HCSB Large Print - Personal Size Reference Bible(Brown Leather-touch)
The first time I
remember hearing about the HCSB translation was in John Macarthur's book: 'SLAVE: The hidden truth about your identity in
Christ', in which this translation is used because it translates
'doulos' literally as 'slave' rather than the less accurate translation of
'servant' or 'bondservant'. That made me
curious to take a better look at the translation. This translation uses "Optimal
Equivalence" as the translation method which they consider to be a careful
cross between formal equivalence an dynamic/functional equivalence. Also, the translators do not give in to
gender neutrality, as they mention in their 'introduction': "…the
translators have not changed 'him' to 'you' or to 'them,' neither have they avoided other masculine
words such as 'father' or 'son' by translating them in generic terms…"
There were some
specific things that I looked for, in particular the usage of other
translations of the Old Testament for textual criticism. In Genesis 4:8 instead of the verse reading ,
"And Cain told Abel his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in
the field…"( ASV) it relies upon the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint,
Syriac and Vulgate and reads, "Cain said to
his brother Abel, 'Let's go out to the field.' And while they were in the
field…" Including that
statement there is added clarity, and, though not in the Masoretic text, it has
numerous supports in other available texts.
They support their translation choices/sources with footnotes explaining
where the variants are taken from and also to give alternate readings that are
not found in the Masoretic text of the OT.
I did appreciate that, unlike the NIV, at Isaiah 7:14 where it says
"the virgin will conceive…" they do not have a footnote saying
"or young woman". But I didn't
like that, unlike the NIV, in Psalm 40 where they follow the Masoretic wording
of "my ears you have opened" they don't include a footnote mentioning
that other ancient translations like the LXX read "body you have prepared
for me".
It reads in a sort
of cross between modern English and a more literal style, though I think it is
leaning more towards a literal translation which I appreciate. But overall, I think I like the translation. Oh, I also liked how they converted
measurements into feet, inches, miles…etc.
It makes it easier to picture.
And now, as for the
external/material things, the binding of
this version was silky smooth, and I like the simple yet decorative cover. On the inside the font is nice and large and
easily readable, even the footnotes are a nice size. This Bible has a topical concordance at the
back and at the beginning a summary of God's plan for salvation in which I
particularly liked some of their wording for instance, "First, God says we must repent. The word 'repent' means a change of
direction. This means when we turn to
God, we are turning away from sin and giving up on the attempt to make
ourselves right before God."
Many thanks to B&H publishers for sending me a
free copy of this Bible to review!(My review did not have to be favorable)
This Bible may be purchased on Amazon and on the B&H Publishing Group website
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