Holy Bible: The Old & New Testaments: Holman Christian Standard

Rating:
Summary: A new translation with limited appeal
Review: At last, the newest in the line of "designer bibles" has been published. One would have thought that after the RSV had been mutilated and published as the ESV, the ecclesiastic right would have had a sufficiently good translation. That was not the case, because another group on the same side of the fence decided that yet another translation was necessary. Hence the HCSB.
Having dipped in and out of the publication, I can only conclude that there is little to distinguish it from the NRSV except for the quirks so loved by our right-wing brothers and sisters.
The first thing which grabbed my attention was Is. 53:1..."And who has the arm of the LORD been revealed to." Two points here: One does not begin a sentence with and (we can live with it, though); splitting the infinitive is very bad grammar (almost a sin actually). The NRSV correctly has: "... to whom".
Is. 53:2 Him and He are written with capitals. In the original language that was not the case and this is an example of false piety. Many will say that the text written by Isaiah is a prophecy about the Messiah. That is an interpretation, but such interpretations do not belong in the text of the bible. Would we translate Greek and Roman classics by incorporating the thoughts or views of the translator? Interpretation of this nature belongs to commentaries and to clergymen/clergywomen. The NRSV correctly uses small letters.
Is. 53:3: "He was despised and rejected by men". So he was loved and accepted by women! Nice to know. The NRSV uses the word "others" which really does indicate the true intention of the sentence.
Ps. 16:10: once again the use of capital letters where they are absent in the original thus forcing an particular interpretation on the reader.
The footnotes in the HCSB are the only decent feature. They contain a fair amount of useful information about alternative readings and suchlike. But... in the one place where a footnote is so necessary, there is no footnote: Isaiah 7:14. As to be expected, the LXX reading "virgin" is given instead of the Hebrew "young woman". There is no footnote to point out this fact. The NRSV correctly adheres to the Hebrew text and places a footnote to alert readers to the Greek, thus providing a link to the version of the OT to which Matthew refers.
Tampering with the text of the OT to make it conform to the beliefs of the translators in unacceptable. Leave the interpretation to the churches.
Those who still think that the bible is God's word are those who are most likely to adapt it to suit their own tastes - a designer bible.
The introduction to the publication is bascially a long-winded attempt to justify the need for a new translation. By blinding one with science and useless information, the writer hopes to convince you that you must have this version.
NIV, ESV, HCSB ... where will it end? By all means purchase a cheaper version of this translation, if only to compare it to one of the standard academic translations ((N)RSV). It will look good on your bookshelf.
2 stars for the page layout, the footnotes and the lack of red text indicating the words the Gospel authors put into the mouth of Jesus. The binding won't last long, but that has never been a strongpoint of Holman hardback books.