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The Holman Christian Standard Bible
"This new translation with notes will be agreat help to the serious student, enabling them to more accurately capture and better understand God's marvelous message to all people."
Dr. Bill Bright
Founder,
Campus Crusade for Christ International
"Everything about this translation invites people to the Word."
Dr. Henry Blackaby
Author of Experiencing God
"The Holman Christian Standard Bible speaks the truth of the ages to this present age."
Dr. Calvin Miller
Author
"Every Christian who believes the Bible is the inerrant Word of God will delight in this new translation."
Dr. James T. Draper, Jr.
Former President, LifeWay Christian Resources
The Holman Christian Standard Bible is the first major English translation of the Bible in this generation. The translation is based on the belief in Scripture as the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. And this belief will never change—never!
In addition, the new translation carries the name of the oldest and most
trusted Bible publisher in America—Holman. A team of 100 scholars from around
the world, representing more than twenty Protestant denominations, have translated
the original biblical languages of Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic into one of
the most accurate and readable modern English translations available today.
In an age when social accommodation is rampant, the Holman CSB is firmly committed to scriptural integrity. It was created, in part, to safeguard Scripture from current trends toward cultural pluralism, political correctness, and drifting ideology. The Holman CSB also meets four essential criteria that will enable HBOI to succeed in ministry: accuracy, readability, affordability, and accessibility.
Holman Bible Outreach International is partnering with Broadman & Holman Publishers and is being managed by their executive team. The infrastructure and overhead already are in place, freeing HBOI dollars to be used directly for ministry purposes.
A Comparison of the Holman CSB with the NIV
1. The HCSB is a new translation finished in 2004. The NIV was finished in 1972 (NT) , 1977 (OT).
This means that the NIV was completed before the days of the personal computer. It was completed before the use of the internet to transmit documents between scholars and editors.
This means that the NIV represents the state of scholarship at the time of 1972-77. For example, the standard Hebrew lexicon in use was the Brown, Driver, and Briggs lexicon published in 1906. HCSB was able to use the new 5 volume Koehler, Baumgartner, and Stamm lexicon (1967-1996).
The theological word books - Jenni-Westermann; Botterweck, Fabry, etc (15 vols); the Dictionary of Classical Hebrew; NIDOTT; had not been published when the NIV was published.
Many major commentaries have been published in the interval between 1977 and 2004. For example many of the Anchor Bible commentaries have been issued. Milgrom’s work on Leviticus - 3 vols, 2576 pp. represents a lifetime of Jewish scholarship on this book.
2. The NIV translation committee revised or changed 7% of the NIV text when they made the TNIV revision. While many of the changes that were made were “gender” changes (1.68% according to the TNIV committee), this means that the scholars felt that 5.32% of the NIV needed an improvement. This 5.32% included changes which were “textual, programmatic, clarity issues, sentence structure & grammar, and footnotes & headings”. This is according to the TNIV website. So 5%+ of the NIV needed an “improvement” since 1977. Some of these changes can be seen in the HCSB.
3. The Gender Issue has become a major issue since 1977 among Bible translators. The NIV was done before there was a lot of “gender sensitivity”. One estimate says that there are 800 places in the NT of the NIV where male language is used where the Greek text would allow a more generic or neutral translation. A classic example is Romans 12:6-8. The NIV has inserted nine (9) male pronouns or the word “man” where the Greek text does not require it. The HCSB is gender accurate and has no male language inserted in this passage. The TNIV has gone overboard and is more “gender neutral”. It may be said that:
NIV is gender “biased”
HCSB is “gender accurate”
TNIV attempts to be more “gender neutral”
4. Translation philosophy. NIV was done under the influence of the translation philosophy of Eugene Nida. This approach has been called “dynamic or functional equivalence” in contrast to a strict “literal or formal equivalence” seen in the English Revised Version of the KJV (1881) or the ASV of 1901. The HCSB aims for “optimal equivalence” in translation. This approach is discussed in the introduction to the HCSB and aims to use the best features of both of the other translation philosophies. A large number of footnotes give alternative translations or the literal where the literal needs explanation.
5. The HCSB has more notes than the NIV. Consider these books of the Bible. Song of Solomon, I John, and the book of Revelation are among the most difficult to understand for various reasons. NIV has 20, 11, and 26 for a total number of 57 footnotes for these books. HCSB has 83, 35, and 251 for a total of 369 footnotes for these books. In addition to being a later, more modern translation, the HCSB has more helps for the reader.
6. The Bullet Notes. HCSB has a feature that NIV does not have. In addition to the many footnotes, HCSB explains frequently used biblical word or terms. This is explained in the back of the text following the Book of Revelation and this is indicated in the text by a black dot (.).
7. The HCSB is more accurate:
NIV has removed “leper” from the text (correctly) but retained “leprosy” (26x) but then has to add a footnote that “leprosy” covers a number of skin diseases and may not be the traditional “leprosy” that is, Hansen’s disease. See their footnote at Leviticus 14:3. “Leper” and “leprosy” do not occur in the HCSB because of their confusion with Hansen’s disease.
NIV translates the Greek word doulos, which occurs 126x in the NT, mainly as “servant”. HCSB correctly translates this word as “slave”. A slave is owned by his master and can not quit. The slave is bought at a price- 1Cor 6:19-20. A significant Pauline metaphor is lost in the NIV.
NIV follows traditional translations of the divine name YHWH as “LORD”.
But “Lord” is used for adonai which causes confusion with “LORD” .
The main objection is that “LORD” is a title and not a name.
HCSB uses the name “Yahweh” for YHWH in places where the name
or identity of the God of Israel is being discussed. In Exodus 6:2 God says
to Moses “I am Yahweh. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God
Almighty, but I did not make My name Yahweh known to them”.
“Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Yahweh is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the whole earth” Isa. 40:28
NIV continues to use older language without explanations. It continues to use “tithe” (15x). The HCSB uses the modern word a “tenth” or ten percent.
NIV has the “O” + the vocative form. This is removed in the HCSB (and the TNIV).
HCSB translates the Greek word christos as “Messiah” rather than “Christ” in contexts where the Jewish Messiah is the issue (cf. Mt . 16:16). The TNIV has followed HCSB in this practice. NIV has the older practice.
NIV has more “whoms” and more “shalls” than in keeping with modern American usage. HCSB is more contemporary.
HSCB’s database is programmed to eliminate in the printing what is known as “widows” and “orphans”. Cp. Prov. 30:31-33 in a two column NIV. HCSB’s programming aids in reading the text and it looks better.
HCSB has special formatting features that enhance easy reading. Cp. Dan 9:24-27; John 1:1-18; and I Thess 5:16-22 in NIV and HCSB.