inspired by this NIV Bible

Really?

Note that I’m posting this on April 7, not April 1. Seriously.

The Wild About Horses Bible is aimed at girls ages 9-12. So, let’s get this straight: we have soldiers’ Bibles, nurses’ Bibles, firemen’s Bibles. And now we have little-girls-who-love-horses Bibles.

Really?

And yet, after four years, I still can’t get a wide-margin TNIV!

Is the niche for a horse Bible really greater than the one for a wide margin TNIV Bible? Really?

I mean, I’ve asked for a wide-margin TNIV for a number of times. I know lots of other people who have, too. But we’ve always been told the potential market for such a Bible simply isn’t big enough. So do you mean to tell me that a larger number of girls ages 9-12 have been beating down Zondervan’s doors for a horse Bible? Really?

Maybe there’s warrant for a Bible like this. Technically horses occur 200 times in the NIV. Of course, goats occur 173 times and sheep show up 208 times. When will we get a sheep Bible, too? Seriously?


Thanks to Jay Davis for alerting me to this.

Tags: NIV, TNIV

And He will divide the booty with the strong

I heard chuckles. I could see heads lifting up, including my wife’s. I knew what they were thinking. Did he just say... ? Surely not. No one except for teenagers and pirates say that.

So, the heart-to-heart talk this morning came as no surprise. She had all the conviction of Sarah telling Abraham that Hagar had to go, so who was I to argue with her?

So, I’ll go back to my non-wide-margin Bibles, and wait hopefully that one day, I’ll get a wide margin Bible in a modern translation. But what do I use this Sunday? For the last couple of years, I’ve used TNIV on Sundays mostly, and the NLT during the week. But sadly, I have doubts about the staying power of the TNIV. So maybe this is simply the time to switch.

I use the NLT with my college students midweek because not all of them are believers, and the NLT has the most natural conversational English of any major translation. As I used it tonight with a class, I had to ask myself why I couldn’t use it on Sunday mornings, too? And I don’t have a good answer for that. So maybe this is the crossroads in which I simply need to make the NLT my primary public use Bible. I may have been held back by nothing more than my own traditionalism, but after listening this past week to Eugene Peterson’s Eat This Book, I’m more convicted than ever to present the Scriptures in common, ordinary language, and not the language of heavenly-portals-loud-with-hosannas-ring.

But what do I use? There’s still no wide-margin NLT. I’d certainly want the 2007 edition. So what are my options?

Tags: Translations, NASB, TNIV, NLT, Wide-Margin

Tags: NLT, Logos

Tags: BHS, Olive Tree, iPhone

Tags: iPhone, Olive Tree, Greek NT

Tags: TNIV

Tags: NRSV, Wide-Margin

A Comparison of the HCSB with Other Major Translations



Abstract:                                                                          Dr. Edwin Blum

The Holman Christian Standard Bible is a new modern translation based on the latest Hebrew and Greek texts. It was produced with the Accordance Bible software program and widespread use of the internet. Electronic editions of BDAG, K-B, reference tools, and translations greatly aided the development of the HCSB. Over one hundred scholars participated in the translation. The HCSB uses what we call an optimal equivalence translation philosophy and seeks to be gender accurate. In comparison with existing translations, the HCSB has improvements in accuracy, vocabulary choices, formatting, and style. It is the leanest modern translation with a word count of 718,943. It has more footnotes and textual information than any major translation and has a system of Bullet Notes to aid the reader. Yahweh is used in passages where the name of God is discussed in the OT, and Messiah is used in NT passages for the translation of christos where the subject is the Israelite deliverer. The result is a Bible that is accurate for study and reads well for personal use and corporate worship.

Introduction
To compare the HCSB with other major translations, we must define the term. What is a major translation? If this were a paper read at SBL, the major translations considered would be NRSV, REB, NAB, and NJB. These are highly esteemed but are not widely used by evangelical Bible students. For our purposes, the major translations we are using as comparisons are the NIV, NLT (second edition of 2004), and ESV. William Tyndale’s (1494?-1536) tradition, which includes the KJV, NKJV, NASB, RSV, and NRSV, will be represented by the ESV. Some may not be aware of Tyndale’s legacy to the 1611 KJV. Eighty-three percent of the KJV New Testament can be attributed to him. Of the books that Tyndale completed, the KJV Old Testament represents about 76% of his work. The NIV, NLT, and HCSB represent different translation streams. The TNIV, NET, and The Message are omitted from this comparison as they do not have a large market share at this time.

The HCSB was not “planned and sponsored by the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1998” as one website claims. The origin of this translation goes back to Dr. Art Farstad, who was the Executive Editor of the NKJV. On his own, he began working on a modern language edition based on the Majority Text, which he first called Tyndale 21 and later Logos 21. From 1995-1998 this project was funded by a foundation called Absolutely Free. Holman Bible Publishers purchased the rights to Logos 21 and hired Dr. Art Farstad as General Editor in April 1998. However, the translation Art was asked to oversee was not a majority text translation but a new translation based on the critical text. He died in September 1998, and Dr. Edwin Blum was named as his successor. The goals, purposes, and translation philosophy are outlined in the introduction to the HCSB, which can be found in every printed product.

The HCSB was completed in 2004. The NT of the NIV was finished in 1972 and the OT in 1977. This means that the NIV was completed before the days of the personal computer. It was completed before the internet was used to transmit documents between scholars and editors. It also means that the NIV represents the state of scholarship at the time of 1972-77. For example, the standard Hebrew lexicon in use was the Brown, Driver, and Briggs lexicon published in 1906. HCSB was able to use the new 5-volume Koehler, Baumgartner, and Stamm lexicon (HALOT, 1967-1996).

The theological word books such as Jenni-Westermann’s TLOT, the 15-volume TDOT, the Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, NIDNTT, and NIDOTT had not been published when the NIV was produced. Many major commentaries were also published in the interval between 1977 and 2004. For example, many volumes in the Anchor Bible were finished during this period. Milgrom’s three-volume work on Leviticus in the AB, which represents a lifetime of Jewish scholarship on this book, was completed in 2000.

The NIV translation committee changed 7% of the NIV text when they made the TNIV revision. While many of the changes made were gender changes (1.68% according to the TNIV committee), this means the scholars felt that 5.32% of the NIV needed an improvement. This 5.32% included changes that were “textual, programmatic, clarity issues, sentence structure & grammar, and footnotes & headings.” This is according to the TNIV website. So more than 5% of the NIV needed an improvement since 1977. Some of these changes reflect what can be seen in the HCSB.

Translation Philosophy
In practice translations are seldom, if ever, based purely on formal or dynamic/functional equivalence. Rather they are mixed, with a tendency in one direction or the other. Optimal equivalence is our attempt to describe a translation philosophy recognizing that form cannot be neatly separated from meaning and should not be disregarded. It should not be changed unless comprehension demands it. For example, nouns should not be changed to verbs or the third person “they” to second person “you” unless the original sense cannot otherwise be clearly conveyed. The primary goal of translation is to convey the sense of the original with as much clarity as the original text and the target language permit. Optimal equivalence appreciates the goals of formal equivalence but also recognizes its limitations.

Gender Issues
Since 1977 the gender controversy has become a major issue among Bible translators. The goal is to accurately translate Scripture. The ESV and HCSB follow the Evangelical Guidelines of May 27, 1997 for translation of gender-related language in Scripture. The NIV was done before there was a lot of gender sensitivity. One estimate is that there are 800 places in the NT of the NIV that use masculine language where the Greek text would allow a more generic or neutral translation. A classic example is Romans 12:6-8. In this passage, the NIV has inserted nine male pronouns or the word “man” where the Greek text does not require it. The NIV reads, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith . . .” The HCSB is gender accurate and has no male language inserted in this passage. The HCSB reads, “According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the standard of one’s faith . . .” The TNIV has gone overboard to avoid gender insensitivity and is more gender neutral. We would claim that the NIV is gender biased, the TNIV attempts to be gender neutral, and the HCSB is gender accurate.

The NLT shares to a lesser degree the gender neutrality of the TNIV. Comparing 17 English translations in 115 gender-sensitive passages, involving various kinds of grammatical constructions, yields the following percentage of gender inclusive translations:

KJV 8%, RSV 10%, NKJV 13%, NASB 14%, NIV 17%, ESV 24%, HCSB 25%, NLT ’04 67%, TNIV 79%, NRSV 84%, CEV 96%. Clearly we believe a gender inclusive translation is correct 25% of the time—more than the KJV, but much less than the TNIV.

The result of a bias toward gender inclusivity is that many masculine terms are removed, muted, or changed. The Greek NT has anthropos 548 times and aner 216 times. Anthropos has a larger semantic field and should be translated as “human” in many contexts, but aner refers to a male person. Of the 216 times it occurs in the NT, NLT has removed, replaced, or changed it 43 times, eg. Ac 27:25 and Rm 11:4.

In the OT there are five major words for humanity. Adam means a man or human, and it occurs 546 times. Ish means male, man, or husband, and it occurs 2,199 times. (The female form is ishshah and occurs 775 times.) The Hb enosh occurs 42 times, and the Aramaic enash occurs 25 times, making a total of 67 occurrences. Gebher means manly or vigorous, and it occurs 66 times. So the total number of Hebrew words for men, males, or man is 2,878. If we only look at the word ish, which is the clearest term for male, it occurs 2,199 times. Yet the NLT only has the words “man, man’s, men, and men’s” a total of 1,617 times. For example, in Lv 20:2-5 ish occurs five times, but they change it to the plural words “they” or “them” instead of using the word “man.”

In many places, the more gender inclusive translations change “fathers” to “parents.” The book of Proverbs is no longer a father’s instruction to his “son”; instead, it’s written to his “children.” The HCSB and ESV have not followed this trend and have translated the text more accurately than the TNIV or the NLT.

Accuracy or Translations of Certain Problematic Words

The following words are representative of the accuracy of the HCSB.

1. The Greek word doulos occurs 124 times in the Greek NT. Many Bibles have translated it as “servant” or “bondservant.” ESV uses servant in the text, but they attach a footnote that reads, “Greek bondservant.” NIV and NLT alternate between “servant” and “slave.” The translation of doulos as servant is faulty (cf. BDAG, p. 260) and causes people to miss a significant Pauline metaphor. HCSB uses slave. There is a significant difference between a servant and a slave. Paul says, “. . . You are not your own, for you were bought at a price . . . ” (1Co 6:19b-20)

2. The key term torah occurs 223 times in the Hebrew Bible. Most Christian Bibles consistently translate it as law. Most Jewish Bibles normally use instruction or teaching. “The majority of present day exegetes translate tora as instruction, education, teaching” (TDOT, XV: 615). If we compare the translation of torah in Ps 1:2; 19:7, and 37:31 in the major Bibles we note the following:

     •  ESV – law
     •  NIV – law
     •  NLT – law and instruction
     •  HCSB - instruction

3. God’s personal name, YHWH, occurs 6,828 times in the Hebrew Bible. In English Bibles LORD is commonly used following the LXX tradition of rendering it with kurios. However, LORD is not a name; it is a title. It has been argued that the use of YHWH (or Yahweh) will offend Jewish people. Very orthodox Jews will not even vocalize the word “God,” preferring the use of “G-D.” However, some modern Jewish translations have used YHWH. French Protestants as well as the Moffatt translation have used “The Eternal” as a name. B. Waltke prefers to translate the name as “I AM” (OTT, p. 365.) If we compare the translation of YHWH in major translations we see the following:

     •  KJV – Jehovah 4 times
     •  RV (1881) – Jehovah 10 times
     •  ASV (1901) – Jehovah 6,777 times
     •  NJB – Yahweh 6,342 times
     •  NLT – Yahweh 7 times (all in Exodus)
     •  REB, NASB, NIV, NKJV, TNIV, ESV – all use LORD
     •  HCSB – Yahweh 75 times (first printing); currently 467 times; the 467 uses are where the name of God is praised or discussed. For example:

            “I am Yahweh, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols.” Is 42:8

            “Yahweh is the God of Hosts; Yahweh is His name.” Hs 12:5

            “May they know that You alone—whose name is Yahweh—are the Most High over all the earth.” Ps 83:18

4. In the HCSB NT, christos is translated Messiah where there is a Jewish context (cf. BDAG, p. 109). An example is, Mt 16:16, which reads “Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!’” NLT agrees with HCSB, but ESV and NIV translate this as “the Christ.” (TNIV has changed this to “the Messiah”.)

Vocabulary Choices
The NIV, NLT, and the HCSB use a more modern and American vocabulary. The ESV retains some of its British heritage by including dated or archaic language. Here are some examples:

     •  ails     Ps 114:5
     •  alms     Lk 11:41 (8 total occurrences)
     •  barley was in the ear     Ex 9:31
     •  bosom     Ex 23:8 (12 total)
     •  chide     Ps 103:9
     •  disdained     1Sm 17:1
     •  ears of grain     Gn 41:5 (4 total)
     •  fodder     Gn 24:25 (7 total)
     •  he-goat     Pr 30:31
     •  morsel     Gn 18:5 (13 total)
     •  she-bear     Pr 17:12
     •  whoredom     2Ch 21:11 (13 total)

The NIV and TNIV also include some archaic or unusual word choices:

Tags: HCSB

I went out to meet the allophyle, and he cursed me by his idols.

Allophyle? What’s an allophyle? I had not read Psalm 151 in a while, but I knew I didn’t remember seeing this particular word in other translations. Now, if you look above at my chart containing the Greek text, you’re better off than I was Sunday morning. I didn’t have a copy of the Greek text with me. And I couldn’t figure out what an allophyle was immediately from the context.

I pulled my iPhone from my pocket, and tried looking up the word in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary app. No dice. The word allophyle was not to be found. I nudged Kathy and pointed to the word, asking if she knew what it meant. She asked for the reference, and I told her “Psalm 151:6.” She picked up her Bible, but then rolled her eyes, put her Bible back down and ignored me, realizing that Psalm 151 was not going to be in her copy of the New Living Translation.

I tried to figure out meaning based on the derivation of the word. I assumed it was created from two Greek words, and correctly guessed that allo- came from ἄλλος/allos, meaning “other” or “another.” But I went in the wrong direction with -phyle. I incorrectly guessed that perhaps somehow it came from φίλος/philos, meaning “beloved” or “dear.” We get words like bibliophile (lover of books) from this word.

But this made no sense. David went out to meet his other lover? And then cut off his head? Well, I knew from both memory and context that the individual in question was Goliath, so I knew something was off from my guess. I ran a search on my iPhone for Psalm 151 on the internet and found the NRSV translation of “Philistine.” That didn’t explain my immediate question, but it did give me another way to read the verse during our Bible study.

Once I was home and able to look up the passage in the Greek of the LXX, I realized that in using allophyle, the NETS essentially transliterates ἀλλόφυλος/allophulos, a word often translated Philistine or foreigner based on the context. I freely admit that I was not familiar with the word as it only occurs once in the New Testament:

“And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner (ἀλλόφυλος/allophulos) or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.” (Acts 10:28, NASB)

How does one get foreigner, Philistine or even Gentile (as some translations render it) from the word? Well, as I said, I was wrong about my guess regarding -phyle. It didn’t mean “beloved” but rather came from the Greek word φυλή/phule (from which we get words like phylum), meaning “race” or “tribe.” So ἀλλόφυλος/allophulos literally means “other race” and thus foreigner.

On p. 246 of the NETS, there is passing reference to peculiar habit of the Old Greek to translate “‏פלשתים ‘Philistine’ as (ὁ/οἱ) ἀλλόφυλος/-οι ‘allophyle(s),’ first seen in the book of Judges (3.3, 31; for a total of 20x), rather than the transliteration φυλιστιμ (‘Phylistim’ ) found already in Genesis (8x), Exodus (2x), Iesous (Joshua) (1x), Judges (6x) and Sirach (3x).” However, there’s no explanation why the NETS chooses to transliterate the word in question as allophyle. My only guess is that this is done to designate when the the LXX is doing the same, although the word occurs many other times in contexts simply meaning “foreigner” and the NETS does not transliterate it in these instances.

So now there’s only one other question. How common is the English word allophyle? As mentioned earlier, it wasn’t in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, and even now as I write it on my computer, a red line underscores it. I wondered if perhaps allophyle is used in biblical or historical studies so I ran a search for it in literally thousands of reference books and journals in Accordance. The only hits I received for the word came from the NETS. Even running a Google search, if limited to English hits, results in only 95 websites, and most of these are questionable regarding any solution to my curiosity.

So, help me out. Have you come across the word allophyle anywhere in English besides the NETS? If you have, please list the source in the comments.

Tags: LXX, NETS, Psalms

Tags: Olive Tree, Greek NT, Hebrew Bible, iPhone, BHS, UBS, Apple

1. Beef up Tyndale’s academic catalog. This is where Zondervan, primary US distributor of the NIV, has excelled. Tyndale has a few academic offerings, but there’s much room for improvement.
2. Continue to connect the NLT to the original languages. I would suggest that Tyndale should immediately launch a project to publish a NLT/Greek diglot. Include notes that offer explanations behind particular NLT renderings from the Greek. Transliterate nothing. This should be a volume strictly for those who have a background in original languages.
3. Publish a series of articles (maybe an ongoing series of books?) by the translators of the NLT regarding translational challenges and decisions behind the translation.
4. Publish a series of preaching resources that use the NLT as a basis.
5. Offer some serious gatekeeper editions: traditional format preaching editions, wide margin editions for study and teaching.
6. Renew attention to the NLT apocrypha/deuterocanonicals. Publish an edition of the NLT with these books that is not labeled a “Catholic edition.”
7. Make good use of testimonials from both academics and popular pastors.
8. Hold off on any further revisions for at least a decade. Three editions in 12 years is unprecedented. The updates to the NLT have been warranted, but readers need to know that the text has been established/set--at least for a while.

Tags: NLT, Tyndale

Tags: TNIV, Zondervan

Really, B&H should have probably avoided calling these “Men’s” and “Women’s” editions. I’m certain there will be some women who want the brown, and you never know who might want the other edition as well.

The CBD website also includes the following ad copy:

In an age when people can take notes using a variety of electronic media, there has emerged a countertrend whereby people want to journal in their won handwriting. The Notetaker's Bible features wide margins with subtle ruled lines, helpful center-column cross references, a concordance, and best of all, the largest point size among all Bibles of this kind. Handsomly bound for a man's taste. [The women’s edition says “Beautifully bound in with a woman's taste in mind.”]

Features include:

• The largest point size among Bibles of this kind
• Easy-to-navigate center-column references
• An easy-to-use concordance
• Ribbon marker
• Words of Jesus in red
• Translation footnotes, and exclusive HCSB bullet notes

Tags: HCSB, NRSV, Wide-Margin

Tags: NLT, Matthew

“Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ”
--Jerome

Referenced in “Singing the Blues with St. Jerome” at ChristianHistory.net.

Tags: quotes

Tags: Olive Tree, iPhone

Tags: TNIV

NT Use of the OT -- Test Your View!

Fuller Meaning, Single Goal view You seem to be most closely aligned with the Fuller Meaning, Single Goal view, a view defended by Peter Enns in the book "Three Views on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament" (edited by Kenneth Berding and Jonathan Lunde, Nov. 2008). Since the NT writers held a single-minded conviction that the Scriptures point to and are fulfilled in Christ, this view suggests that the NT writers perceive this meaning in OT texts, even when their OT authors did not have that meaning in mind when they wrote. It should be noted, however, that advocates of this view are careful not to deny the importance of the grammatical-historical study of the OT text so as to understand the OT authors on their own terms. For more info, see the book, or attend a special session devoted to the topic at the ETS Annual Meeting in Providence, RI (Nov. 2008); Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Darrell L. Bock, and Peter Enns will all present their views.

Fun quizzes, surveys & blog quizzes by

Tags: intertextuality

“O that my head were a spring of water,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
so that I might weep day and night
for the slain of my poor people!”
(Jer 9:1 NRSV)

Housing bust, record foreclosures, out of control gas prices, job losses, major financial institutions going under. Really, in my 40 years I’ve never seen anything like it. This was a topic of discussion with my students before our class last night, and I made the statement, “It seems as if we’re nearing a full blown depression.”

Very quickly, one of my students shot back, “Well, you’re the only one to admit it!”

When I asked her what she meant, she said, “All of the politicians on television refuse to even admit that we’re in a recession when everyone knows we are.”

She’s right of course. This election year I’ve been on the email lists of both Barak Obama and John McCain. Obama sent out an email today referring to the situation as “our financial crisis.” Yesterday, McCain referred to “these tough times.” Bush says we’re in the middle of an “economic slow down.” No one wants to use the “R” word and certainly not the “D” word. This is an election year, after all.

The New Oxford American Dictionary defines recession as “a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally identified by a fall in GDP in two successive quarters” (a depression is simply defined as “a long and severe recession in an economy or market” ). So I don’t know if the situation meets this actual criteria but I know times are difficult economically, and I don’t yet see any indication that the immediate future is brighter. I’m generally not a doom-and-gloomer, but I really believe we should be prepared for potentially worse days ahead.

Flipping through the pages of the Renovaré Spiritual Formation Bible, my eyes happened to stop on the note accompanying Jeremiah 9:1. As you read the words below substitute in your mind the word politicians in place of kings.

“Grief is a prophetic activity. Kings put a happy face on everything, tell the people this is the best of all possible worlds and they never had it so good. It takes a truthful prophet to have the guts to grieve societal disaster. Tears are a sign of relinquishment, a letting go of false hopes and false gods, an admission that we are in sad shape and need of deliverance. The community that is faithful to the truth is always the place where we go to grieve, where we are given the space and permission to weep. Grief is not the final prophetic act, but it may be the first--an honest admission that we are a people who need a God who loves and saves. Tears are thus a prelude to openness to the possibility of divine deliverance.”

My desire for what sounded like a “leather-like cover” trumped my appreciation of the Deuterocanonicals (I’ve got copies of them in other Bibles anyway, right?), so I found the matching ISBN edition on Amazon and ordered the Bible from there. The Amazon page did not mention Italian Duo-Tone, but since Zondervan is a sister company of HarperCollins, the actual publisher of the Bible, I assumed the Zondervan page was correct.

Not so. To my disappointment the edition I got in the mail--the edition with the same matching ISBN--is decidedly NOT Italian Duo-Tone. It’s merely the same black hardback edition I’ve seen in every edition of the Renovaré Bible I’ve handled in bookstores. If I’d known this was the case, I would have ordered the copy with the extra books, if for no other reason than to have the associated spiritual formation commentary accompanying them.

I don’t know what’s going on with the ad as seen above. It’s a mistake or someone has redefined Italian Duo-Tone as “black hardcover.”

I know I should quit my whining, and I’m sure there’s something about contentment in this Bible, but I haven’t read that section yet...

Tags: Renovaré

Tags: NLT, Tyndale

Before you read any further, think to yourself...What’s wrong with this picture (besides the smiley face and my other edits)?

If I were in charge of advertising Bible software, the above photograph is the exact opposite of what I’d want to represent in a brochure. Notice that the professor is concentrating not on [unnamed Windows Bible software], but instead he’s using a physical Bible and he’s taking notes on a legal pad--very old school, very non-Tech. Meanwhile, [unnamed Windows Bible software] is relegated--unfocused and at the moment, unused--to the background.

Now, I’m sure lots of people actually work this way. Sometimes I have a notepad handy when I work for quick notes or outlines, but I generally compose directly on the computer. And it’s not unusual for me to have a physical biblical text in front of me while I’m using Accordance. But that’s different. Why? Because this is an advertisement for software, for the love of Margaret! But the ad doesn’t focus on the software; it focuses on the way we studied before we had software!

Surely whatever Bible the professor in the picture is using would also be found in [unnamed Windows Bible software]. The brochure boasts 115 translations in 35 languages! And ten years ago when I used [unnamed Windows Bible software] before switching to the Mac and Accordance, I distinctly remember that the program had a very handy text editor included, so I’d toss the notepad for sure

I will say, however, that he’s sitting at a very attractive desk; and I certainly like the banker’s lamp...

Tags: Renovaré

Tags: TNIV

Tags: TNIV

ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ βλέπων γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτὴν ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ.

The Greek word πρός/pros is a preposition initially defined in the BDAG lexicon as “expressing direction ‘on the side of’, ‘in the direction of’: w. gen. ‘from’, dat. ‘at’, or acc. (the most freq. usage in our lit.) ‘to.’” In Matt 5:28 πρός/pros relates to ἐπιθυμέω/epithumeo (translated as lust or sexual desire or simply desire in English translations). But, contrary to Willard, ἐπιθυμέω/epithumeo is not a dative. In fact, it’s an infinitive in the aorist tense. At the end of the verse, there’s a dative--καρδίᾳ/kardia (heart)--but no amount of creative sentence diagramming is going to relate πρός/pros to καρδίᾳ/kardia.

I emailed two folks about this issue: Wayne Leman, Bible translator extraordinaire and my original Greek teacher from 1992, Darrell Pursiful. I asked them both if I was simply missing something that was staring me in the face. But they confirmed what seems abundantly clear simply by looking at the text: πρός/pros is not with a dative in Matt 5:28. So is Willard simply wrong in regard to his whole argument, especially with what he said in the second paragraph I quoted above?

Well, by the time I emailed Darrell Pursiful, I had already confirmed Willard’s basic thesis in a couple of other sources, and Darrell affirmed what I had found.

My first hunch had simply been to look at commentaries on Matthew. But in the brief survey of five or six volumes, including some fairly technical resources such as the ICC and Word series, none really touched directly upon this issue. Looking in Accordance, I pulled up The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament. Here it was mentioned in reference to this verse that πρός/pros with the infinitive often expresses purpose.

I hit the Greek grammars, but did not find anything specific to this issue in Wallace or even basic grammars like Mounce. However, I did find what I was looking for in A. T. Robertson’s big grammar (once again proving that this grammar has never fully been “replaced” by any newer work). On p. 1003, Robertson writes, “In Mt. 5:28, πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι, either purpose or result is possible.” And on p. 1075, Robertson writes that the idiom πρὸς τό “was used by the ancients in much the same sense as εἰς τό and ἐπὶ τῷ, ‘looking to,’with a view to.’”

Darrell also pointed me to Robert Guelich’s book on the Sermon on the Mount, which although I had on my shelf, I had failed to look at when searching commentaries. Sure enough, Guelich writes on pp. 193-194:

The phrase τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτὴν means literally “in order to desire having her (sexually).” The same very to desire to have (ἐπιθυμέω ) appears in the tenth commandment for “to covet” (Exo 20:17, LXX, and Deut 5:21, LXX). “To lust” in English connotes accurately the sensual overtones but lacks the accompanying thought of possession inherent in ἐπιθυμῆσαι.

So, what this comes down to is that Willard’s basic point is right even if he messed up his argument from the original languages. I can give him the benefit of the doubt that perhaps he may have simply had a brief mental lapse and it wasn’t caught at time of publication. I have a print copy of the book as well which contains the same error (I reproduced his argument above using it), but I don’t know if more recent printings have corrected the mistake.

What this means on a practical level is that Jesus never said “looking at a woman with lust” was sinful, but rather “looking at a woman TO lust” or “looking at a woman FOR THE PURPOSE of lust” is equivalent to adultery in the heart. That is, the actual sin is found in looking at a woman with express purpose to lust after her or even possess her as Guelich points out. Jimmy Carter, myself, and perhaps even you have stressed over the passing thoughts, the temptations, thinking we had sinned when this was not the case. Certainly entertaining those thoughts, that second and perhaps third glance invited sin, but not the initial look and thought that goes through our minds. We always have the option of quickly looking away (or simply changing our Yahoo profile).

So here’s where it gets interesting: which translations get it right and which ones get it wrong?

I’m not going to even quote the ones that get it wrong. You can look them up for yourself, but here they are: TEV/GNT, REB, NRSV, CEV, NASB (1995 edition), NLT1, and NLTse.

The wording in the RSV, NIV, NJB, Message, and TNIV draws a middle ground (some form of “look lustfully” ), but are still not as explicit in regard to purpose and intent as the translations below which better reflect the meaning of Jesus’ words.

Here are the translations that more accurately render the purposeful intent in Jesus’ words:

“ego autem dico vobis quoniam omnis qui viderit mulierem ad concupiscendum eam iam moechatus est eam in corde suo” (Vulgate)
“But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (KJV)
"Pero yo os digo que cualquiera que mira a una mujer para codiciarla, ya adulteró con ella en su corazón." (Reina-Valera)
“but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (NASB, 1971 edition)
“But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (NKJV)
“But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (ESV)
“But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (HCSB)
“But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (NET)

Tags: Matthew, Sermon on the Mount

Tags: HCSB

Tags: NLT, Kathy

Tags: Proverbs, Targums, NET, KJV

• American Standard Version
• Darby’s New Translation
• French Darby 1991
• German Luther Bible 1912
• Modern King James Version
• New English Translation (without notes)
• Spanish Reina Valera
• Weymouth New Testament
• Young’s Literal Translation

I’m not sure yet if the red lettering can be turned off. The ability to turn off red lettering will come in a later update.

The search dialogue at the top of the screen can be used for either direct reference input or word searches. It also automatically updates as the user scrolls through the biblical text. A search for “righteousness” yields 134 hits in the NET Bible as seen below:

Touching any of the underlined references takes the user to the verse in context of the entire passage. Pressing the icon at the bottom of the screen (is that a window or a plus sign?) brings up a listing of all books available in that particular Bible module:

Clicking on any of the biblical books leads to another screen (not pictured) that lists all chapters in the biblical book and then to another screen with all verses. Selecting a particular verse will not display the verse by itself but the entire passage in context which is very helpful.

The most beneficial aspect of Olive Tree’s BibleReader is easily that it does not rely on an internet connection to use any of the biblical modules. All texts are fully loaded onto the iPhone. I especially appreciate that because I still find myself without any signal from AT&T at times when I am deep into the heart of a building--especially older buildings. At this point, I’m not worried about space limitations. iPhones now come in either 8 or 16 GB models, so for most users there should be room to spare. This is in contrast to my old Treo 600, of course, with which I had to use an extra SIM card in order to store all 60,000 notes of the NET Bible.

The interface for Olive Tree’s BibleReader is completely customizable as seen in this settings screenshot:

In fact, until I installed BibleReader, I had no idea what fonts were available on my iPhone:

[In addition to the fonts listed in the graphic above, BibleReader also tells me I have the following typefaces installed on my iPhone: Helvetica, Helvetica Neue, Hiragino Kaku Gothic ProN W3, Hiragino Kaku Gothic ProN W6, Marker Felt,
STHeiti J, STHeiti K, STHeiti SC, STHeiti TC, Times New Roman, Trebuchet MS, and Verdana.]

I noted in the title of this blog entry that Olive Tree’s BibleReader was the first third-party iPhone Bible app with real promise. I say that because not all of their extensive language offerings are available yet, including their Greek and Hebrew texts. But I corresponded with Stephen Johnson of Olive Tree yesterday, and he assures me they are in the works along with many of the other modules in Olive Tree’s library.

Certain features that we’ve come to expect from Olive Tree, such as split screens, aren’t available yet, but features will be added to BibleReader over the next few months.

Users such as myself who had already purchased Olive Tree texts may face a bit of a conundrum. In the past if a customer had bought a module for the Palm platform and then switched to the WindowsMobile platform (or vice-versa), it wasn’t necessary to re-purchase the texts. For instance, a few years back I briefly owned a Compaq iPaq and was able to load modules such as the Greek New Testament with Gramcord morphology onto the Compaq device even though I had previously purchased it for the Palm platform. After a few weeks, I decided connecting to a WindowsMobile (I believe it was called WindowsCE back then) device from a Mac was too much hassle and switched back to a Palm PDA. In all of this switching back and forth, I never had to pay anything extra to OliveTree. I’ve always found their cross-platofrm policy to be very generous.

However, with the iPhone, the issue is a bit more complex and the problem doesn’t lie with Olive Tree, but with the iTunes Store. Apple doesn’t allow third-party iPhone developers to sell their applications from their own websites. It has to be done from the iTunes Store. So, for instance, if a user has already purchased the ESV text for a Palm or WindowsMobile device from Olive Tree, there’s no way at present to keep from paying for it again if purchased for the iPhone. Olive Tree is in talks with Apple to determine if there’s a way around this, but for right now if an ESV aficionado already bought it for another platform and now wants to install it on the iPhone, he or she will have to pony up another $24.99.

And there is another problem for Olive Tree and their customers. Olive Tree’s modular model of distributing texts doesn’t work as well with the iTunes Store. In the past on the Palm or WindowsMobile platforms, once the BibleReader software was installed as many text modules could be added as their was room available in the device’s memory. Currently, the iTunes Store doesn’t allow this adding of one text at a time as the previous model allowed--at least not without having many separate apps installed on the iPhone. So, if for instance, Olive Tree releases the TNIV text next week, a user couldn’t simply add it to an already-purchased ESV Study Bundle. Rather, two separate installations of BibleReader would have to be installed with the TNIV in one and the ESV and accompanying resources in the other. And theoretically, even once split screen features are implemented, modules in two separate installations couldn’t be viewed side by side.

This complication is not something that just affects Olive Tree, but rather all developers who offer modular add ons to its software. Again, Olive Tree is in talks with Apple, and hopefully the way iTunes is currently set up can be adjusted for the benefit of the customer in the future.

Regardless of these early snags, Olive Tree’s venture into the iPhone platform looks very promising. I am hopeful I can eventually reproduce the same functionality with Bible texts on my iPhone that I had previously experienced on my Treo. Since useful iPhone Bible functionality is something I am genuinely seeking, expect to see more on This Lamp about the subject as new developments arise.

Tags: iPhone, Olive Tree, Apple

Tags: Matthew, Sermon on the Mount

“But my child, let me give you some further advice: Be careful, for the publishing of new study Bibles is endless, and carrying more than one in your book bag wears you out”
(modified from Ecclesiastes 12:12, NLT).

Tags: NLT, Tyndale

Now, anytime I show CBA translation charts, I always feel obligated to offer a disclaimer. These charts do not reflect the huge number of Bibles sold in non-member stores and bookstore chains including Barnes and Noble and Borders and such. They do not include the sales of retail outlets like Wal-Mart and online retailers like Amazon.com--all of which sell large numbers of Bibles, also. Although some Catholic stores are CBA members, the majority are not; so Catholic translations are never well-represented here. Also, keep in mind that as I have already pointed out, roughly 50% of CBA stores refuse to carry the TNIV, so although it does not show well here, that doesn’t mean that it’s not selling elsewhere. Translations such as the NRSV may also have higher sales that are simply not reflected here. The JPS is a fine translation, but it’s never going to make this list. Okay...

Nevertheless, the above figures do represent an extremely large number of Bibles sold in stores, especially Bibles that Evangelicals are buying. Since we don’t have any actual numbers, obviously the charts are open to a good bit of interpretation. Years ago, while working in a bookstore, I saw a document with some actual numbers. The first three entries counted for the vast majority of all sales. And by the time a translation ranks in the bottom half, we’re usually talking about sales in the single digit percentages.

First let’s look at the charts in regard to the TNIV. The fact that it ranks on dollar sales, but not on unit sales probably means that there aren’t that many inexpensive TNIVs in bookstores. So there aren’t many people buying low cost editions in CBA stores for evangelistic purposes. But what’s surprising is that the TNIV has completely dropped off the units sold chart. So, while it is not carried in every one of these stores, it at least used to still show in the units sold list. The August chart doesn’t mean that the TNIV is not selling in the stores that are carrying it, but it does mean that it has recently been selling less. And I’m sorry, but it boggles my mind that the International Children’s Bible would outsell the TNIV!

But now, let’s look at the chart in regard to the New Living Translation. For the last few years, the NIV, KJV, NKJV and NLT have remained in the top four positions (the HCSB was in the 4th spot after its release for a little over a year). The KJV and NKJV often go back and forth between second and third place, but the NLT is usually ranked fourth.

The unit sales chart has the most significant change. For the first time to my knowledge, the NLT has topped both the KJV and NKJV in unit sells, setting it second only to the NIV. And in dollar sales, it is ranked third and above the NKJV. To my knowledge, the NLT--which has always done fairly well on these charts anyway--has never done this well.

This week, I noticed another interesting development. Over at the NLT Blog, in what was almost an aside comment, it was noted that “Christianity Today, International will be making the NLT the default translation on their websites.” I assume that the NLT is replacing the NIV as the default translation. In my mind, this is an incredibly significant development as Christianity Today, in many ways, represents mainstream Evangelical thought. So it speaks volumes not only to the fact that the NLT was chosen as default translation, but also in regard to the versions that were passed over.

NLT UNDER THE RADAR. Suddenly and seemingly unexpectedly, signs are starting to point to the New Living Translation as a major contender for the spot of top English translation that the NIV has held onto for the last two decades. How did this come about?

Perhaps the success of the NLT can be chalked up to the patient persistence on the part of Tyndale House Publishers as well as near nonstop fine tuning of the translation itself. When the New Living Translation was initially released in 1996, it was far more to the right on the dynamic equivalence scale than it is now. The first edition had many phrasings that still echoed Ken Taylor’s original Living Bible. But with the release of the second edition of the NLT in 2004, a lot of the more dynamic readings were tightened up, active voice replaced passive voice in many passages, and the more questionable renderings were mostly removed. Echoes of the original Living Bible are now all but gone from recent editions of the NLT. I still consider the NLT a dynamic translation, and the best of its breed, but it has now moved much closer to the middle, much closer to the kind of translations I would normally categorize as median translations, containing elements of both formal and dynamic methods, based upon the communicative issues of a particular passage.

In 2007, the NLT was revised yet a third time. But the changes are not as startling as the shift between the first and second edition (see my review of the NLT for discussion of the changes in the second edition). In fact, Tyndale is still referring to the 2007 edition as a second edition, but adding 2007 to the 1996 and 2004 dates. With each revision, the NLT has become...well, I don’t want to say “more literal,” because it’s certainly not a literal translation in the traditional sense of meaning. But it has certainly become less dynamic.

I do not yet have a full 2007 text of the NLT, but when I received the Genesis sampler of the NLT Study Bible, one of the first things I did was to compare the changes in the text from the 2004 edition. As already mentioned, the changes are not on the same level of the change between the 1996 and 2004 editions, in which the NLTse was almost an entirely new translation in my opinion. But the changes reflect a honing of the translation, a fine-tuning of the details if you will. Consider that in Genesis 1-12, there are only 7 verses out of 287 that have been changed from the 2004 edition. That results in a 2.4% change from the 2004 NLTse.

Tags: NLT, Tyndale, TNIV, Zondervan

Tags: NLT, Tyndale

1. You must be a “Gatekeeper.” What’s a gatekeeper? A gatekeeper in this context is someone who regularly preaches or teaches the Bible in a church or educational setting. For the purposes of this giveaway, if you are a pastor, other minister or teacher of adults and you instruct from the Bible on at least a weekly basis, you are considered a gatekeeper. You should also have been in this position for at least three months.
2. You must already use the TNIV as your primary Bible. This is a really nice edition of the TNIV Reference Bible, and Zondervan is being very generous to give these away through This Lamp. So, this is a Bible that’s meant to be used, not one that becomes an addition to your collection of translations.
3. In the comments of this post, tell us why you are using the TNIV translation as your primary teaching and/or preaching translation. We’re looking for at least a couple of paragraphs here, not “Because I think it’s really cool.”
4. Qualifying winners agree to a follow-up email interview regarding the use of the TNIV in your ministry. Between now and November, I’ll contact you with a few questions based on your post here in the comments. That interview will become the basis of an actual main post here on This Lamp.
5. You cannot qualify if you’ve already been deemed a recipient of the similar giveaway on TC Robinson’s website. No double-dipping! And TC emailed me his list of winners!
6. Sadly, United States residents only.

Tags: TNIV, Zondervan

• November release*
• Over 10,000 references
• Bound in our new premium hand-crafted Renaissance Leather*
• Single Column
• Black letter
• Topical ties at bottom of page
• TWO ribbon markers*
• MSRP: $99.00*

Tags: TNIV, Zondervan

“All your creatures praise you, Lord,
and your loyal servants bless you.
They talk of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your might,” (REB)

Surely, this includes even the cicadas.

Tags: Cicadas

And these are the days of Your servant David,
Rebuilding a temple of praise.

Do you see the problem? It’s the reference to David rebuilding the Temple. When exactly did David ever rebuild the Temple? Am I missing something here? Is this supposed to be some kind of Messianic reference that I just don’t get?

While David wanted to build the Temple, God would not allow him to because he was considered a man of war (see 2 Samuel 7). David’s son, Solomon, was the one who built the Temple (1 Kings 5-6). But again, David neither built it, and he certainly didn’t rebuild it.

It’s a pretty basic fact that Zerubbabel rebuilt the temple (completed around 516 BC) as part of the Jewish return from Exile in Babylon (see Ezra 3-6). Pictoral reconstructions of Zerubabbel’s Temple are a staple of any Old Testament resource, such as this one snagged from the NIV Study Bible (via Accordance):



The only other person who had a hand in rebuilding the Temple was Herod the Great in the 1st century BC, but it would a bit odd to sing about Herod in a worship song.

Therefore, I suggest we strive for accuracy in our praise songs. I know it doesn’t flow quite as well, but I recommend that worship leaders everywhere who want to continue using the song “Days of Elijah” change their slides to read

And these are the days of Your servant Zerubbabel,
Rebuilding a temple of praise.

But even if you don’t change the slides, this is the way I’ll be singing it from now on.

And I sing loudly...

Tags: Worship

Tags: Orthodox Church, NKJV

Consider the late F. F. Bruce on the subject in his article on the Gospels in The New Bible Dictionary:

This finding [the idea of Markan priority], which is commonly said to have been placed on a stable basis by C. Lachmann in 1835, depends not merely on the formal evidence that Matthew and Mark sometimes agree in order against Luke; Mark and Luke more frequently against Matthew; but Matthew and Luke never against Mark (which could be explained otherwise), but rather on the detailed comparative examination of the way in which common material is reproduced in the three Gospels, section by section. In the overwhelming majority of sections the situation can best be understood if Mark’s account was used as a source by one or both of the others. Few have ever considered Luke as a possible source of the other two, but the view that Mark is an abridgment of Matthew was held for a long time, largely through the influence of Augustine. But where Matthew and Mark have material in common Mark is fuller than Matthew, and by no means an abridgment; and time after time the two parallel accounts can be much better explained by supposing that Matthew condenses Mark than by supposing that Mark amplifies Matthew. While Matthew and Luke never agree in order against Mark, they do occasionally exhibit verbal agreement against him, but such instances mainly represent grammatical or stylistic improvements of Mark, and are neither numerous nor significant enough to be offset against the general weight of the evidence for Mark’s priority.

Tags: NASB

Tags: The Bible Experience, TNIV

Yet through the years, though this wonderful church formed me in the joy of the Lord that was my strength, I felt like we were missing something. As a stalwart outpost of the kingdom in a threatening world, our faith seemed somehow precarious. We stood, as we faced the world, on a foundation made from the words of our favorite Bible passages--our "canon within the Canon"--and the sermons of of our pastors and a roster of approved visiting evangelists. There was utterly no sense of the mystical massiveness of a church that had stood firmly for 2,000 years. No sense that our foundations stretched down through time. I didn't have a clue who John Wesley, Martin Luther, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Ignatius of Antioch were. I just knew that I felt like we were a part of a church that was in some ways powerful, but in other ways shallow and insecure in a threatening world that did not share our faith.

I now see that my early sense of the church's insecurity stemmed from what J. I. Packer has called evangelicalism's "stunted ecclesiology," rooted in our alienation from our past. Without a healthy engagement with our past, including historical definitions of "church," we are being true neither to Scripture nor to our theological identity as the church. Though Packer doesn't put it this way, it is easy to see ways in which their stunted ecclesiology has led evangelicals to allow the world to shape the church.

The recent growth of this trend, especially among the young, suggests that evangelicals are still struggling with an identity crisis. Many 20- and 30- something evangelicals are uneasy and alienated in mall-like church environments; high energy, entertainment-oriented worship; and boomer-era ministry strategies and structures modeled on the business world. Increasingly they are asking just how these culturally camouflaged churches can help them rise above the values of the consumerist world around them.

Tags: TNIV, Genesis

• Complete text of the Hebrew and Aramaic Bible using the Leningrad Codex (minus critical apparatus)
• Shaded Hebrew names that occur less than 100 times
• Footnoted definitions of all Hebrew words occurring 100 times or less (twenty-five or less for Aramaic words)
• Context-specific glosses
• Stem-specific glossed definitions for verb forms (Qal, Piel, Hiphil, and so forth)
• Ketib/Qere readings both noted in the text and differentiated appropriately
• Marker ribbon
• Duo-Tone binding

• Considerable amount of bleedthrough due to thin paper used (the RHB is significantly thinner than the large BHS in keeping with Zondervan's "form-over-function" [my opinion] insistence on thinline Bibles).
• James likes the idea of shading proper nouns, but questions the actual execution of it.
• Points out that some of the words are too far apart because of the text's justification.
• Sees using the same footnote number for a word occurring more than once on a page to be an improvement over Zondervan's A Reader's Greek New Testament.
• Notes that the underlying text is the same as the BHS unlike both editions of the RGNT which departed from the UBS/NA Greek New Testament.
• James concludes that he would not use the RHB because his Hebrew is good enough to not need it; however, he would recommend it to those whose Hebrew skills were lacking. Says he would recommend it more heartily if the paper were not so thin.

• Zondervan's page for A Reader's Hebrew Bible
• My review of Zondervan's A Reader's Greek New Testament, second edition
• My review of The UBS Greek New Testament: A Reader's Edition

Tags: Hebrew Bible

Tags: Genesis

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Tags: TNIV, The Bible Experience

• On December 12, 2007, Lingamish (a.k.a Lingermush, a.k.a. Flingafish, a.k.a David Ker) emailed me asking if I'd be willing to review the CEV Outreach Edition Bible, which he was willing to send me for free. Since I think David is a swell guy, and because I have a psychological inability to turn down a free Bible, I agreed.
• On December 13, David announced on his blog that he was giving away a case of CEV Outreach Edition Bibles.
• On December 15, Steve Ker (David's father) emailed me saying that he had mailed the Bible.
• On December 21, Kathy and I left for Louisiana for the holidays. I looked in my mailbox one last time before we pulled out, but sadly the Bible had not yet arrived.
• Late Monday, December 31, we returned. The Bible had arrived when I got my mail from my neighbor on January 1.
• Today is the first chance I've had to write something. My apologies. Hope it isn't too late.

Tags: CEV

"A New English Translation of the Septuagint may be quoted in nonsalable media (such as church bulletins, orders of service, liturgies, newsletters, etc.) without inclusion of a copyright notice, but the abbreviation NETS must appear at the end of each quotation."

NEB = New English Bible
NET = New English Transltion
NETS = New English Translation of the Septuagint

And, of course, none of these three translations have anything to do with the others. I wonder where all the creativity has gone in naming translations. I also wonder if the NET Bible was even on the radar of the NETS editors when they came up with the name. Although I personally consider the NET Bible a major translation (and my review is finally in the works), it has not received the exposure it deserves because it (to my knowledge) is only available through mail order.

Some might feel the nearness of the acronyms to the NEB is a non-issue because it is now nearly four decades from its last edition before the REB. However, I still occasionally come across NEW reference books that refer to the NEB--sometimes in EXCLUSION to the REB which has been available for almost two decades!

So, I see room for all kinds of abbreviation confusion, especially between the NET and NETS. And one would think that with 26 letters of the alphabet, we could come up with a few more unique combinations!

Tags: Translations

• A second edition of the HCSB will be released in 2009.
• Why "beer" is used instead of "strong drink."
• When the project first started by Arthur Farstad, there were parallel tracks for the HCSB in which there were to be two New Testaments, one based on the Majority Text and one based on the Nestle-Aland text. The Majority Text project was dropped after the death of Farstad.
• Southern Baptists (does he mean Lifeway here?) tried to BUY the NASB from the Lockman Foundation three times--and it almost went through!
• We finally get a better understanding of the relationship of the HCSB to the Logos21/Living Water Gospel of John.
• Blum explains the complicated history behind the name "Holman Christian Standard Bible" and reveals other names considered. Every name including the current one has legal issues, though.
• According to Blum, "Holman" is already being downplayed in the logo and will soon disappear altogether leaving the designation simply "CSB."
• Mounce sent Blum an email stating that the HCSB is the first translation to get John 3:16 right. (I think I said that, too, a while back!)
• Currently, the HCSB uses the designation "Yahweh" instead of the traditional "LORD" (all caps) 75 times. In the 2009 revision, that number will grow to 400.
• Awkward terms like "deluge" and "atmospheric domains" will NOT appear in the 2009 revision.
• Blum explains the decision to go with the half brackets around some words that are added for clarity, but admits he was not in favor of doing it.
• The HCSB translators hate red-letter editions, but publishers love it.
• Farstad was not a Baptist but was a Brethren. Blum is Presbyterian. Only about 1/3 of the translators were Southern Baptist. This hardly justifies the HCSB's reputation as the "Baptist Bible."
• Blum claims that the HCSB is outselling the ESV two to one.
• Agrees that the HCSB website is hard to use.

Tags: HCSB

Tags: Translations

“So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.” (Gen 3:6 NLT)

Yesterday, in our Bible study class, I taught on Genesis 3. During my preparation I came across an interesting bit of trivia--how the apple became associated with the forbidden fruit. You know what I'm talking about right? In most popular conceptions of the story, it's an apple that Adam and Eve partake of in violation of God's command, resulting in their fall from innocence and banishment from paradise. I believe I even had a Bible story book or two as a child that specifically said they ate an apple. But as soon as I could read the story for myself, I found out that nowhere is any specific fruit mentioned, let alone an apple (of course, I was also disappointed while still quite young when I couldn't find anywhere in the Bible that Jesus' cross was made from a dogwood tree). So how did an apple get connected to the story? Well it seems that the Latin word for apple is malum, while the word for evil is malus. The phonetic connection between the two words became the key to the association down through the ages. So much for keeping the doctor away...

Tags: Genesis

• Unpack it carefully. It's cold this time of year. So if your new Bible has been sitting on a mail truck for the last few hours or even days, be very careful when you first open it. Most Bibles, even those with sewn bindings, use glue to some extent. Cold weather can make that glue brittle. Opening a Bible that's been in the cold can instantly create a permanent crease in the spine where the glue will actually break. If your Bible has been out in the cold, it might be best to let it come to room temperature before laying it open flat. When examining your new Bible for the first time, gently and slowly open it.
• Inspect it carefully. All Bible publishers have generous return policies if you find a serious defect in your Bible. Be careful with gilded page edges as these will probably be stuck together. I've seen pages torn from being separated too quickly. There are actually methods for separating multiple pages at a time such as gently bending your Bible one way and then the other to let the pages separate. Also look for printing flaws. I've seen it all. Missing pages, missing books of the Bible, maps out of order, and printing defects. For whatever reason I regularly end up with printing defects in a new Bible in which a page has been improperly cut on a corner and is folded up into the Bible. Sometimes two pages were never separated. If you decide to keep a Bible like this rather than returning it, don't tear the pages apart, but use a sharp pair of scissors to separate them. Then, if the corner of the page is greater than the other pages, use the scissors to trim the page slightly shorter than the other pages. Any page sticking out will become ragged over time, but cutting the page a bit short will solve this problem.
• Use your hands. The best method for softening a bonded leather or genuine leather Bible is to simply hold it in your hands regularly. The natural oil from your hands (the stuff that leaves fingerprints everywhere) is what softens Bible leather. Keeping your Bible in a Bible cover/case at all times is actually one of the worst things you can do for a Bible, although many people mistakenly believe they are taking care of them this way. I've seen leather Bibles start to crack along the edges of spine because they were kept in protective Bible covers and never allowed to soften from regular use in someone's hands. If you live in an area with lots of bad weather and need to use a protective Bible cover, take it out of the cover when you are actually reading and studying from it. By the way, number of the newer imitation leather covers come already feeling so soft, they seem to already have seen years of use--kind of like buying pre-faded jeans. But no one really knows yet how these new kinds of imitation leathers will hold up after many years of use. If you definitely want the Bible to be around for a long time, select a leather cover.
• Keep your Bible out of the rain. You think this would be a no-brainer, but not necessarily so. If it's raining and you need to carry your Bible, try to hide it under a jacket or put it in a bag or even a Bible case (but take it out when you use it--see #3). Rain drops will cause those ugly looking spots on the silver or gold gilding your Bible has on its page edges. If you get caught in the rain and have no protection for your Bible, hold it spine up to keep water off the paper as much as possible. Not only does rain cause the aforementioned spots, it also will seep into the pages and cause wrinkles and possibly even create smears of ink if you've taken notes in your Bible.
• Don't leave your Bible on the dashboard of your car. When I see a Bible on someone's dash on Thursday in some parking lot, I know that its probably been sitting there since Sunday and the owner hasn't been reading it. More seriously, a dashboard is one of the worst places to keep your Bible. The windshield intensifies the rays of the sun and will dry out the leather. In the hot summer time, this is about like putting your Bible in an oven. In the wintertime, not only can it dry it out, but you also run the risk of hardening any glue in the binding, causing a break when you go to use it next (see #1).
• Use the right kind of pens and highlighters for taking notes. Never use wet highlighters or felt tip or fountain pens in your Bible as this ink will bleed through the thinner than normal pages. Instead, use dry wax highlighters that can be found in most Christian bookstores and some office supply stores. And for writing, employ a pen that uses archival ink such as the Pigma Micron series. These can be purchased at most arts and craft stores and on the internet.
• Tie off the end of your ribbon marker. Don't do this immediately, but if your ribbon marker starts to fray (most usually will eventually), tie the end of it off in a knot and it won't get any worse.
• Don't bend your cover over backwards. Not only will the librarian tell you this is a no-no for library books, I'll tell you that you should never do this to your Bible. I often see preachers bending a Bible all the way over to where the top and bottom covers are touching. This stretches the spine of your Bible and can possibly break it. This often leads to pages falling out, even from Bibles that have sewn bindings. Most Bibles are designed to lay open in one hand and feel limp. But it shouldn't be pushed back any further than this.
• Unfold curled pages. If the corner of a page folds over for whatever reason, unfold it as soon as possible. Inspect your Bible for this regularly because the turned down corners may eventually crack and come off. I've seen many missing page corners in older books and Bibles. Of course, it should go without saying to never fold over the corner of a page to mark your place. This is what a marker ribbon is for. Or use some other kind of bookmark.
• Don't stuff a bunch of material between your Bible's pages. Don't clutter up your Bible with 18 weeks' worth of previous church bulletins or even your current Bible study guide. The spine of your Bible was designed to support the number of pages within your Bible and that's it. Cramming a bunch of extra stuff in there increases your risk of breaking the spine. The librarian's rule is to mark your place with nothing thicker than a sheet of paper. Basic cardstock bookmarks are fine as well.
• Protect Your Bible from pets and very small children. You know how good that new leather smells? It smells even better to your pet! I've seen quite a few Bible covers that had become partial puppy snacks. If you have a dog, especially one that's under a year old or one with a tendency to chew on leather, keep your Bible up high and out of reach when you aren't using it. Also, I've seen very young children take great delight in tearing out those thinner Bible pages. Also, a child may not know the proper way to carry a Bible, and may drag it around by the pages or one end of the cover. Obviously, this isn't good for the health of your Bible. The best bet if pets and toddlers are around is to simply keep it up high.

The official word from Zondervan states that the TNIV Reference Bible's official release date is January 2008. However, Christian Book Distributors is showing availability "on or about" December 10 (as of this writing, CBD did not have any copies yet). The TNIVRB has been a highly anticipated Bible for a number of reasons. The complete TNIV translation has only been in circulation for about two and a half years, andI started teaching primarily from it in the latter half of 2006. However, my greatest complaint at the time was that I couldn't find a copy of the TNIV that didn't draw attention to itself. That is, I couldn't find one that wasn't in neon colors, let alone one with a simple traditional look and feel. Further, I had difficulty find a text layout that I liked. I prefer a single-column text with wide margins for taking notes. Yet, at the time, I couldn't even find a single-column edition of the TNIV.

Then, in September of 2006, I laid eyes on proofs for two different editions of the TNIVRB that were being circulated by Zondervan. One contained the single column text which resulted in the final copy, but the other was a two-column text with cross references in the middle. I quickly cast my vote with the editors at Zondervan for the single-column text. Of course, I made a number of other suggestions, too, including those elusive wide-margins and also suggested moving the cross references to the inside of the page. Zondervan hasn't taken those two suggestions to heart yet, but I'll keep pushing. Besides my vote for the single-column text, the only other influence I feel I had on this edition was to press for a non-thinline edition. Unfortunately, this change in plans pushed the publication of the TNIVRB from October to now, and raised the price by about $5. Nevertheless, after quite a bit of waiting, the TNIVRB in its final form arrived in my mail today, a generous gift to me from my friends at Zondervan.

Zondervan aims the TNIVRB at pastors, students, and teachers. Further, their goal was to make the Bible high quality but sell it as low of a cost as possible to get it in as many "gatekeepers'" hands as possible. Therefore, the TNIVRB does not come in the tradition box that most high-end Zondervan Bibles include, but rather a cardstock slip cover. But as for the Bible itself, it appears to be very high quality. Currently, there's only one edition--black bonded leather--but that leather feels quite solid. More importantly, the binding is smyth-sewn so that the user won't have to worry about chunks of pages coming unglued.

I suppose I was most surprised about the size and weight of the Bible. As already mentioned, I lobbied Zondervan strongly not to make the TNIVRB a thinline Bible. After gaining support from other TNIV fans in the blogosphere, Zondervan announced in May of this year that the TNIVRB would measure in at about 1.25" thick. Well, when I got my copy in hand this evening, I immediately thought it looked thicker than that, so I measured it. I can tell you that the TNIVRB is actually about 1.5" thick, and I can't tell you how excited I am about that. This means thicker paper was used in the TNIVRB which will allow for less bleedthrough of text from underlying pages or personal notations.

Further, the TNIVRB feels good in the hand. It has just the right weight when holding it open, Billy-Graham-style in one hand. I like the TNIVRB because it both looks like a Bible and feels like a Bible! As shown in the picture above, it lays flat when laid on a surface. I don't mean that it merely stays open; it lays flat. Does it lay flat at Genesis 1? Well, not quite flat, but it stays open, which is more than I can say for my TNIV Study Bible that I wrestled with while teaching out of Genesis at church last Sunday. And I'm sure given some time, and once the cover absorbs the natural oil from being held in hand, that it will even lay flat at Gen 1.

As mentioned already, the cover is a black bonded leather. This is complemented by silver lettering and gilding of the pages' edge. The spine itself doesn't contain hard corners, but is semi-rounded which contributes to its look of high quality. The text on the spine is fairly simple. "Holy Bible" runs sideways, while "TNIV" and the current three-tiered Zondervan logo sit perpendicular and occupy the bottom 25% of the spine's area. A single black ribbon is included for marking one's place.

According to the publisher's website, the TNIVRB runs at 1,408 pages. Some pages, such as those designating the Old and New Testaments, and even sections of books within those categories have been seen in some other editions of the TNIV. But most of the TNIVRB is brand new layout. The main text pages themselves contain layout and text that looks anything but rushed. Frequent section headers help to set off pericopes, allowing the text to flow with plenty of free space. The main text font measures at 9 points and is adequate for a Bible of this size. In comparing pages in the final product to the proofs I saw in 2006, it may be that Zondervan slightly enlarged the type from the original concept as slightly less text appears on the pages in the published TNIVRB. Such changes are always welcome.

Thankfully, all text is BLACK, meaning no red lettering (I can hear the applause coming through the internet now).

Cross references run along the outer edge of the page and a new feature, "Topical Ties" run along the bottom. The Topical Ties treat subjects in the text along 700 or so categories. The reader is guided by markers demonstrating earlier or later texts which focus on the same subject. Unfortunately, an index to these topics is not included, but I would think it might be helpful if something like this were made available online.

Heavy note-takers, such as myself will find the TNIVRB mixed for note-taking. Some pages have a lesser number of cross references in the margin allowing for notes, but more "well-travelled" passages contain a full margin of notes that often spill over into the bottom of the page. Poetic sections, however, offer ample room for notations.

Nevertheless, between the cross references, Topical Ties, and parallel passage notations under section headings, the TNIVRB is the ultimate reference Bible. According to the slip cover, there are over 100,000 cross references alone. And Zondervan is claiming that the TNIVRB is the most comprehensive reference Bible available.

Tags: TNIV, Zondervan

• The UBS Greek New Testament: A Reader's Edition (henceforth UBSRE), is similar in nature to Zondervan's A Reader's Greek New Testament (RGNT from this point forward) which has been published in two separate editions. The first was based upon the Greek text underlying the NIV, and the second is based upon the Greek text underlying the TNIV. All three of these New Testaments include a Greek text with a vocabulary apparatus at the bottom of the page containing definitions for all words that occur less than 30 times in the New Testament. The purpose of such an edition is to allow the reader with at minimum a basic foundation of Greek study to simply read the New Testament in Greek without having to constantly consult a lexicon for words not in one's working knowledge.
• As I explained in the previous review of the RGNT2, although I originally bought the Zondervan RGNT1 for the novelty of having the underlying NIV text, I actually found the volume quite useful, especially as a tool to throw into my book bag that I carry to church on Sundays. I found the idea of a Reader's New Testament in Greek with the vocabulary apparatus is extremely handy when I simply needed to consult the text and wasn't worried about text critical issue or didn't have the time to look up complete definitions in my BDAG lexicon.
• I was never fond of the italic text in the RGNT1, but it was bearable. I was extremely disappointed in the release of the RGNT2 in that although the text was changed to a non-italic font, it used a style with thinner character strokes that actually made the text more difficult to read in my opinion.
• Finally, about a year or so ago, a professor at a seminary extension contacted me wanting to know if I had heard whether the RGNT was being discontinued due to threat of a lawsuit from the United Bible Societies or the German Bible Society. I could not confirm any such lawsuit at the time or that the RGNT was being taken off the market (it was not). However, I did confirm from an off-the-record source recently that there was talk of an actual lawsuit, but it was deemed that since the standard eclectic Greek New Testament is based upon public domain ancient manuscripts, such a suit would not be able to stand up in court.

• Translation of all vocabulary items occurring 30 times or less in the New Testament at the bottom of the page
• Translations given according to context
• Definitions of idiomatic word combinations
• Grammatical analysis of all difficult verb forms
• Reader-friendly layout enabling the reader to transfer easily from text to dictionary and vice versa
• An appendix providing translations of all vocabulary items occurring more than 30 times in the New Testament
• The maps from the USB Greek New Testament.

One last thing. If you read my review of the RGNT2, you'll remember I lamented that a ribbon marker was missing, in spite of the fact that one had been promised in early promotions, and even listed as a new feature on early shots of the box cover. Well, potential purchasers of the UBSRE will be glad to know that it does, in fact, come with a ribbon marker. Admittedly a minor detail, but handy for any reader, nonetheless.

Tags: Greek NT, Zondervan, UBS

Tags: Greek NT, A. T. Robertson

Tags: Christmas

"I can say this that the vast majority of those at the convention who looked at the two editions preferred the second edition's font over the first as being much easier to read. Even though the first edition was $5.00 cheaper than the second edition and we had lots of both editions at the conventions, we sold out of the second edition first at both conventions, and 'from my perch' I made sure that people looked at both fonts if they were unaware of the first edition."

Tags: Greek NT, TNIV, Zondervan

Interesting jockeying going on this month. It's not surprising to see the NIV, KJV, and NKJV at the top three in sales on both charts (although deep down it still amazes me that the NKJV sells so well). The fact that the ESV ranks #4 on unit sales, but #7 on dollar sales continues to reinforce my hunch that a lot of the 50¢ New Testaments are being sold, probably based more on price than translation preference, although I'm positive both are significant factors for its continued acceptance. The HCSB which ranked #10 last month in both dollar and unit sales moved up both charts significantly. Perhaps this has to do with the release of the Apologetics Study Bible (Ken, where's my review?) which ranked #2 on study Bibles sold. The TNIV, the most recently released version on the list, didn't show up in either rankings last month, but lists as #9 on dollar sales and #10 on unit sales which is surely significant since half of the reporting CBA stores refuse to carry it (suggestion: the next time you're in the market for a TNIV BIble, special order it from one of the stores that won't carry it).

In November 2005, news broke that the world's oldest map had been discovered. The Soleta Map, as it came to be called, was about the size of a postage stamp and showed the location of various cities along the boot heel of Italy. The map dated to about 500 BC. Since its discovery, however, some have suggested that the map may be a modern forgery. If it is a genuine artifact, it's a reminder of how far we have come in map-making technology. GPS systems in our cars can show us exactly where we are on a map. And online electronic satelite maps can zoom in our your backyard or on someone's property half a world away. Those who have studied maps have long noted how cities dot the water sources. Rivers and fresh-water lakes became the home to families, villages, cities, and eventually civilizations. This issue of Biblical Illustrator Plus explores how water affected civilization development and how those civilizations interacted with one another and how they came to know, understand, and relate to God. As you read and study, take time to evaluate where you are--and where you are going.

Click the image above for a larger view.

The BI+ CD contains background articles for a number of Lifeway Bible study curriculums. I teach from the "Explore the Bible" curriculum which essentially goes through the entire Bible in eight year cycles. This Fall, a brand new cycle began with our study of Matthew. I'll be honest and say that I was disappointed that we only spent only one quarter in Matthew's gospel. However, I'm very pleased that the corresponding Old Testament study in Genesis will span two quarters. The first book of the Bible is absolutely foundational for everything that comes after it, and I don't believe 50 chapters could have been adequately covered in only three months. Therefore, in the list of new BI articles below, many of them are related to our study of Genesis. Other articles relate to the "Bible Studies for Life" curriculum which looks related to be a study in the Gospels (but I don't have a schedule for that series, so I'm not certain). Here are the current new articles found in both editions of Biblical Illustrator:

Tags: Biblical Illustrator

Tags: Biblical Illustrator

Tags: NLT, Tyndale

Tags: TNIV, Translations, Matthew

ὀργίζεσθε καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε
[You may] Be angry and/but do not sin

One of my students asked about the original OT passage that Paul quotes. He wanted to know if it was an imperative in the LXX. It’s true that the passage quotes Psalm 4:4 (4:5 in the LXX/BHS). And although I didn’t know the answer off the top of my head, it was easy enough to find out. So I threw an Accordance window onto the projector screen.

We looked up the passage in the LXX, and sure enough it was exactly the same down to the letter. The same imperative form for ὀργίζω (to be angry) was used in the passage: a present passive imperative, 2nd person plural. Someone looking in his own copy of the Bible noted however, that the NASB did not use “Be angry,” but rather Tremble. I suggested that often such a disagreement occurs because the NT writers usually quoted the LXX, but our modern translations are based off the Hebrew text and sometimes variations occur. Then I threw up a few English translations for comparison, most of which had the same or a similar idea as the NASB. But when I opened a pane with the ESV, I was surprised to see that it said, “Be angry... .”

Having spent enough time on this issue, I went back to our lesson. However, I was curious enough to look at this issue after class. As I was to confirm, the Hebrew for Psalm 4:4/5 is not a word that specifically means to be angry. The Hebrew word used 4:4/5, rigzu, is the qal imperative form of rgz. My Hebrew is in the rustier section of my language toolbelt, but I can still read a lexicon. And according to the HALOT, the qal form of rgz means (1) to tremble, be caught in restless motion, (2) to tremble with emotion: from terror, (3) to come out quaking with fear, (4) to get excited. Although it's not my desire to try to defend the LXX's choice of ὀργίζω for rgz, I can question the ESV's use of "Be angry" since the translation claims to be based on the Hebrew OT, and certainly not the Greek.

I should point out that the ESV does include an alternate translation to "Be angry" in the footnotes: "Or Be agitated." Is Be agitated a better translation? Well, according to the HALOT, only if rgz takes the hifil form (which it does not in Psalm 4).

My first hunch was simply to assume that the ESV translators were once again engaging in the questionable practice of trying to make the OT text conform to NT quotations, something that doesn't always work for reasons I've stated above. However, rather than jump to any sudden conclusions, I decided to check out other translations in the Tyndale tradition, especially the ESV's immediate predecessor, the RSV. After checking with the Tyndale translation, I was reminded that there is no Tyndale version of the Psalms (at least that's survived), so it's probably more accurate to say in the KJV tradition. The chart below demonstrates the variations of Psalm 4:4 in all translations that trace their lineage in one way or another to the KJV.

It's very interesting that while the KJV followed the Hebrew, it was the RSV that first departed and followed the LXX instead. I find this highly ironic since the RSV was heavily criticized by conservatives for following the Hebrew reading in Isa 7:14 instead of the LXX which harmonized with Matt 1:23. So I believe it's fair to say that initial fault does not lie with the ESV, but with the RSV. And I haven't looked at every translation on my shelf, but between the ASV and the RSV, only a couple of translations of any significance stand out: the Moffatt version and the Smith/Goodspeed version. Both of these use tremble. Therefore, as far as I know, it is the RSV that first introduced "Be angry" to Psalm 4:4.

However, the ESV is to be questioned here regardless because the translators have chosen to leave a faulty translation in place for what I can only guess is simply is simply for the sake of artificial harmonization. This follows one of my primary problems with the ESV--that the revisers did not update the RSV enough. Many of the awkward renderings or simply less-than-adequate translations found in the ESV are simply leftover baggage from the RSV.

That the ESV, which was moderately revised again earlier this year, has retained "Be angry" only suggests to me the original assumption I made that the handlers of this version wish to create a direct correspondence, a harmonization, between the OT text and the passages where it's quoted in the NT. This is problematic, though, when it no longer accurately reflections the meaning of the OT texts such as is the case here. Even the alternate translation, Be agitated would be closer to accuracy, but as is often the case with the ESV, the more accurate rendering is in the footnotes and a more "traditional" (even if inaccurate) rendering is in the main text (see for example, the ESV's consistent translation of ἀδελφοί/adelphoi in Paul's writings as "brothers" while noting the more accurate translation of "brothers and sisters" in the footnotes: Rom 1:13; 7:1; 8:12; 10:1; 11:25; 12:1; 15:14; 16:14; 1 Cor 1:10; 2:1; 3:1; 4:6; 6:8; 7:24; 8:12; 11:33; 12:1; 14:6; 15:1; 16:15; 2 Cor 1:8; 8:1; 13:11; Gal 1:2; 3:15; 4:12; 6:1; Eph 6:23; Phil 1:12; 3:1; 4:1; Col 1:2; 4:15; 1 Thess 3:7; 4:1; 2 Thess 1:3; 2:1; 3:1; 1 Tim 4:6; 2 Tim 4:21). One wonders why the more accurate translations wouldn't simply be preferred in the main text? Well, evidently because it flies in the face of tradition.

As always, your thoughts are invited in the comments below. For reference sake, here is Psalm 4:4 in a few other translations. The ESV is not to be criticized by itself. The NLT and HCSB both use anger, which is even more surprising for the latter which usually goes out of its way to shun traditional renderings for the sake of accuracy. Of course "tradition" in this case only dates back to 1956 as far as I can tell. The original NIV also used anger, but the TNIV appropriately corrects this with Tremble.

“Be angry and do not sin” [note: Or Tremble] (HCSB)

“Tremble and do not sin” (GWT)

"So tremble, and sin no more" (JPS)

"Tremble with fear and do not sin!" (NET)

"In your anger do not sin" (NIV)

"Tremble and do not sin" (TNIV)

"Don’t sin by letting anger control you" (NLTse)

"Let awe restrain you from sin" (REB)

"Tremble with fear and stop sinning" (GNT)

Tags: Psalms, Ephesians, ESV, RSV

This change is certainly welcome because the two separate lists tell us exactly what we're seeing. Of course, I'd like to see the actual numbers of unit sales as my hunch is probably 75% of all units sold are represented in the first two or three listings. The other issue readers need to keep in mind is that these sale are only reflective of CBA member stores. Thus, significant numbers are not included from such outlets as Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, book chains such as Barnes & Noble and all other non-CBA member businesses.

Tags: Translations

We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.

Tags: Church life

Tags: Translations

⁹ What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. ¹⁰ As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
¹¹ there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
¹² All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”^c
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”^d
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”^e
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”^f
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶ ruin and misery mark their ways,
¹⁷ and the way of peace they do not know.”^g
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”^h

^cPsalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3; Eccles. 7:20.
^dPsalm 5:9
^ePsalm 140:3.
^fPsalm 10:7 (see Septuagint)
^gIsaiah 59:7, 8.
^gPsalm 36:1.

From heaven, the Lord bent down to look upon the sons of men to see if there were any who understand or seek after God.

Next the catena draws on Pss 14:1-3 [LXX 13:2-3] and 53:2-3 [LXX 52:3-4]. Significantly, it is "the fool" who is indicted, and those described are set over against God's people, "the righteous generation" (Ps 14:4, 5, 7), those who do seek after God (cf Pss 9:10; 22:26; 24:6; 27:8, etc. ... But when used as an elaboration of Eccl 7:10 [Dunn surely means 7:20 here], according to the conventions of Jewish interpretation, the Psalm passages can be understood to fill out the universal condemnation of Qoheleth ("the principal method in which the rabbis clarify the sacred text and probe its depths is by recourse to parallel passages"--Bloch, "Midrash," 32). Those who recognized teh quotation (whose repetition in the Psalms would make it all the more familiar) would recognize too the shocking implication that Paul was in effect lumping Jewish presumptions with gentile idolatry and sexual perversion (cf. Ps 14:1) as equally an expression of the fool's denial of God. ἠχρεώθησαν is the LXX translation of ‏[ne’elachu], "become sour" (of milk)--hence NJB: "all alike turned sour."

Can someone please explain to me how you can use the TNIV for in-depth study? I love the TNIV, but I am having a hard time using it for deep study because of the dynamic equivalence. I don't know if this is a mindset or an actual problem.

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"The God said, 'Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness' ...
So God created man in His own image;
He created him in the image of God;
He created them male and female."
--Genesis 1:26-27, HCSB

How simple and yet profound! "Created" changes our origin and destiny. "In His own image" affects our understanding of human dignity, worth, and potential.

Of all creation, God created human beings in His image. That unique feature has compelled mankind to seek, to know, and to worship Him. But, how we have messed that up! People have worshiped everything from nature to creatively fashioned idols. Some have even worshiped man as god. In all of those cases, mankind has missed it.

But "In these last days, [God] has spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the universe. He is the radiance of His glroy, the exact expression of His nature, and He sustains all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb. 1:2-3, HCSB). In Him alone do we find worship satisfaction.

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Our big new deal in NLT Bibles right now is the Discover God Study Bible. The premise is that it’s the only study Bible in which the notes all focus on the person of God, what he has revealed to us about himself in the Bible, and how we can be in relationship with him. It’s not primarily for new believers, which the title can imply. Most of the notes are from Bill Bright’s ministry. It has an innovative topic system that some people are calling the “Thompson Chain of the 21st Century.

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And he said to him, "Truly, truly I say to y'all [ὑμῖν], y'all will see [ὄψεσθε] heaven open...

Of course, I can translate with y'all because I grew up in the south. And I should also mention that the KJV communicates the second person plural (at least clearly in the second instance) because Elizabethan English also allowed for the distinction by using the now archaic ye:

And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open (John 1:51 KJV)