NIV 2011 and The New American Standard Bible

     I hear many people say, "The NASB is the most literal English translation, and
the NIV 2011 is a paraphrase. The NIV is not a good study Bible because of its
underlying theory of translation. Meaning based translations are not good for
study."

     One problem  with  the  foregoing  statements  is, it  is  based  on erroneous
information. Sometimes the NASB is very interpretive. Some of its renderings
are more meaning based than the NIV. 

     A key phrase in the Greek text of Acts 11:30 reads, "dia cheiros Barnaba
kai Saulou." The literal English translation is, "through/by hand Barnabas and
Saul." The NASB 77 and 95 say, "in charge of Barnabas and Saul." The NIV 2011
says, "by Barnabas and Saul."

     The phrase "dia cheiros Barnaba kai Saulou" (through/by hand of Barnabas
and Saul) is an idiomatic expression. The NASB, dubbed the most literal by many
people, interprets the idiom "in charge of Barnabas and Saul." The NIV 2011
drops the "cheiros" (hand) and says "by barnabas and Saul" which serves the same
purpose as the NASB rendering except the NIV 2011 almost does it with the
precision of modified-literal accuracy! By the way, the ASV-1901 again manifests
near word for word precision. It says, "by the hand of Barnabas and Saul."

     The meaning of "dia cheiros Barnaba kai Saulou" is Barnabas and Saul were
the ones through whom or by whom the relief was sent to the elders for the disciples
who lived in Judea. They were the ones "in charge of" delivering the funds, hence
the interpretation of the NASB.

     These findings illustrate at least two points: (1) the accuracy of a translation
must be evaluated on a passage by passage basis. (2) We must not assume that
modified-literal versions are always literal, nor should we assume that meaning
based translations are not sometimes (or perhaps often) modified-literal.
                                                                                                                          RD

Copyright 2011