Thursday, June 27, 2019

Chronology of Major English Bible Translations

Date

Name

Abbreviation

Comments

10th Century AD West Saxon Gospels n/a Earliest surviving English translation.
Translated from the Latin version.
Contained only the gospels.
11th Century AD Old English Hexateuch n/a Translated from the Latin version.
Contained only the Hexateuch, meaning the first six books of the Old Testament (Genesis- Joshua).
11th Century AD Old English Psalter n/a Translated from the Latin version.
Contained only the Psalms. Exists in two versions, one in straightforward prose and the other in stylized verse.
14th Century AD John Wycliffe Bible WYC Translated from the Latin Version.
First translation of the entire Bible in English.
1526 Tyndale New Testament Tyndale Translated by William Tyndale.
First translation into English from the Greek text.
Contained only the New Testament.
1530 Tyndale Pentateuch Tyndale Translated by William Tyndale.
First translation into English from the Hebrew text.
Contained only the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Old Testament (Genesis-Deuteronomy).
1531 Tyndale Jonah Tyndale Translated by William Tyndale.
Translated from the Hebrew text.
Contained only the book of Jonah.
1535 Coverdale Bible Coverdale Translated by Miles Coverdale.
First complete Bible in modern English.
New Testament was translated from the Greek text, but the Old Testament from Latin and German translations.
1537 Matthew's Bible Matthew Translated by John Rogers under the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew."
Mostly a composite of the work done by Tyndale and Coverdale with minor edits.
1539 The Great Bible n/a Primarily translated by Miles Coverdale.
First "authorized version," or version sanctioned by the English Crown.
Also known as the "Cranmer Bible" and "Whitchurch's Bible."
1560 The Geneva Bible GNV First English Bible translated entirely from the original languages.
First English Bible translated by a committee.
First English Bible to contain verse numbers.
First English Bible to contain study notes.
1568 The Bishop's Bible Bishop Second authorized version of the English Bible.
Went through several substantial revisions.
1611 The King James Version KJV Also known as the "Authorized Version" or AV.
Supposed to have used the "Bishop's Bible" as its starting point. Reveals much more influence from the "Geneva Bible" instead.
Underwent a substantial revision in 1769, where it took the basic form it has today.
1885 The Revised Version RV Used the KJV as its starting point and made changes to bring it in line with later manuscript discoveries and linguistic studies.
1901 American Standard Version ASV A substantial revision of the RV.
Especially known for its consistent use of the name "Jehovah" rather than the title "the LORD" in the Old Testament.
1952 Revised Standard Version RSV An often controversial translation, particularly for its rendering of Messianic passages like Isaiah 7:14 and Genesis 49:10, among others.
1971 New American Standard Bible NASB Used the ASV as its starting point.
Considered by many to be the most literal and "word for word" of all the major translations.
Underwent a notable update in 1995.
1978 New International Version NIV Fresh translation not based on a previous version.
Underwent significant revisions in 1984 and 2011.
1982 New King James Version NKJV Based on the same Greek and Hebrew texts as the KJV, but rendered in 20th century English.
1989 New Revised Standard Version NRSV A significant update of the RSV.
Often used by scholars but still controversial among many churches for the same reasons as its predecessor.
2001 English Standard Version ESV Used the RSV as its starting point.
Made significant changes based on further manuscript discoveries and corrected many of the RSV's problematic passages, such as Isaiah 7:14.
2004 Holman Christian Standard HCSB Fresh translation not based on any previous version.
Especially known for its (somewhat inconsistent) use of the name Yahweh rather than the title "the LORD" in the Old Testament.
2006 New English Translation NET Fresh translation not based on any previous version.
Especially known for its detailed notes on alternative readings in manuscripts and on how they arrived at their textual choices.
2014 Modern English Version MEV A contemporary English translation of the same Greek and Hebrew texts used in the KJV.
2017 Christian Standard Bible CSB A substantial revision of the HCSB.
In most cases, the revisions brought the CSB closer in wording to other modern translations and away from the distinctive phrasing of the HCSB.