Rating: 
Summary: Accurate, readable and practical
Review: As a pastor who has used the New International Version for years, I was very interested in a new translation that would be more accurate that the NIV yet still be readable. That is a tall order, but the Holman Christian Standard Bible fills the order.
The HCSB is also more precise and accurate than the NIV. In the Gospel of Mark, eight times the NIV fails to translate the uniquely favorite Greek word of Mark, euthus, translated "immediately," but the HCSB is always careful to translate this word.
In Matthew 26:64, when the high priest asks Jesus if he is the Christ, the literal Greek rendering is "You said it." However, this is an idiomatic expression which means "yes." So how should this reply be translated? The NIV has, "Yes, it is as you say." The HCSB has the more literal, "You have said it," and adds a footnote explaining that this as an affirmative expression.
In Ephesians 6:10-13, the apostle Paul speaks of the armor of God. In the NIV, both verse 11 and verse 13 urge the believer to "put on the full armor of God." However, the Greek words are different in each verse, and the HCSB picks up this difference, translating verse 11, "put on the full armor of God" but verse 13, "take up the full armor of God."
While being more accurate than the NIV, the HCSB is often more contemporary than the NIV as well. For example, Psalm 90:2 in the HCSB: "Before the mountains were born, You gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity, you are God."
This language is more modern than the NIV, which says, "Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlating you are God."
In Esther 3:6, the NIV refers to "who Mordecai's people were," but the HCSB refers to "Mordecai's ethnic identity."
A unique feature of the Holman Christian Standard Bible that I appreciate are the "bullet notes." The translators decided to put these notes beside words that have special meaning in the Bible, which need explanation. Rather than paraphrase the words, they translate them literally, but the bullet symbol beside the word alerts the reader to check the list of notes for more information. For example, the expression "fear of the Lord" in the Old Testament, which means reverence and awe, and the Greek word "psyche" which is sometimes translated "life" and sometimes "soul" in the New Testament. The Holman Christian Standard Bible has been critized as a "Baptist Bible" because LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention owns Holman Bible Publishers. While there were many Baptist scholars who worked on this project, over half of the scholars are not Baptists. It would be more accurate to describe this as a "conservative evangelical Bible," for the translators are committed to the authority of the Bible as the infallible word of God, and show great respect for the divine, always capitalizing pronouns when referring to God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son. They also stick to conservative Christian interpretations of passages. For example, in 1 Timothy 3:11, Paul is talking about deacons, and then makes reference to "women." Some Christians take this word to mean women who are female deacons, while others take it to mean the wives of deacons, as the NIV, which says, "their wives." The Today's NIV New Testament reversed this and went the other direction, translating the word "women who are deacons." It is interesting that when the HCSB New Testament was first released, it translated the word literally as "women," but later editions have the word "wives." Did somebody put pressure on somebody to make this change?
Rating:
Summary: Do not ignore this translation
Review: At first I ignored this new version of the Bible, but began to take notice after I acquired an electronic form of the text in e-Sword. I began to use it as a tool for Bible comparison, and soon found that it is an important new translation that one should not ignore. I then purchased a hard copy. The HCSB is notable for a number of reasons.
First, it is a completely fresh translation of the Bible, and not a revision of a translation. Most of the translations on the market today are revisions of translations (ESV, RSV, NRSV, NKJV, NLT, REB). Even the NIV, which claims be a new translation, is greatly dependent upon the language of the RSV and KJV. The last completely "fresh" translation of the Bible was the New English Bible (1972).
Second, the HCSB, despite its independence actually harks back to the KJV in its METHOD, but not in its language. The KJV was mostly a literal translation of the Bible, but not slavishly so. The HCSB is literal where it can be, but not to the detriment of intelligibility. When it translates phrases in a non literal way, it is always careful not to go beyond what the text means, i.e. one will not find expansive interpretation here.
Third, the Holman tries and succeeds in making a translation into English people can understand. That does not mean "kitchen English", but good, literate English, that we use today. A good example is the word "Scribe" which is sometimes rendered in the HCSB as "a student of Scripture" (Matt 13.52).
Fourth, the HCSB took twenty years to make. It has been produced with great care, and has taken advantage of the latest computer technology, which has resulted in a version that is consistent. Many of the scholars who worked on this project were also involved in the NASB. The same dedication to accuracy and care that one finds in the NASB come through in the HCSB, although with the HCSB the approach and methodology, and hence resultant translation is different.
Fifth, the Bible is not afraid to render familiar biblical texts in a different way. For example, John 3.16 reads differently, but more accurately: "For God loved the world in this way ..." Older translations render "For God so loved ..." suggesting that the text is about the EXTENT of God's love, whereas the word HOUTOS shows not HOW MUCH, but HOW God loves. Another example, Psalm 23:3: "He leads me along the right paths for His name's sake." Here we find " right paths" instead of "in the paths of righteousness." The Hebrew is therefore more accurately rendered.
The standard text edition of the HCSB (1586400681) is well printed, with a nice readable font. Avoid "gift" editions. The font is so small there that you need a magnifying glass.
Rating: 
Summary: A legitimate contender for #1
Review: Every Bible translation, starting from another language, is a mixed bag. Overall, I would recommend this Bible for daily use, memorization and study. The translators were careful; this is a no-nonsense translation and should be taken seriously. The Holman Christian is more literal than the NIV, but doesn't read as smoothly. This is to be expected, since the NIV paraphrases more for stylist reasons. But the HCSB does read clearly. It is precise. The HCSB is less "word for word" than the NASB, which is good and bad; the NASB doesn't read as smoothly as the HCSB, due also in part to the awkward verse paragraphing employed by the NASB publishers. Also, the HCSB will footnote major excursions from the literal, keeping the process fairly honest. Still, since the HCSB is not a purely literal translation (ie. the translators give themselves the freedom to paraphrase as deemed necesary for your understanding), one is never sure where the God's word ends and the interpretation begins. (I guess that problem exists with all translations, doesn't it?) To compare, the English Standard Bible (ESV), another new conservative translation now available, reads more elegantly than the HCSB. However, part of the "elegance" is due to the fact that the ESV employs sayings and phrases comfortable amongst older Bible folk (Ie,. it retains some archaicisms for that effect.) For example, the ESV in Matthew 7:1 reads, "Judge not, that you be not judged." Do you know anyone that talks that way? Or "Fret not yourself because of evildoers" (Ps. 37:1 ESV). Sure, it's quaint, but wouldn't you be embarrassed reading that to a current audience? The HCSB will always read like modern literature, in wording, sentence strcture and sentence length. In the same verse, the HCSB reads: "Do not be agitated by evildoers." Compare styles in the following clips from Psalm 42: ESV "As the deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food
day and night...
These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul...
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation [fn. the salvation of my face] and my God." HCSB "As a deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for you, God.
I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food
day and night...
I remember this as I pour out my heart...
Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will
still praise Him,
my Savior and my God." See the difference? "Cast down" is less understood in modern society than "depressed," but the literal is "cast down." HCSB renders "heart" as an equivalent to "soul," "soul" being the literal rendering. Some would argue that the "equivalent" HCSB rendering is more readily understood by the modern, especially younger, mind. OK. And I wouldn't be hesitant to read it to an unchurched crowd. But is it more accurate than the literal? Experts disagree and many books on the subject have been written, but the reader must decide for him/herself. (I would also assert that "my Savior" under-translates "the salvation of my face.") The ESV style is also more emotive, with the inner dialogue: ..."Why are you in turmoil within me?" Something has to be said for beauty and form; no one re-writes Shakespeare. See Leland Ryken's book on Bible translation- I think it's called Excellence in Translation. The HCSB also removes the evocative "O" in most verses,which I miss. Still, the traditional wording and sentence structure of ESV can be a hindrance to understanding. Everone knows what "sensible" (HCSB) means, but I scratch my head over "sober-minded" (ESV), a wording employed often in the ESV. Interestingly, the ESV translators finally got rid of "temperate," another obscure word, but kept sober-minded. Go figure. One shining point for the HCSB: All modern English. No hallowed, no temperate, no sober-minded, no uttermost, no howbeits, no begottens, etc. Just real American English. My recommendations to improve the HCSB: 1.Make the Psalms and Proverbs more word-for-word literal, eg. the literal rendering of Psalm 1 found in most translations is easily understood and is elegant. The Psalms need beauty. Reinsert the evocative "O" for flow. 2.Hire some English majors to work on the flow of the text; it is just too stilted. 3. When translating a verse dynamically, be even more diligent to put all literal renderings in the footnotes. Or at least have some study editions that do that. Maybe the HCSB alongside an Interlinear? 4. Stop capitalizing pronouns that refer to deity. That philosophy is problematic and interpretive, not to mention unsupported by the Greek or Hebrew text. 5. Italicize words added by the translator to the text. This practice adds honesty. 6. Use the Majority Text for the textual basis and stop putting in what other manuscripts say; it only adds confusion. Adopt a manuscript policy and stick to it. You can't have it all. I wish I could just use one translation and put all the others away, but there is no one translation work that totally satisfies me on all levels. Why am I so cast down...
Rating:
Summary: Much Needed!
Review: I am very pleased to see this translation. Though there are a multitude of English Bible translations available--very few are highly accurate translations. The best modern translations, in my opinion, are the New King James Version, and The New American Standard Bible. These are very accurate, and they are highly recommended. But they can be a bit difficult to read and understand, and an easier to understand Bible would be helpful to many people, yet accuracy is almost always lost when we leave the literal Bible translations.
The NIV is good, but it has flaws, and so does the more recent ESV. Example, you will not find certain verses in those versions: Matthew 17:21
and
Mark 15:28 those verses are relegated to footnotes in both the NIV and ESV. Nor do the ESV and NIV capitalize personal pronouns referring to the Deity. But both the NKJV and the NASB include the verses mentioned as well as capitalizing personal pronouns referring to the Deity.
This brings us to the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). The HCSB includes the verses above, and it also capitalizes the personal pronouns for the Deity. It basically has the quality of the NKJV and the NASB but with the readability of the NIV and ESV. So we finally have both an easy to read and understand, and an accurate Bible in the HCSB. Holman is also very reasonable in the prices for their Bibles, as well as having high quality Bibles.
All this may sound too good to be true, but it is true. Do yourself a favor get one of these very high quality Bibles, we finally have a much needed modern translation that you need not worry about the accuracy of.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent new translation
Review: I have been looking forward to the release of the complete HCSB since I first heard about it. This translation promises accuracy and readablility. I am happy to report that it succeeds at both. The text is formal without being "wooden" and readable without being overly interpretive. It attempts to strike a balance between a Formal Equivalence (word-for-word) and a Dynamic Equivalence (thought-for-thought) translation. It seems to do this very well. This is the first edition of this complete translation. It is a simply hardcover binding ahd will likely not stand up to much intensive use. In fact the overall quality of this edition is somewhat poor. However, the price is reflective of this. This new translation makes use of excellent scholarship and I would recommend this to anyone interested in a new Bible.
Rating:
Summary: Love this new translation
Review: I love this new translation! Its readable like the NIV, but its much more descriptive.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent translation with one major disappointment.
Review: I think the translators did an excellent job with their technique of optimal equivalence. My only disappointment was the changing of weights to modern equivalents. I do not see the necessity of this. I think that there is some signifigance with the original numbers, but of course that gets lost with conversion. I think that it would have been best to give the original weight in the text and footnote a modern equivalent.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent! Accurate and highly readable with great notes
Review: I was a bit skeptical when I heard that yet another translation of the bible was hitting the market. Personally, I think that we have too many translations. If we could agree on one, it would be a unifying force in our churches and our culture. Here is my choice. Holman decided to steer their completely new translation between two extremes: word for word translation (that ends up being unreadable like the New American Standard Version) vs. thought for thought translation (resulting in the acceptable New LIving Translation and the totally unacceptable and slangy "Message" or Peterson). Holman translated word for word and then respected the flow of natural standard English enough to iron out the clunky phrasing and wooden expressions that could have resulted in another NIV (whose widespread acceptance has always been bewildering to me unless their publisher did some great marketing). Holman included extensive footnotes when their choices were between two acceptable translations. The result? A very readable, smooth flowing, highly accurate translation that reads, for the most part, as if it was written in English to begin with. Usually, when I read a translation, my eyebrows are raised here and there by English that is leaden or translation that is odd. I end up needing to check another version. This can be distracting if you are reading devotionally. I haven't had to do this once with this Bible. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Surprise
Review: Just recieved the Christian Standard Bible today. I have read through the Bible at least 32 times cover to cover -- and I mean gneeologies and all. I began the practice that many years ago with the purpose of getting a more balanced view of what the Bible has to say to us. As a rule I read a different translation and usually with the purpose of researching a specific subject. I realize that as a layman I would approach a look at a new edition of the Bible with a different view than a Bible scholar. However, I was greatly impressed with the readability, the footnotes and the overall quality of such a reasonably priced volume. I have paid much, much more for leather bound high quality editions that were, bottom line, not comparable. I would not be at all surprised to see this edition in time become more popular than the NIV, NKJ, or NRVS and many others.
Rating:
Summary: ESV is better
Review: The HCSB is a fairly literal translation, but its prose style is very awkward - I'd guess that it was translated directly from the original languages with no input from English stylists at all. It's even more clumsy than the NASB and NKJV, if that's possible. So I give it high marks for accuracy, but I don't think this translation is needed or will find a market niche. Those who want a literal Bible would do better with the NASB; those who want literary quality would do better with the ESV. New Christians who need an easy-reading Bible - which the HCSB is not - would be better off with the NIV. There simply isn't a category of reader that would be best served by this Bible. Good intentions aside, this project was ill-conceived and is poorly positioned in the marketplace.
|
