NIV(2011) Read Easy Bible

The NIV Read Easy Bible is just what it claims to be, easy to read.  The font is nice and large, and the Bible generally lays down nice and flat, but the pages tend to turn on their own toward the beginning and end of the book, this could be because I haven't worn it in enough yet.  I really like the look and feel of the cover, it's simple and has a…strange but soft feel to it. 

The only extra thing this Bible has is a 'table of weights and measures' at the end.  Other than that, it's a typical NIV(2011), there are no study notes and no commentary except for the textual notes at the bottom, which is, in my opinion, the best thing about the NIV.  These notes give many variants from the Masoretic Text from the Syriac, several Greek translations(Symmachus, Theodotion…etc.), the Dead Sea Scrolls as well as other sources.  I only wish the translators would have replaced the verses that don't match up with the Apostle's quotations of the Old Testament and put the Masoretic rendering in the footnote instead.   

My main problem with the NIV is that it is not as literal a translation as I would like.  This is especially so in the NIV 2011 in regards to masculine terms that can refer to both men and women. In the Preface the translators use Mark 8:6 which they translate as "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?"  They use "someone" and "their" instead of the masculine terms "a man" and "his".  Speaking of the term "a man" They claim that "English speakers today tend to hear a distinctly male connotation in this word."  So what if they do?(and I could argue against that statement) That's like saying that we should change who the letter to Timothy was addressed to as women might not care to read the letter because it was addressed to a man.  Do they really think that when women read more literal translations that read, "What does it profit a man…" they think that what Christ said in that statement does not apply to them? Do they actually think that women reading literal translations conclude that though men don't get any profit by gaining the whole world and losing their soul, women, on the contrary, do?  That's absurd.

But all in all, this is a nice edition of the NIV.  If you'd like more info/critiquing on the NIV 2011 translation, Daniel Wallace has some good articles on the Reclaiming the Mind blog. 

 

I received a free review copy of this book from the BookLook Bloggers book review program(My review did not have to be favorable)

 

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