The new NIV has just been released on Biblegateway. It fully replaces earlier NIV versions, including the TNIV. There’s an introduction, some notes on translation, and you can do comparisons between versions. It will appear in print next year.
If I were to name a favourite Bible translation, the NIV would be it, walking a helpful line between ‘word for word’ translation and ‘idea for idea’ translation. Although I reckon dynamic equivalence (‘idea for idea’) is the way to go, dynamic translations are harder to study with. The NIV brings an excellent balance.
There are some other new things over at Biblegateway, such as their Perspectives in Translation blog — current topic: what makes a translation accurate? — and the launch of their redesigned beta site.
Via Craig Blomberg.
Categories: Uncategorized Written by Arthur
Arthur Davis
Arthur Davis is an Aussie living in Tanzania, writing at meetjesusatuni.com.
Meet Jesus at uni 
I love to read the NIV. Whether for personal reflection/meditation or reading aloud in small groups.
In contrast, when someone reads out the ESV, it just sounds awkward.
But for study purposes I tend to use the ESV, and the NRSV of late (of course).
Can I switch between three versions like that? Or is that being too fickle?
Like you said, there are different ways and places in which to read the Bible — we could even include kids church activities, youth group, and so on. Yeah, mix ‘n’ match! But the important thing is that we’re (a) considerate of the setting and (b) questioning our own assumptions and motivations. This will help us avoid selfishly picking the translation that simply suits us best.
Can I point out that the title of this post, expanding the acronym, is the ‘new New International Version’. I think they should come up with a new name – the Newer International Version? International Version 2.0?
MRIV — Most Recent International Version
ZIMDV – Zondervan Imperialist Market Domination Version
NESVV – ‘Not the ESV’ Version
I thought you and your readers might find it useful to know that I’ve just put up some pages that show how similar the NIV2011 is to the NIV1984 and the TNIV. My pages also show each verse where the NIV2011 differs from the NIV1984 or the TNIV in an easily read / clear manner.
The pages are online @ http://www.slowley.com/niv2011_comparison/
I’d appreciate any comments or suggestions if anyone has any. Please either email me robert@slowley.com or leave a comment on my blog post http://community.livejournal.com/robhu_bible/4977.html
Thank you,
-RobHu
My computer generated comparison of the NIV2011 with the TNIV and NIV1984 has had many major updates:
http://www.slowley.com/niv2011_comparison/
1. Greek text – now includes the SBLGNT with apparatus
2. Hebrew text – HBS text included (experimental)
3. Most changed verses list compared with both TNIV and NIV1984:
http://www.slowley.com/niv2011_comparison/most_changed_verses_tniv.html
http://www.slowley.com/niv2011_comparison/most_changed_verses_niv1984.html
4. List of (possible) proper noun changes:
http://www.slowley.com/niv2011_comparison/proper_noun_changes.html
5. List of word changes relevant to the gender language debate:
http://www.slowley.com/niv2011_comparison/cbmw_words.html
6. List of all words in text (warning: page is very large)
http://www.slowley.com/niv2011_comparison/all_words.html
Plus many many bug fixes, improvements in presentation, and other minor fixes.
-RobHu
There are some useful visualisations of the new NIV here