NIV Endorsement: Dr. Moisés Silva, Litchfield, MI. Before retiring from teaching, Dr. Silva served as a professor of New Testament at Westmont College, Westminster Theological Seminary, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He is also a past-president of the Evangelical Theological Society. For the last ten years he has worked as an independent scholar, researcher, and editor of biblical reference books.
“The appearance of the latest NIV edition (2011) is cause for celebration. From the very beginning, the NIV’s greatest strength has been its balance, avoiding both literalism (which many confuse with accuracy but which in fact obscures the meaning of the text for contemporary readers) and loose paraphrasing (which may appear “relevant,” but at the expense of reliability). This new edition succeeds admirably in bringing the translation up to date without altering its essential character.
“The fine scholars behind this work, fully committed to the authority of Scripture and following standard principles and methods of translation, understand that their task is to ascertain the meaning of the text and then to find the clearest and most natural way of expressing that meaning in contemporary English. Their success is especially evident in their handling of the difficult problems raised by changes in the way that English speakers use gender-specific/inclusive language, based on the most thorough and reliable analysis of current usage, which has only recently become available. Of course, one can always find individual renderings and decisions that are debatable — but this is true of all versions. What is undeniable, however, is the exceptional care and seriousness with which the NIV translators have sought to apply a coherent philosophy of translation to the biblical text.
“The result is a sparklingly clear, yet judiciously conservative, English Bible for the twenty-first century. I use it with pleasure as my first version of choice and unhesitatingly recommend it to others as a wonderful contribution to church life and personal spiritual growth.”
–For the past four decades Dr. Silva has been a translator or a consultant for five different Bible versions (NASB, NLT, ESV, Nueva VersiónInternacional, and The Message). His work on his Th.M. and Ph.D. degrees (the latter at the University of Manchester with F. F. Bruce, James Barr, and T. Muraoka) sought to integrate general linguistics (especially lexical semantics, bilingualism, and translation theory) with the study of the biblical languages.
NIV Endorsement: Dr. Tremper Longman III, Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA
“NIV 2011 is a gift to the church. As a professor of Old Testament and a translator myself, I understand and appreciate this version’s fidelity to proper translation method. Its clear, readable English is accurate to the original languages, communicating the Bible’s rich message in a way that will reach people of all ages, education, and spiritual maturity. Produced by the leading evangelical biblical scholars of the day, this Bible is suitable for devotions, deep study, casual reading, group study, and in the pulpit.”
–Dr. Longman was a SeniorTranslator for the New Living Translation and is a member of the NLT’s Committee of Bible Translation. He has participated in four other translations as translator and consultant including the Holman Christian Standard Bible, the New Century Translation, the Common Bible, and The Message.