New King James Version

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New King James Version
NKJV Pew Bible (Hardcover, Black), Jan 2018.png
NKJV Pew Bible (Hardcover, Black)
AbbreviationNKJV
OT  published1982
NT  published1979
Derived from King James Version
Textual basis
Translation type Formal equivalence [3]
Version revision1984
Publisher Thomas Nelson
CopyrightThe Holy Bible, New King James Version®
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Religious affiliation Protestant [3]
Webpage www.thomasnelsonbibles.com/nkjv-bible/
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

The New King James Version (NKJV) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English. Published by Thomas Nelson, the complete NKJV was released in 1982. With regard to its textual basis, the NKJV relies on a modern critical edition (the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia ) for the Old Testament, [1] while opting to use the Textus Receptus for the New Testament. [2] [lower-alpha 1]

Contents

The NKJV is described by Thomas Nelson as being "scrupulously faithful to the original, [lower-alpha 2] yet truly updated to enhance its clarity and readability." [4]

History

The text for the New Testament was published in 1979; the Psalms in 1980; and the full Bible in 1982. The project took seven years in total to complete. [5]

Translation philosophy

The Executive Editor of the NKJV, Arthur L. Farstad, addressed textual concerns in a book explaining the NKJV translation philosophy. [6] He defended the Majority Text (also called the Byzantine text-type) and claimed that the Textus Receptus is inferior to the Majority Text, but he noted (p. 114) that the NKJV references significant discrepancies among text types in its marginal notes: "None of the three [textual] traditions on every page of the New Testament [...] is labeled 'best' or 'most reliable.' The reader is permitted to make up his or her own mind about the correct reading." [6]

Circulation

The NKJV translation has become one of the best-selling Bibles in the US. As of July 2022 it is listed as the sixth best selling Bible by the ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association). [7]

An unabridged audiobook version called "The Word of Promise Audio Bible" has been produced by the publisher. It is narrated by celebrities and fully dramatized with music and sound effects. [8]

Gideons International, an organization that places Bibles in hotels and hospitals, at one stage used the NKJV translation along with the KJV, offering the KJV as the default translation and offering the NKJV when an organization asked for a Bible in newer English to be used.[ citation needed ] After HarperCollins' acquisition of Thomas Nelson, however, the Gideons have chosen to start using the English Standard Version (ESV) instead of the NKJV. [9] [10]

See also

Notes

  1. Footnotes are provided regarding textual variants found in the Nestle–Aland Novum Testamentum Graece and the Majority Text.
  2. That is, the King James Version.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byzantine text-type</span> New Testament text type

In the textual criticism of the New Testament, the Byzantine text-type is one of the main text types. It is the form found in the largest number of surviving manuscripts of the Greek New Testament. The New Testament text of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Patriarchal Text, as well as those utilized in the lectionaries, are based on this text-type. Similarly, the Aramaic Peshitta which often conforms to the Byzantine text is used as the standard version in the Syriac tradition, including the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Chaldean church. Whilst varying in at least 1,830 places, it also underlies the Textus Receptus Greek text used for most Reformation-era (Protestant) translations of the New Testament into vernacular languages. Modern translations mainly use eclectic editions that conform more often to the Alexandrian text-type, which is viewed as the most accurate text-type by most scholars, although some modern translations that use the Byzantine text-type have been created.

<i>Textus Receptus</i> Greek critical text of the New Testament

Textus Receptus refers to the succession of printed editions of the Greek New Testament from Erasmus's Novum Instrumentum omne (1516) to the 1633 Elzevir edition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King James Only movement</span> Bible translation (KJV) advocacy groups

The King James Only movement asserts the belief that the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible is superior to all other translations of the Bible. Adherents of the King James Only movement, mostly members of Conservative Anabaptist, traditionalist Anglo-Catholics, Conservative Holiness Methodist and some Baptist churches, believe that the KJV needs no further improvements because it is the greatest English translation of the Bible which was ever published, and they also believe that all other English translations of the Bible which were published after the KJV was published are corrupt.

<i>Orthodox Study Bible</i> Eastern Orthodox Bible in English that includes the Septuagint

The Orthodox Study Bible (OSB) is an Eastern Orthodox study Bible published by Thomas Nelson in 2008 featuring an English translation of the Septuagint by St. Athanasius Academy for the Old Testament and utilizing the New King James Version (NKJV) for the New Testament.

<i>Novum Testamentum Graece</i> Critical edition of the Greek New Testament

Novum Testamentum Graece is a critical edition of the New Testament in its original Koine Greek, forming the basis of most modern Bible translations and biblical criticism. It is also known as the Nestle–Aland edition after its most influential editors, Eberhard Nestle and Kurt Aland. The text, edited by the Institute for New Testament Textual Research, is currently in its 28th edition, abbreviated NA28.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reformed fundamentalism</span> Fundamentalism in the Reformed tradition

Reformed fundamentalism arose in some conservative Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Reformed Anglican, Reformed Baptist, Non-denominational and other Reformed churches, which agrees with the motives and aims of broader evangelical Protestant fundamentalism. The movement was historically defined by a repudiation of liberal and modernist theology, the publication (1905–1915) entitled, The Fundamentals, and had the intent to progress and revitalise evangelical Protestantism in predominantly English-speaking Protestant countries, as well as to reform separated churches according to the Bible, historic expression of faith and the principles of the Reformation. The Fundamentalist–Modernist controversy, and the Downgrade controversy, kindled the growth and development of reformed fundamentalism in the United States and the United Kingdom. Reformed fundamentalists have laid greater emphasis on historic confessions of faith, such as the Westminster Confession of Faith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener</span> British theologian

Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener was a New Testament textual critic and a member of the English New Testament Revision Committee which produced the Revised Version of the Bible. He was prebendary of Exeter, and vicar of Hendon.

There have been various debates concerning the proper family of biblical manuscripts and translation techniques that should be used to translate the Bible into other languages. Biblical translation has been employed since the first translations were made from the Hebrew Bible into Greek and Aramaic. Until the Late Middle Ages, the Western Church used the Latin Vulgate almost entirely while the Eastern Church, centered in Constantinople, mostly used the Greek Byzantine text. Beginning in the 14th century, there have been increasing numbers of vernacular translations into various languages. With the development of modern printing techniques, these increased enormously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew 15</span> Chapter of the New Testament

Matthew 15 is the fifteenth chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. It concludes the narrative about Jesus' ministry in Galilee and can be divided into the following subsections:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew 19</span> Chapter of the New Testament

Matthew 19 is the nineteenth chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Matthew composed this Gospel. Jesus commences his final journey to Jerusalem in this chapter, ministering through Perea. It can be seen as the starting point for the passion narrative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John 19</span> Chapter of the New Testament

John 19 is the nineteenth chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that John composed this Gospel. This chapter records the events on the day of the crucifixion of Jesus, until his burial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luke 23</span> Chapter of the New Testament

Luke 23 is the twenty-third chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles. This chapter records the trial of Jesus Christ before Pontius Pilate, Jesus' meeting with Herod Antipas, and his crucifixion, death and burial.

Olive Tree Bible Software creates Biblical software and mobile apps, and is an electronic publisher of Bible versions, study tools, Bible study tools, and Christian eBooks for mobile, tablet, and desktop devices. The firm is headquartered in Spokane, Washington and is a member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). Olive Tree currently supports Android, iPad, iPhone, Macintosh, Windows, and personal computer devices.

Our Authorized Bible Vindicated is a book written by Seventh-day Adventist scholar Benjamin G. Wilkinson advocating the King James Only (KJO) position, published in 1930. It asserted that some of the new versions of the Bible coming out, came from manuscripts with corruptions introduced into the Septuagint with additional texts, which came to be called "Apocrypha", and manuscripts with deletions and changes from corrupted Alexandrian text brought in by manuscript readings in the Greek New Testament adopted by Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort. While King-James-Only advocacy existed prior to the writing of this book, many of the arguments in the book have since become set talking-points of many who support the belief, thanks in large part to Baptist Fundamentalist preacher David Otis Fuller, who adopted them into much of his own material, such as the book, Which Bible?.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protestant Bible</span> Christian Bible whose translation or revision was produced by Protestants

A Protestant Bible is a Christian Bible whose translation or revision was produced by Protestant Christians. Typically translated into a vernacular language, such Bibles comprise 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament, for a total of 66 books. Some Protestants use Bibles which also include 14 additional books in a section known as the Apocrypha bringing the total to 80 books. This is in contrast with the 73 books of the Catholic Bible, which includes seven deuterocanonical books as a part of the Old Testament. The division between protocanonical and deuterocanonical books is not accepted by all Protestants who simply view books as being canonical or not and therefore classify books found in the Deuterocanon, along with other books, as part of the Apocrypha. Sometimes the term "Protestant Bible" is simply used as a shorthand for a bible which contains only the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revelation 12</span> Chapter of the New Testament

Revelation 12 is the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is traditionally attributed to John the Apostle, but the precise identity of the author remains a point of academic debate. This chapter contains the accounts about the woman, the dragon, and the child, followed by the war between Michael and the dragon, then the appearance of the monster from the sea. William Robertson Nicoll, a Scottish Free Church minister, suggests that in this chapter the writer has created a Christianised version of a Jewish source which "described the birth of the Messiah in terms borrowed from ... cosmological myths [such as] that of the conflict between the sun-god and the dragon of darkness and the deep".

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The Literal English Version of Scripture (LEV) is a translation of the Bible based on the World English Bible. Formerly known as the "Shem Qadosh Version", the title was officially changed in November 2016. It is considered a Sacred Name Bible rendering the name of God using the Hebrew characters יהוה, and that of Jesus in Hebrew as ישוע. It was created by a team of volunteers across the United States with additional proofing and editing assistance by individuals in Poland and Taiwan. Footnotes and appendices were written by the General Editor, J. A. Brown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern English Version</span> English translation of the Bible

The Modern English Version (MEV) is an English translation of the Bible begun in 2005 and completed in 2014. The work was edited by James F. Linzey, and is an update of the King James Version (KJV), re-translated from the Masoretic Text and the Textus Receptus.

References

  1. 1 2 "Preface to the New King James Version". Archived from the original on August 23, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2021. For the New King James Version the text used was the 1967/1977 Stuttgart edition of the Biblia Hebraica, with frequent comparisons being made with the Bomberg edition of 1524-25. The Septuagint (Greek) Version of the Old Testament and the Latin Vulgate also were consulted. In addition to referring to a variety of ancient versions of the Hebrew Scriptures, the New King James Version draws on the resources of relevant manuscripts from the Dead Sea caves.
  2. 1 2 "Preface to the New King James Version". Archived from the original on August 23, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2021. The King James New Testament was based on the traditional text of the Greek-speaking churches, first published in 1516, and later called the Textus Receptus or Received Text. ... because the New King James Version is the fifth revision of a historic document translated from specific Greek texts, the editors decided to retain the traditional text in the body of the New Testament and to indicate major Critical and Majority Text variant readings in the footnotes.
  3. 1 2 "Bible Translation Spectrum". Logos Bible Software Wiki. Archived from the original on January 7, 2023. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  4. "New King James Version Bible". Thomas Nelson Bibles. Archived from the original on August 23, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  5. "New King James Version (NKJV Bible)". The Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2011-09-14.
  6. 1 2 Arthur L. Farstad, "The New King James Version in the Great Tradition," 2nd edition, 1989, Thomas Nelson Publishers, ISBN   0-8407-3148-5.
  7. "ECPA Best Sellers: Bible Translations". ECPA (Christian trade association) Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. July 2022.
  8. Groves, Martha (16 November 2009), "Stars lined up for elaborate audio Bible", Los Angeles Times
  9. Staff (June 2013). "Development and Growth of the English Standard Version". The Gideons International. Retrieved 2013-10-14.[ dead link ]
  10. Klein, Peter. The Catholic Source Book, p. 146, Harcourt Religious Publishers, 2000. ISBN   0-15-950653-0