New Revised Standard Version

The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English. Published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches,[8] the NRSV was created by an ecumenical committee of scholars "comprising about thirty members".[9] The NRSV relies on recently published critical editions of the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. A major revision, the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVue), was released in 2021.

"NRSV" redirects here. For the New York City punk band, see No Redeeming Social Value.
New Revised Standard Version
NRSV Bible with the Apocrypha
AbbreviationNRSV
Complete Bible
published		1989
Derived fromRevised Standard Version (2nd ed., 1971)
Textual basis
Translation typeFormal equivalence[5]
Reading levelHigh school
Version revision2021[lower-alpha 2]
PublisherNational Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
CopyrightNew Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Religious affiliationProtestant[5][lower-alpha 3]
Genesis 1:1–3
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
The Bible in English
 Bible portal

Used broadly among biblical scholars,[10][11] the NRSV was intended as a translation to serve the devotional, liturgical, and scholarly needs of the broadest possible range of Christian religious adherents.

The tradition of the King James Version has been continued in the Revised Standard Version and in the New Revised Standard Version.[8][12] The full 84 book translation includes the Protestant enumeration of the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, and the New Testament; another version of the NRSV includes the deuterocanonical books as part of the Old Testament, which is normative in the canon of Roman Catholicism, along with the New Testament (totalling 73 books).[11][13][14]

The translation appears in three main formats: (1) an edition including the Protestant enumeration of the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, and the New Testament (as well an edition that only includes the Protestant enumeration of the Old Testament and New Testament); (2) a Roman Catholic Edition with all the books of that canon in their customary order, and (3) the Common Bible, which includes the books that appear in Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox canons (but not additional books from Oriental Orthodox traditions, including the Syriac and Ethiopian canons).[14] A special edition of the NRSV, called the "Anglicized Edition", employs British English spelling and grammar instead of American English.[15]

History

The New Revised Standard Version was translated by the Division of Christian Education (now Bible Translation and Utilization) of the National Council of Churches. The group included scholars representing Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Christian groups as well as Jewish representation in the group responsible for the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament. The mandate given the committee was summarized in a dictum: “As literal as possible, as free as necessary.”[14]

Committee of translators

The following scholars were active on the NRSV Committee of translators at the time of publication.[14]

Principles of revision

Improved manuscripts and translations

The Old Testament translation of the RSV was completed before the Dead Sea Scrolls were available to scholars. The NRSV was intended to take advantage of this and other manuscript discoveries, and to reflect advances in scholarship.[8]

Gender language

In the preface to the NRSV Bruce Metzger wrote for the committee that “many in the churches have become sensitive to the danger of linguistic sexism arising from the inherent bias of the English language towards the masculine gender, a bias that in the case of the Bible has often restricted or obscured the meaning of the original text”.[8] The RSV observed the older convention of using masculine nouns in a gender-neutral sense (e.g. "man" instead of "person"), and in some cases used a masculine word where the source language used a neutral word. This move has been widely criticised by some, including within the Catholic Church, and continues to be a point of contention today. The NRSV by contrast adopted a policy of inclusiveness in gender language.[8] According to Metzger, “The mandates from the Division specified that, in references to men and women, masculine-oriented language should be eliminated as far as this can be done without altering passages that reflect the historical situation of ancient patriarchal culture.”[8]

Reception

Many mainline Protestant churches officially approve the NRSV for both private and public use. The Episcopal Church (United States) in Canon II.2 added the NRSV to the list of translations approved for church services. It is also widely used by the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Presbyterian Church in Canada,[16] the United Church of Christ, the Reformed Church in America, the United Church of Canada, and the Uniting Church in Australia.

In accordance with the 1983 Code of Canon Law, Canon 825.1, the NRSV with the deuterocanonical books received the Imprimatur of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops,[17] meaning that the NRSV (Catholic Edition) is officially approved by the Catholic Church and can be profitably used by Catholics in private study and devotional reading. The New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition also has the imprimatur, granted on 12 September 1991 and 15 October 1991, respectively. For public worship, such as at weekly Mass, most Catholic Bishops' Conferences in English-speaking countries require the use of other translations, either the adapted New American Bible in the dioceses of the United States and the Philippines or the English Standard Version and Revised New Jerusalem Bible in most of the rest of the English-speaking world.[18][19] However, the Canadian conference and the Vatican approved a modification of the NRSV for lectionary use in 2008.[20] The NRSV, along with the Revised Standard Version, is also quoted in several places in the English-language edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the latter of which summarizes Catholic doctrine and belief in written form.

In 1990 the synod of the Orthodox Church in America decided not to permit use of the NRSV in liturgy or in Bible studies on the grounds that it is highly "divergent from the Holy Scriptures traditionally read aloud in the sacred services of the Church."[21]

NRSV Updated Edition (NRSVue)
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
AbbreviationNRSVue
Complete Bible
published		2021
Derived fromNew Revised Standard Version
Textual basis
Translation typeFormal equivalence[5]
Reading levelHigh school
PublisherNational Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
CopyrightNew Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyright © 2021 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Religious affiliationProtestant[5][lower-alpha 4]
Webpagewww.friendshippress.org/pages/about-the-nrsvue
Genesis 1:1–3
When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

The New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVue) is a major revision of the NRSV. A three-year process of reviewing and updating the text of the NRSV was announced at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature.[26] The update was managed by the SBL following an agreement with the copyright-holding NCC. The stated focuses of the review are incorporating advances in textual criticism since the 1989 publication of the NRSV, improving the textual notes, and reviewing the style and rendering of the translation. A team of more than fifty scholars, led by an editorial board, is responsible for the review.[27] It was released for digital purchase on December 25, 2021, with the first print editions following in 2022.[28]

Commentary and criticism

Mark Ward, a theologically conservative writer and graduate of Bob Jones University, disagreed with how NRSVue translated of 1 Corinthians 6:9–10 and 1 Timothy 1:10. He said that the Greek text was most likely condemning male homosexuality, while the NRSVue opted for a broader "men who engage in illicit sex" translation of the phrase.[29]

Study editions
  • The Harper Study Bible (Zondervan, 1991, ISBN 0-310-90203-7)
  • NRSV Reference Bible with the Apocrypha (Zondervan, 1993, ISBN 0-310-90227-4)
  • NRSV Student Bible (Zondervan, 1996, ISBN 0310926823)
  • The Cambridge Annotated Study Bible (Cambridge University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-521-50777-4)
  • The HarperCollins Study Bible with Apocrypha (Society of Biblical Literature, 1997, ISBN 0-06-065527-5)
  • The Access Bible with Apocrypha (Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-19-528217-5)
  • The Spiritual Formation Bible (Zondervan, 1999, ISBN 0-310-90089-1)
  • The New Interpreter's Study Bible with Apocrypha (United Methodist Publishing House, 2003, ISBN 0-687-27832-5)
  • The HarperCollins Study Bible: Fully Revised & Updated (HarperOne, 2006, ISBN 978-0060786854)
  • The Green Bible (HarperOne, 2008, ISBN 978-0061951121)
  • The Discipleship Study Bible (Westminster John Knox, 2008, ISBN 978-0664223717)
  • The Life with God Bible (Renovaré, 2009, ISBN 978-0061627644)
  • Lutheran Study Bible (Augsburg Fortress, 2009, ISBN 978-0806680590)
  • The Wesley Study Bible (United Methodist Publishing House, 2009, ISBN 978-0-687-64503-9)
  • The Guidebook: The NRSV Student Bible (Zondervan, 2012, ISBN 978-0061988189)
  • The Jewish Annotated New Testament, 2nd edition (Oxford University Press, 2017, ISBN 978-0190461850)
  • The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha, 5th edition (Oxford University Press, 2018, ISBN 978-0190276072)
  • NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Zondervan, 2019, ISBN 978-0310452683)
  • Baylor Annotated Study Bible (Baylor University Press, 2019, ISBN 978-1481308250)
  • The Word on Fire Bible (Volume 1): The Gospels (Word on Fire, 2020, ISBN 978-1-943243-53-2)

Canon

The New Revised Standard Version is available in an 84-book Ecumenical Bible that includes the Old Testament, Apocrypha and New Testament; a 66-book Protestant Bible that only includes the Old Testament and New Testament; and a 73-book Catholic edition containing the Catholic enumeration of the Old Testament and the New Testament.[13][14][30] A third edition incorporates the Eastern Orthodox canon.

Notes
  1. The translation teams had preliminary access to "changes to be introduced into the critical apparatus of the ... 4th edition."[4]
  2. See the section regarding the NRSV Updated Edition (NRSVue).
  3. Primarily associated with mainline Protestantism, the New Revised Standard Version features the work of "translation teams" that are "both ecumenical and interfaith,"[6] consisting of "scholars affiliated with various Protestant denominations, as well as several Roman Catholic members, an Eastern Orthodox member, and a Jewish member who serves in the Old Testament section."[7]
  4. Primarily associated with mainline Protestantism, the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition features the work of "translation teams" that are "both ecumenical and interfaith," having developed the NRSVue as "a Bible produced by consensus that can be used among and across pluralistic communities in contexts both academic and religious."[25]

References
  1. NRSV Pew Bible. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers. 2004. pp. vii–viii. ISBN 978-1-56563-495-4. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  2. NRSV Pew Bible with the Apocrypha. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers. 2005. p. viii. ISBN 978-1-56563-739-9. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  3. NRSV Pew Bible. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers. 2004. p. viii. ISBN 978-1-56563-495-4. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  4. NRSV Pew Bible. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers. 2004. p. viii. ISBN 978-1-56563-495-4. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  5. "Bible Translation Spectrum". Logos Bible Software Wiki. Archived from the original on January 7, 2023. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  6. NRSV Updated Edition Pew Bible. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers. 2022. p. xi. ISBN 978-1-4964-7210-6. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  7. NRSV Pew Bible. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers. 2004. p. vii. ISBN 978-1-56563-495-4. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  8. Preface to the NRSV Archived 2010-02-06 at the Wayback Machine from the National Council of Churches website
  9. NRSV Pew Bible. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers. 2004. p. vii. ISBN 978-1-56563-495-4. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  10. "Endorsements". NRSV: The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Archived from the original on June 9, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  11. Bertone, John (1 September 2016). Finding God in Scripture. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-5326-0475-1. The NRSV was published in 1989 and is popular among academics and church leaders. It is an ecumenical Bible translation whose committee consists of thirty men and women who are among the top scholars in America today. They come from Protestant denominations, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Greek Orthodox Church. The committee also includes a Jewish scholar. The NRSV is available in three forms: a standard edition with or without the Apocrypha; a Roman Catholic Edition, which includes the so-called "Apocryphal" or "Deuterocanonical" books in the Roman Catholic canonical order; and the Common Bible, which includes all books belonging to the Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox canons.
  12. Durken, Daniel (17 December 2015). New Collegeville Bible Commentary: Old Testament. Liturgical Press. ISBN 978-0-8146-3587-2. The King James tradition was continued in the Revised Version of 1881 and 1885, the Revised Standard Version of 1946 and 1952, and the New Revised Standard Version of 1989.
  13. "New Revised Standard w/ Apocrypha (NRSA)". Bible Study Tools. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  14. "New Revised Standard Version - Home". Marketing Pages. Retrieved 2019-12-07. Standing in this tradition, the NRSV is available in three ecumenical formats: a standard edition with or without the Apocrypha, a Roman Catholic Edition, which has the so-called "Apocryphal" or "Deuterocanonical" books in the Roman Catholic canonical order, and The Common Bible, which includes all books that belong to the Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox canons.
  15. Amazon.co.uk entry for Anglicized NRSV
  16. "PCC Writer's Style Guide" (PDF). Presbyterian Church in Canada – Life and Mission Agency. November 2009. p. 19. Retrieved 2020-11-05. The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is the official Bible standard for The Presbyterian Church in Canada.
  17. The Go-Anywhere Thinline Bible Catholic Edition New Revised Standard Version. HarperOne. 2011. p. ix. ISBN 978-0062048363. ...and an edition of the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books placed between the two Testaments. The text of the latter edition received the Imprimatur (official approbation) of the United States and Canadian Catholic Bishops.
  18. "A New Lectionary for Scotland". Scottish Catholic Media Office. July 24, 2020. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  19. "New Zealand helps with new lectionary project". www.cathnews.co.nz. 2021-05-10. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  20. Swan, Michael (September 5, 2007). "NRSV Bible gets Vatican recognition". The Catholic Register.
  21. Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald). "Bishop's Pastoral Letter on the New Revised Standard Version". Retrieved 2007-04-22.
  22. NRSV Updated Edition Pew Bible. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers. 2022. p. x. ISBN 978-1-4964-7210-6. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  23. NRSV Updated Edition Pew Bible. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers. 2022. pp. x–xi. ISBN 978-1-4964-7210-6. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  24. NRSV Updated Edition Pew Bible. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers. 2022. p. xi. ISBN 978-1-4964-7210-6. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  25. NRSV Updated Edition Pew Bible. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers. 2022. pp. xi–xii. ISBN 978-1-4964-7210-6. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  26. "SBL to Provide a Review and Update to the New Revised Standard Version" (PDF). SBL Society Report. 2017. p. 7.
  27. "FOLLOWING THE TRAIL OF BREADCRUMBS FOR THE UPCOMING NRSV REVISION". Catholic Bible Talk. 2019.
  28. "NRSV Updated Edition".
  29. "Does the NRSV Compromise on Homosexuality?".
  30. "New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition". Archived from the original on 2021-07-26. Standing in this tradition, the NRSV is available in three ecumenical formats: a standard edition with or without the Apocrypha, a Roman Catholic Edition, which has the so-called "Apocryphal" or "Deuterocanonical" books in the Roman Catholic canonical order, and The Common Bible, which includes all books that belong to the Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox canons.
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