New Revised Standard Version - Controversial Passages

Controversial Passages

In several places the NRSV committee ignore traditional translations in favour of renderings they believe better reflect the original meaning of the text. For example, the NRSV translates Isaiah 7:14, originally written in Hebrew, as:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.

The NRSV thus retained the RSV decision to translate the Hebrew "almah" as "young woman", though a footnote acknowledged that the ancient Greek translation, the Septuagint, reads "virgin" (that is, "parthenos"). A significant quotation of Isaiah in the Gospel of Matthew also translated the word into Greek as "parthenos" (virgin), and English translations of Isaiah prior to the RSV had followed the Greek. The traditional translation of the phrase "will conceive", which likewise is the Greek translation given in Matthew, was rephrased as the present tense "is with child". This and other non-traditional translations were criticized (e.g. preferring "wind" instead of "spirit" for "rûach" in Genesis 1).

Regarding gender-neutral language, previous translations in this tradition (from the Tyndale Bible to the RSV) adhered to the original text over concerns about readability or gender neutral language; the NRSV departs from this practice. In particular, the NRSV frequently—but not always—substitutes the word "person" or "adult" when the text reads "anēr" (often, but not always, meaning a male adult human being). For example, 1 Corinthians 13:11 in the RSV read: "when I became a man, I gave up childish ways," while the NRSV rendered this passage "when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways". Because the NRSV frequently departs from a literal translation of the text in favour of gender neutrality, critics argue it departed from the heritage of preserving the literal text of Scripture that was the distinguishing feature of translations in the Tyndale/King James tradition.