A while ago I heard a rumour that the NIV - the most widely available
modern English Bible translation - is to be pulled in favour of the
TNIV. I'd also seen that denied by Zondervan, who publish both.
However, every time I go to a bookshop now, it is striking that the
number of NIVs is going down rapidly and the number of TNIVs is going
up equally rapidly. My guess is that the suppliers are providing new
TNIVs to replace sold NIVs.
This isn't especially distressing for me. Both translations are decent
rather than very good translations of the Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic; both
are easier to read than more accurate translations - probably about
the reading level of a popular novel, which is about right for many
people. Except that I know chunks of the Bible primarily in the NIV
because it's what I grew up with. Most churches I've come across use
the NIV, and college chapel is the only place I know that uses the
TNIV, though that will probably change....
4 comments:
Perhaps Zondervan is going to reduce the number of different kinds of Bibles it publishes in the NIV and increase the different TNIV styles.
I would be interested to know about any specific passages where you consider the NIV and TNIV to be less accurate than in other versions. I collect such information as part of my efforts to help English Bible translators.
go to www.tniv.info to compare both translations, or to www.zondervanbiblesearch.com
A couple of passages where I really don't like the NIV/TNIV translation. I've come across plenty - these are ones which spring to mind where I've had to correct the translation while preaching or writing stuff:
"spiritual" for logikos in 1 Peter 2:2. Actually, 1 Peter generally.
"belt" in Jeremiah 13:1ff (I understand that "loincloth" would be better).
It's the "only" bit that will probably change, rather than the college chapel using them. Though PSJ was on the translation team or something for the ESV...
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