| Holman Christian Standard Bible 2009 Updated Text |
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Broadman and Holman Publishing Group, Nashville, TN The complete text of the Holman Christian Standard Bible was finished in 2004. In 2009 the text was updated slightly as a variety of specialized editions began coming to market: a Student’s Apologetics Study Bible, a new Minister’s Reference Bible (the text used for this review) and the translation’s own study bible. The project was “birthed” with a variety of misunderstandings that perhaps hinder its acceptance to this day. Nonetheless, the July 2010 report by the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) shows the Holman Christian Standard Bible (hereafter HCSB) placing sixth in both the number of units sold and the dollar value of Bible sales. The “obstacles” connected with the HCSB are largely misunderstandings and nothing more. The first misunderstanding related to Arthur Farstad, the original editor of the project. Dr. Farstad had completed a Greek New Testament based on the Majority Text instead of the so-called “eclectic text” of the New Testament used by most scholars. His approach to textual criticism was displayed most prominently in the footnotes of his editorial work on the New King James Version. There the footnotes note how the Textus Receptus (the Greek text underlying the King James Version) differs from both the Majority Text Farstad advocated and the “Eclectic” Text they termed the “N-U” or “Nestle-United Bible Societies text”. Some assumed the HCSB (at least in the New Testament) would follow a majority text and therefore never pass scholarly muster. From the beginning of the HCSB project though, the underlying text has been an eclectic one established through the latest scholarly means. ...some considered it a “Southern Baptist” translation. Another misunderstanding related to the translation’s objectivity: some considered it a “Southern Baptist” translation. But never fear - John 2 has not been morphed into a story about Jesus changing wine into water! In fact some Baptists and other teetotalers eschew the HCSB because it translates the term “strong drink” correctly as “beer”. The distillation process that produces “hard” alcohol today was unknown in Biblical times, so the term in question could not have referred to distilled spirits. Though the HCSB copyright is owned by a Southern Baptist publishing house, the first General Editor Arthur Farstad was a “Brethren” denominationally. He died in 1998. The current General Editor, Edwin Blum, is Reformed and Presbyterian by background. Overall, 17 denominations are represented in the HCSB translation team composed of 100 scholars. While a Baptist body owns the copyright, this translation is modern, scholarly, accurate and objective. It is no more a “Baptist” translation than the English Standard Version is an “Anglican” translation due to J.I. Packer’s influence. A final obstacle facing the text is a crowded marketplace. The English Standard Version (ESV) released a few years earlier and promoted by evangelical celebrities like J.I. Packer and John Piper continues to come in just ahead of the HCSB; it dominate sales in demographics seeking continuity with the Tyndale/King James tradition but not averse to an eclectic NT text. It’s market penetration strengthened when the release of Today’s New International Version sparked controversy over gender issues. The New Living Translation reflects a generation of textual revision and popularity from its beginnings as the “The Living Bible”; it leads both the HCSB and ESV. The New International Version (NIV) leads overall in sales by unit and dollar value, but is scheduled for a new revision to be released in 2011. The NIV’s last attempt to update the text failed miserably and alienated many evangelicals. It remains to be seen whether the new revision in 2011 will be accepted in place of the now outdated 1984 edition. Opportunities for the HCSB to make more headway in the marketplace likely depend on how well the NIV 2011 rebuilds trust with its former readership. Though the Bible marketplace is crowded, the HCSB is not redundant in the least. While it’s translational theory is somewhat similar to that of the ESV, it makes no attempt to “update” any previous translation. It sounds much more like “natural” English than, say, a character from Tolkien. The HCSB’s English, compared to the ESV, is easier for most people to read. This reviewer asked a variety of men, women, and youth to publicly read a variety of Bible passages without noting the translation. The HCSB was significantly easier for the readers involved than the ESV. A local jail ministry states the HCSB is preferred there above the KJV portions normally distributed there. ...as accurate as the New American Standard and as readable as the New International Version. The HCSB is also more technically accurate than the ESV in key ways. The HCSB doesn’t translate the Hebrew word torah invariably as “Law”; the HCSB uses the more accurate “instruction”. Unlike the ESV and most other translations (except the New Jerusalem Bible) the HCSB translates God’s personal name YHWH 645 times where the name of God is praised or discussed, instead of the inserting “LORD”. Archaic and misleading terms like “tithe”, “behold”, “shall”, “O” and “leper/leprous/leprosy” (not to mention the term “strong drink” discussed previously) present in most modern translations including the NIV and ESV are absent in the HCSB. This search for accuracy did not produce a verbose translation. The final text of the HCSB totals 718,943 words - 38,496 less than the ESV and 56,918 fewer than the updated New American Standard Bible both considered “literal” translations. Note: The Hebrew and Greek source text of scripture contains 545,202 words. As General Editor, Edwin Blum developed an informal goal for the HCSB: “To be as accurate as the New American Standard and as readable as the New International Version.” Both goals are “moving targets”. How does one define “accuracy”? From the translation alone? From the translation and the footnotes? How does one compare readability with a translation that in 2011 will no longer exist but be replaced? Blum defines accuracy in these terms - the sum of what can be learned from the translation itself, from text and footnotes at the bottom of each page, and from the HCSB glossary. The HCSB’s glossary system provides special explanations for 145 words phrases that are marked with “bullet points” in the text. In addition there are within the HCSB translation
Lastly, special formatting highlights poetic sections, New Testament quotations of the Old Testament, and the text uses new paragraphs when new speakers enter a scriptural episode. Dr. Blum also defines accuracy according to the scholarly resources available to the translation team during the HCSB’s developmental phase which simply were not available to earlier translators. Blum states the HCSB’s scholarly advantages this way in a paper delivered to the Evangelical Theological Society:
Readability can be measured in various ways. This reviewer described an experiment of that nature in his own church setting. This reviewer finds the HCSB’s use of contractions unobtrusive as used in the HCSB. Key theological terms and turns of phrase have not been “dumbed down” in the name of simplification. Passages like Acts 2:38 that have historically promoted intense debate on the precise meaning of their wording, i.e., “baptized...for the forgiveness of sins” are left with their pristine tension rather than diminished by ham handed translators who feel such verses are not “clear enough” as they stand. While the reviewer felt from time to time that another rendering might have been chosen for a particular text, in the end, these differences always seemed to be mere quibbles instead of substantive complaints. The HCSB text bearing the copyright date of 2009 is a worthwhile and well done modern translation to say the least. One choosing it for purposes of preaching, study, personal reading or scripture memorization will be making a very sound choice. One using any number of inexpensive editions of the HCSB for evangelism or scripture distribution will find it extremely useful for ministry as well.
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Comments (4)
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Great review, Chuck.
One slight tweak perhaps-- it's my understanding that Farstad's work on the HCSB NT was indeed based on the Majority Text. Farstad had even wanted to base the NKJV on the Majority Text, but T. Nelson wouldn't allow it. After Farstad died, the decision was (wisely) made by Blum and Lifeway to switch to the eclectic text.
Had this not happened, I can't imagine I'd even want to use it today. But as you know, I've gone back to the HCSB as my primary public translation.