JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

“son.” Other inclusive sensitivity is found in Job 14:22: “His
flesh upon him becomes black” becomes in REB “His kinsfolk
are grieved for him.” In general, REB plays less fast and loose
with both Hebrew and English than its predecessor.
Acceptance. The NEB sold two million in its first two
years; the newer REB became a Book-of-the-Month Club
selection, as was the NEB, assuring high sales. This was buttressed
by a 1989 poll of British churchgoers under 45 years
old, which found that up to 80% preferred the modernized
translations of the Scriptures. T.S. Eliot, however, criticized
the style, compared with the KJV, as “vulgar, trivial and pedantic.”
New American Standard Bible [= NASB] (1971; rev. 1995).
History. The Lockman Foundation, a non-profit Christian organization
from La Habra, California, published NASB New
Testament (1963) and Old Testament (1971). The translation
was carried out by 58 anonymous conservative Protestants,
often teachers in seminaries. The purpose of the translation
was to “preserve the scholarship and accuracy of the American
Standard Version” and to use “a fluent and readable style.”
Principles and Representative Examples. This formal
equivalent translation is a wooden updating of the American
Standard Version of 1901 which has nevertheless been praised
for its accuracy. Each verse is printed as a separate paragraph;
“Thou” is retained when the Deity is addressed; “Lord” is used
for the Tetragrammaton.
Acceptance. With the appearance of the NIV, the popularity
of the NASB has dropped off, although in 1990 the text
has become accessible on computer. F.F. Bruce has said of the
NASB: “If the RSV had never appeared, this revision of the
American Standard Version would be a more valuable work
than it is. As things are, there are few things done well by the
NASB which are not done better by the RSV.”
Living Bible [= LB] (1971). History. The LB grew out of Kenneth
Taylor’s desire to paraphrase the Bible for his 10 children,
because they could not understand the American Standard
Version of 1901 (a KJV revision) during family devotions.
His vision grew from his Wheaton, Illinois, farmhouse until,
like Tyndale – “the Father of the English Bible” – he wanted
to bring the Bible to “every plowboy.” He first paraphrased
the Epistle to Romans (1956), and then the Living Prophecies
(1965). The New Testament was finished in the same year as
the Living Psalms (1967). Finally, he published the complete
Living Bible Paraphrased (1971) in his own Tyndale Press.
Principles and Representative Examples. Taylor’s work
is an evangelical paraphrase – a restatement with the additive
of evangelical theology. Some of his renditions that raise
eyebrows are the following: Gen. 3:4: “That’s a lie!’ the serpent
hissed”; Ex. 11:8: “Then, red-faced with anger, Moses stomped
from the palace”; 1 Kings 4:1: “Here is a list of Solomon’s cabinet
members”; Judg. 18:25: “Be careful how you talk, mister.”
Job, Psalms, and the Prophets are entirely in prose format.
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In the creation story, LB makes an addition to the text that
is not internally obvious and for which he offers no explanation:
“So he let it shine for awhile, and then there was darkness
again.”
There is much deserved criticism for the antisemitic
character of LB’s interpretative paraphrases, John 1:17: “For
Moses gave us only the Law with its rigid demands and merciless
justice, while Jesus Christ brought us loving forgiveness as
well.” (NRSV: The law indeed was given through Moses; grace
and truth came through Jesus Christ.”) The word “Messiah”
is switched for “Son of Man,” “Son of David,” and “Lord,” to
make a theological point.
Acceptance. The conversational style made it the best
seller of 1972 in America. Evangelist Billy Graham, also of
Wheaton, Illinois, dispensed some 600,000 free copies for
his television crusade. In seven years, 22 million copies of LB
were sold.
Scholars have roundly criticized the work for its many
errors and rigid evangelical positions. However, Taylor’s work
has actually licensed every person to make his/her own paraphrase.
To this end, in 1974 Tyndale House has published Eight
Translation New Testament (= KJV, LB, Phillips, RSV, TEV, NIV,
JB, NEB). The year 1996 saw a revision of the Living Bible, The
New Living Translation.
Today’s English Version [= TEV] also called Good News Bible
[= GNB] (1976). History. Around 1950, the American Bible
Society received requests for a simplified English Version. In
1961 Robert G. Bratcher, an ordained Baptist minister and a
research associate on the ABS, was to translate the NT with a
team of translators for the Old Testament.
First appeared the Gospel of Mark, The Right Time (1964)
and then the whole NT The Good News for Modern Man (1966).
After some publications of individual books, the Old Testament
(1976) was published, and with the Apocrypha, Good
News Bible: The Bible in Today’s English Version (1979). Some
600,000 were sold very quickly, and by the end of the first
year total sales reached 5 million copies. There are some 500
stick-figure line drawings by Annie Vallotton, a Swiss-born
artist living in Paris, which reinforce the relaxed and accessible
tone of the work.
Principles and Representative Examples. The principles
of the TEV are basically two, and these constitute a radical
break from the KJV. First, it is based on the principles of
modern linguistics and the ground-breaking work of Eugene
A. Nida and his application of the principles of Dynamic
Equivalence (cf. Theory and Practice of Translation (1969)).
Secondly, the TEV chose simple vocabulary that could even
appeal to people to whom English is a second language. Its
simplicity, however, should not disguise the gargantuan research
and the use of modern knowledge of the world of the
Scriptures. The language was to appeal to the educated and the
uneducated, new learners of English, and the “unchurched”
or “unsynagogued.” Given that Hebrew is a language that uses
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3 619