The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, released in 1989, is a thorough revision of the Revised Standard Version (RSV).
There are three editions of the NRSV:
There are also anglicized editions of the NRSV, which modify the text slightly to be consistent with British spelling and grammar.
This translation is meant to replace the Revised Standard Version, and to identify it in context with the many other English language translations available today. It is called the New Revised Standard Version because it is a revision of the Revised Standard Version,(1952) which was a revision of the American Standard Version,(sometimes called the "Standard Bible"),(1901), which was an American English revision of The Revised Version (or English Revised Version),(1885), which is itself a revision of the King James Version of 1611.
One of the conventions NRSV uses is to expand gender-specific phrases. For example, if a translation used "brothers" to refer to a group that is not known to be all male, NRSV may use "brothers and sisters." Where such adjustments are made the more literal translation is noted in a footnote.
In accordance with the Code of Canon Law Canon 825.1, the New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, has the imprimatur of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (USA) and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops granted on 12 September 1991 and 15 October 1991 respectively. Hence, the NRSV(Catholic Edition) is officially approved by the Catholic Church and can be profitably used by Catholics in study and devotional reading of the Bible. Liturgical usage of the Bible demands a higher standard and an adapted form of the NRSV has recently (2008) been approved by the Vatican for the Catholic Church in Canada. Although the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approves only the New American Bible for liturgical use, the NRSV is quoted in the English-language edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (which also quotes from the RSV).
The NRSV translates Isaiah 7:14 as:
The NRSV thus retained the RSV decision to translate the Hebrew "almah" as "young woman" instead of "virgin", though a footnote acknowledged that the Greek Septuagint read "virgin" (that is, "parthenos"). The Gospel of Matthew also translated the word into Greek as "parthenos" (virgin), and English translations prior to the RSV had followed the Greek. The traditional translation of the phrase "will conceive", which likewise is the Greek translation given in Matthew, was rephrased as the present tense "is with child". This and other non-traditional translations were criticized (e.g. preferring "wind" instead of "spirit" for "rûach" in Genesis 1).
The last phrase of , is rendered in the NRSV "My hands and feet have shrivelled." The diversity in translations is indicated by the King James Version with "they pierced my hands and my feet.", the Jerusalem Bible has "They tie me hand and foot.", and the Masoretic text has "Like a lion they are at my hands and feet."
Regarding gender-neutral language, Previous translations in this tradition (from the RSV to the Tyndale Bible) adhered to the original text over concerns about readability or gender neutral language; the NRSV departs from this practise. In particular, the NRSV frequently—but not always—substitutes the word "person" or "adult" when the text reads "anēr" (often, but not always, meaning a male adult human being). For example, 1 Corinthians 13:11 in the RSV read: "when I became a man, I gave up childish ways," while the NRSV rendered this passage "when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways." (Italics added for emphasis.) Because the NRSV frequently departs from a literal translation of the text in favor of gender neutrality, critics argue it departed from the heritage of preserving the literal text of Scripture that was the distinguishing feature of translations in the Tyndale/King James tradition.
In spite of Orthodox participation in the translation, and while annotated versions of the RSV were accepted by some Orthodox, the Orthodox Study Bible chose the New King James Version New Testament as a starting point, and the Old Testament committee chose to make a new translation of the Septuagint rather than use any existing English translation or returning to the original Hebrew. Orthodox criticism of the NRSV generally followed conservative Protestant lines, but in addition criticized the use of the Masoretic text as the Old Testament textual basis. In 1990 the synod of the Orthodox Church in America decided not to permit use of the NRSV in liturgy or in Bible studies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|