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Bible Translation Spectrum

Wiki: TOC, VTOC, HomeForum: Home, GeneralSee also Bible Book Abbreviations Common Resource Abbreviations Bibles @ Logos.com Bible-Researcher English Bible Gateway Reading Levels Reading Level of the KJV Scott David: Spectrum Chart Scott David: Bible Table Jan Krohn: Source&Affiliation

Bible Translating has a spectrum of target equivalence approaches ranging from formal to functional with dynamic in between. Formal seeks literal rendering of original language into target language, which wants to preserve original word order as much as practical. Also literal goal is one translated word for one original word. This translation philosophy assumes that the reader is familiar with the culture of the original text. In contrast, functional equivalence focuses on phrasing meaning using contemporary colloquialism. Here the assumption is that the reader is not familiar with the original culture but must have the cultural meaning translated. In a sense, functional equivalence is an application commentary of the original text. In the middle of the spectrum is dynamic thought for thought, which seeks a mediating balance from stilted literal expression and current colloquialism.

Comparing Bibles from across spectrum of equivalent approaches can be insightful. Essentially all Bible translations are a commentary on the original text (within bounds of translator’s believability) so look for commonality (agreement) between apparently different renditions.

For Bible Study of a passage, one practical approach is praying Psalms 119:18 followed by using S.O.A.P.
S = Scripture (Where’s it at ?)
O = Observe (What jumps out ?)
A = Apply (What to do ?)
P = Pray (about it)
At times, the “O = Observe” needs to seek meaning in Original Context to discover Truth gem(s).

Page Contents

Word for Word
Thought for Thought
Paraphrase

Year released or revised (with ~ suffix for Bibles not offered by Faithlife)
Bible abbreviation for resource filtering
Reading level (R#) reflects number of different words used and length of sentences.
Language (L) can be: A for Archaic (Ye, thee, thine, thou, thy), a for a little archaic (under 7 in Bible text), I for Inclusive, or N for Neutral.
* Apocrypha or DeuteroCanonical books are included in Bible Resource by Faithlife.

Word for Word

Formal equivalence seeks literal rendering (albeit some word choices are closer to Thought for Thought). Logos Blog has You’ve Probably Never Seen the Real King James Version article about NCPB. Logos.com offers ESV Apocrypha text with Lutheran Notes

Year	Bible	R#	L	*	Bible Description (Product Link)	Source	Affliation
2022	LSB	11+			Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
2021	NRSVue	11+	N	*	New Revised Standard Version, update edition (NRSVue)	Masoretic Text, UBS5+SBLGNT+NA28	Protestant
2020	NASB 2020	11+	I		New American Standard Bible, 2020 Update (NASB2020)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
2020	LES2	11+		*	Lexham English Septuagint, 2nd Ed. (LES2)	Swete’s LXX	Protestant
2020	WEB	11+			World English Bible (WEB)	Masoretic Text, Byzantine, ASV	Evangelical
2020	WMB	11+			World Messianic Bible (WMB)	Masoretic Text, Byzantine, ASV	Messianic
2017	ESV-CE	11+		*	The Augustine Bible (ESV-CE)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland, Göttingen Septuagint	Catholic
2016	ESV	11+			English Standard Version (ESV)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
2014	MEV	11+			Modern English Version (MEV)	Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus	Ecumenical
2012	LEB	11+			Lexham English Bible (LEB)	Masoretic Text, SBL Greek	Protestant
2012	LES	11+	a	*	Lexham English Septuagint (LES)	Swete’s LXX	Protestant
2011	EOB-NT	11+	I, a		Eastern/Greek Orthodox NT (EOB:NT)	Patriarchal Greek NT	Orthodox
2011	NCPB	12+	A	*	New Cambridge Paragraph with Apocrypha (NCPB)	Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus	Anglican
2007	NETS	11+	a	*	New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS)	Swete’s LXX	Protestant
2006	RSV2CE	12+	a		Revised Standard Version 2nd Catholic Edition (RSV2CE)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland 27	Catholic
1995	NASB95	11+			New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB95)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
1993	NRSVCE	11+	N	*	New Revised Standard Version Catholic (NRSVCE)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland 27	Catholic
1989	NRSV	11+	N	*	New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland 27	Protestant
1987	AMP	11+	a		The Amplified Bible (AMP)	Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus	Protestant
1985	Tanakh	11+			Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures (1985)	Masoretic Text	Jewish
1982	NKJV	7+			New King James Version (NKJV)	Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus	Protestant
1977	NASB	11+			New American Standard Bible 1977 (NASB)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
1971	RSV	11+			Revised Standard Version (RSV)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Protestant
1966	RSVCE	11+		*	Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Catholic
1961	Wuest	12+	a		The New Testament: An Expanded Translation	Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
1917	Tanakh	11+			Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures (1917)	Masoretic Text	Jewish
1901	ASV	12+	A	*	American Standard Version (ASV)	Masoretic Text, Westcott-Hort	Protestant
1900	KJV	12+	A	*	King James Version (KJV)	Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus	Anglican
1898	YLT	12+	A		Young’s Literal Translation (YLT)	Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus	Protestant
1895	ERV	12+	A	*	English Revised Version (ERV)	Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus	Anglican
1890	DBY	12+	A		1890 Darby Bible (DBY)	Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus	Brethren
1873	KJV, AV	12+	A	*	Cambridge Paragraph Authorized Version (AV)	Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus	Anglican
1790	DR, DRA	12+	A	*	Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner)	Latin Vulgate	Catholic
1769	AV, KJV	12+	A		Authorized Version (Dr Blayney)	Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus	Anglican
1560	Geneva	12+	A	*	Geneva Bible	Masoretic Text, Textus Receptus	Anglican
1536	Tyndale	12+	A	*	Tyndale Bible	Masoretic Text, Greek	Protestant
1535	Coverdale	12+	A	*	Coverdale Bible	Masoretic Text, Greek, German, Vulgate	Protestant

Thought for Thought

Dynamic equivalence seeks a mediating balance from stilted literal expression and current colloquialism. CSB, EHV, and HCSB sought an optimal equivalence between formal and dynamic. Good News Bible was renamed Good News Translation to change paraphrase perception. Bible-Researcher includes NIV history: 1984 NIV => NIVI => TNIV => 2011 NIV. Dynamic gamut ranges from close to literal to almost a paraphrase: D column has < for more literal than NIV and > being closer to paraphrase.

Year	Bible	R#	L	*	D	Bible Description (Product Link)	Source	Affliation
2019	EHV	7+			<	Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)	Masoretic Text, Greek	Lutheran
2019	NET2	7+	I		<	New English Translation, 2nd Ed. (NET2)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
2018	TBfE	11+	I, a		<	The Bible for Everyone	Masoretic Text, Greek	Evangelical
2017	CSB	7+			<	Christian Standard Bible (CSB)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland 28	Lifeway
2015	NLT	6+	N		>	New Living Translation (NLT)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
2015	TLV	11+	N			Tree of Life Version (TLV)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland 27	Messianic
2011	CEB	7+	N	*		Common English Bible (CEB)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Alliance
2011	ISV	7+	I		>	International Standard Version (ISV)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
2011	NABRE	9+		*	<	New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland 26	Catholic
2011	NIV	7+	I			New International Version (NIV)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
2011	NIV-A	7+	I			New International Version – Anglicised (NIVUK)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
2009	HCSB	7+			<	Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Lifeway
2006	NET	7+	I		<	New English Translation (NET)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
2005	NCV	3+	N		>	New Century Version (NCV)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Protestant
2005	TNIV	7+	N			Today’s New International Version	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
2004	ERV	4+	N		<	Easy-to-Read Version	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland 27	Deaf
2000	ISV-NT	7+	I		>	International Standard Version NT	Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
1998	NIrV	3+				New International Reader’s Version (NIrV)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
1996~	NIVI	7+	N			New International Version Inclusive (NIVI)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
1998	CJB	11+	a		>	Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Messianic
1997	JNT	11+			>	Jewish New Testament (JNT)	Nestle-Aland	Messianic
1996	REB	7+	I	*	>	Revised English Bible with Apocrypha (REB)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland 27	Protestant
1995	CEV	5+	N		>	Contemporary English Version (CEV)	Masoretic Text, UBS 3rd & 4th	American Bible Society
1995	GW, GWT	5+			>	God’s Word Translation (GW)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland 27	Lutheran
1992	GNB,TEV	7+			>	Good News Bible, Today’s English Version	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Protestant
1992	GNTa	7+		*	>	Good News Translation with Apocrypha (GNTa)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Protestant
1991	NAB	9+	a	*	<	New American Bible (revised NT & Psalms)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland 26	Catholic
1987~	ERV	4+			<	Easy to Read Version	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland 27	Deaf
1986	ICB	3+			<	International Children’s Bible	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Protestant
1985	NJB	7+				New Jerusalem Bible (NJB)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland 25	Catholic
1984	NIV84	7+				New International Version	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
1984	NIV84-A	7+				New International Version – Anglicised (NIVUK)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
1970	NEB	7+	N	*	>	New English Bible with Apocrypha (NEB)	Masoretic Text, R.V.G. Tasker	Protestant
1959	EBR	12+	A		<	Emphasized Bible, Rotherdam (EBR)	Masoretic Text, Westcott-Hort	Evangelical

Paraphrase

Functional equivalence seeks meaning using contemporary colloquialism. In a sense, functional equivalence is an application commentary of the original text.

Year	Bible	R#	L	*	Bible Description (Product Link)	Source	Affliation
2017	TPT	12+	N		The Passion Translation	Nestle-Aland 27	BroadStreet
2012	TV	6+	N		The Voice	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Ecclesia
2005	MSG	4+	N, a		The Message (MSG)	Masoretic Text, Nestle-Aland	Presbyterian
1992	CPG	5+			Cotton Patch Gospel (CPG)		Koinonia
1971	TLB	5+			The Living Bible, Paraphrased (TLB)	ASV	Kenneth Taylor
1958~	Phillips	10+			J.B. Phillips NT in Modern English	Nestle-Aland	Evangelical
1768	Harwood	12+			Liberal Translation of the New Testament	Greek	Elegance