I was brought up on the NIV, and I’ve been reading the TNIV since I got a free copy a couple of years ago. Its major changes were for gender inclusive language, but they also took the opportunity to revisit other passages. Most seemed to be only minor changes, but I’ve come across a wholesale reformulation of Philemon 6:
Greek: ὅπως ἡ κοινωνία τῆς πίστεώς σου ἐνεργὴς γένηται ἐν ἐπιγνώσει παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ τοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν εἰς Χριστόν.
NIV: I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
TNIV: I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.
Glad they took the chance to change it, because I think the TNIV has the better translation.
Tuesday, 20 March 2007 at 3:01 pm
I have begun to use the TNIV as well and I really enjoy it. Most of the controversy has centered around the gender-inclusive issue. However, the changes in gender were really only a subset of changes that were undertaken to make this a better translation. Unfortunately, most people that are opposed to it are either going off of heresay or a faulty presupposition concerning the intent of the translators. Dr. Blomberg has written a great article in response to much of the hype that has surrounded this translation. I can email it to you if you are interested. I know that you probably don’t have enough to read as it is. Hope your studies are going well. Oh, and your blog is really helpful.
Tuesday, 20 March 2007 at 10:32 pm
We were given a free copy of the TNIV last year at school. They said, “Go pick up a copy in the bookstore if you want. P.S. – It’s heresy.”
Okay, maybe not that strong, but it was suggested that this translation was perhaps not the best and that our faculty strongly advised against using it for any kind of academic or personal use (which leaves holding the coffee table up, I suppose).
Wednesday, 21 March 2007 at 9:21 pm
IMHO, It doesn’t fail on translation issues anymore than the original NIV does. That depends on your philosophy of translation more than the actual choice of words. I supose it came out after I left DTS, so I don’t remember any opinions espoused about it there. I was at the ETS debates with Grudem and Piper going against Doug Moo and ?. Based on the argumentation, I fell in line with Moo, but that’s partially the personal nature the argument took and was essentially as much an argument against the NIV as the TNIV. Anyhow, since I was raised on it, it’s always hard to give it up. Now that I’m in England, the gender inclusive is standard, so fits well here.