Since the release of the updated HCSB has been delayed until October 2010, I thought I’d put together my wish list of changes:
Formatting
1. No more brackets. From what I understand, this wish may already have been granted!
2. No more bullets. Actually I’d be fine with the bullets if they looked like the ones in the Apologetics Study Bible. They’re not too obtrusive there. Maybe this would be a good place to use italics?
3. No red letters. Dr. Blum told me in my first interview with him, “virtually everybody who worked on this translation hates red-letter editions.” The problem is that publishers virtually require red letter editions because people (“the market”) want them. Gotta love capitalism, right?
4. Stop capitalizing pronouns that supposedly refer to deity. Besides being an outdated practice, this makes interpretive decisions at times that should be left up to the reader.
Translation
5. Genesis 47:28 — “Now Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 17 years, and his life span was 147 years.” The phrase “life span” is awkward. Could we not say, “Now Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 17 years, and he lived to be 147 years old”?
6. Psalm 100:3 — “He made us, and we are His — His people, the sheep of His pasture.” The repetition of “His” is a little confusing. Here’s my suggested alternative: “He made us, and we are his — We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”
7. Isaiah 6:5 — “Then I said: Woe is me, for I am ruined.” I can’t say that I have a great suggestion for a change here, but “Woe is me” just sounds awfully archaic.
8. Blessed vs. Happy — In the Psalms, the HCSB tends to use the word “happy” where other translations use “blessed.” But in Matthew 5, for example, they use “blessed.” I think the word “blessed” is fine (as long as you don’t pronounce it bless-ed). That would provide some consistency throughout the translation as well as connecting the idea to the covenant blessings.
9. Matthew 6:9 — “Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy.” This isn’t a big deal, I suppose, but I really like the NLT here: “Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.” It’s more succinct.
10. Ephesians 1:11 — “In Him we were also made His inheritance.” They have a footnote which has, I believe, a much better translation: “In Him we also received an inheritance.” The context (cf. 1:14) seems to bear this out.
Marketing
11. Stop marketing to niche audiences. Here are some of the niche Bibles available in the HCSB:
- The Celtic Bible
- The Doctor’s Bible
- The Airman’s Bible
- The Firefighter’s Bible
- The Men’s Fraternity Bible
- The Keepsake Bride’s Bible
- The Drill Bible
- The Golfer’s Bible
- The Varsity Colors Bible (comes in different school colors)
12. Start thinking in fewer categories. It seems as if B&H has tried to find every little sub-culture to market the HCSB to rather than marketing to the several largest sub-cultures. This is an area where B&H could really take some helpful tips from Crossway. Here are some of the ESV editions that B&H needs to explore as possibilities for the HCSB:
- Journaling Bible
- One Year Bible
- Reverse Interlinear Bible (cool idea)
- Literary Study Bible (approaching Scripture as literature)
- Study Bible (I know it’s coming, but this should have been one of the first big projects of B&H, in my opinion)
- Reformation Study Bible (a study Bible in the HCSB with a Reformed approach could help shed some of the Baptist stigma)
13. Drop the “H” in the name. This has been said over and over, but I’ll say it again: Before people outside the Baptist world are going to take the HCSB seriously, it must become simply the CSB. Do whatever it takes, B&H, to drop the “Holman” in the title.
14. Focus on that website. The new website, www.hcsb.org, is a vast improvement over the old site, but it still needs work. We need more features.
15. Give us buttons! We bloggers who love the HCSB want to promote it on our websites with buttons like the ESV offers.
16. Update the copyright info with Biblegateway.com to allow us to embed the verse of the day on our websites. For some reason, Biblegateway.com gives this error message: “Sorry. Due to copyright issues, we cannot provide the verse of the day in this version (Holman Christian Standard Bible).” That also means we can’t use their HTML embed code to put the verse of the day from the HCSB on our websites.
What About You?
What changes would you make to the HCSB? Since the release of the updated edition has already been delayed, let’s see if we can get some ideas to B&H to consider.
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Will,
Great start. Well, a few edition must have the red letter. We can’t do away with it altogether.
Yes, drop “Holman!”
I’ll compile a list.
T.C., I guess the whole red-letter thing is not a hill I’m willing to die on, but I certainly prefer not to have an editor decide for me which words belong to Jesus (since that is, of course, an interpretive decision at times). I also prefer not to give the idea that Jesus’ words are somehow more important than the rest of Scripture.
> I also prefer not to give the idea that Jesus’ words are somehow more important than the rest of Scripture.
But how else are we going to protect ourselves from Pauline Christianity?
Will and EE,
We don’t need to. We all know Paul is the true founder of Christianity.
That’s true, T.C. Maybe we need an edition that has the words of Paul in red letters!
I agree with many of your suggestions (especially regarding the formatting and the “H” in the title). Some of them I believe have already been enacted. For instance, in the electronic version of the second edition, Ephesians 1:11 is translated as “receive an inheritance” with some other options footnoted. Also, there is a reverse interlinear available for download through the Word Search software (it’s a little pricey however). One of the big changes I hope takes place is that the publisher does a better job marketing the translation. In the area I live, it’s incredibly difficult to find one in a store. That makes it tough for me to encourage people to go pick one up. I’ll have to do a little more thinking about other changes. I never seem to jot them down when I think of them.
Will,
I am glad that on the Isa 6:5 you didn’t say that “Woe is me” is woe-fully inadequate. Enough of the comedy, on to the substance.
I agree with you on the brackets and bullets. As far as the red letters go, it has simply become cultural that some want to have a “visual aide” on the words Jesus spoke while incarnate so a few editions will need to remain.
As far as marketing goes – I wholeheartedly agree on a Study Bible with a Reformation bent in order to break the Hard Core Southern Baptist misconception.
Additionally, they might want to take another page from Crossway’s play book and sponsor a few perks at conferences such as T4G or MacArthurs Shepherds Conference. This way they can extend the visibility of their translation.
They should also consider making the HCSB “free” with programs such as e-sword and Bible Explorer – again widening their exposure.
They have partnered with Fellowship of Christian Athletes making the HCSB the translation used in their FCA Bible. They have begun to work with Ray Comfort on “The Atheist Bible” and “The Darwin Bible” – both good ideas, now they might want to link with a larger evangelistic ministry (outside the SBC stable) to supply the translation for their work.
The website must be improved. They need to add a blog with input from those who are working on the Study Bible. A few peeks will go a long way to raising interest.
Also a word about their in store marketing. I was in a lifeway store today and was shocked that the HCSB is almost non-existent. They group their Bibles by size and print (Large Print) not by translation. I found it easier to locate a NLT or NKJV or NIV than an HCSB – if they can’t do a better in house job they will certainly never get it right outside and be doomed to second class status.
Just a few ideas, nothing earth shattering or profound but maybe a little helpful.
Terry
Great suggestions, Terry. I wonder why B&H has always struggled with marketing the HCSB. It seems like they’re making some great progress, but they have a lot of lost ground to cover.
The update is delayed until October 2010?
What about these editions? Will they not contain the updated text?
HCSB Large Print (1433600765) (June 01, 2010)
HCSB Minister’s Bible (1433600862) (June 1, 2010)
Illustrated Study Bible for Kids (1433600714) (February 1, 2010)
Apologetics Study Bible For Students (1586404938) (February 1, 2010)
As I understand it, the study Bible coming out in October 2010 will be the first to have the fully updated text. I’ll try to confirm that.
I forgot to add a change that I would definitely make: Include a footnote (at least) about “tongues.”
Will,
Thanks for sticking with the CSB. I have been back and forth with this translation and I think it has the potential to be a great one. Here is my wish list:
1. They over used the word slave. Both the NLT and the NET have found a good balance with slave and servant.
2. Instead of brothers use brothers and sisters where the context is clearly to a mixed audience. I’m sure the 2011 NIV will have it.
3. “this is the Lord’s declaration” is terrible and should be changed to “declares the Lord”. I think this one is my top complaint because it makes some areas of the prophets very difficult to read.
4. Make the Psalms more poetic with the return to ” O Lord ”
5. Proverbs 31 – use “her children rise and call her blessed” instead of just sons.
6. I agree with the note about tongues. Again the NLT has found a good balance.
7. What’s wrong with using “leper” with a note regarding skin diseases. The NET does this right.
I hope the CSB update teams is paying attention to those of us in the market because if they don’t, I think the 2011 NIV will emerge as the dominant translation. I’m keeping my powder dry until it comes out.
Tom, great list of suggestions. I think I can comment on a few of them:
Slave — I don’t think they’re going to change this one, because it’s a part of their translation philosophy. And I have to say I agree with them here. If the term should bear the force of “slave” then we need to keep it. They argue that it is a much stronger term than “servant,” and therefore a more accurate translation.
Brothers — Don’t hold your breath on this one. While I think it’s a good suggestion, they are pretty committed to their position. Here’s the explanation: http://bit.ly/4o2MTl
The Lord’s declaration — I agree with you there. I was just thinking about that one yesterday.
Proverbs 31 — I suppose they would argue that this falls into their gender language philosophy
Great list, though. Thanks for the input.
Re servant and slave. One *could* argue that, based on Mark 10:43-45, the only person who can be a slave (doulos) is Jesus himself, since he is the only one who can be “first”. The rest of us must be servants (diakonos) and fall into line behind Him.
Absolutely not, EE. Here’s why I disagree:
First, I think Mark’s word choice there is a stylistic choice, not a theological one. Slave and servant are therefore synonyms in this text.
Second, Paul (for example) often calls himself a slave a Christ.
Third, in Ephesians 6 (among others) Paul tells us that we are also Christ’s slaves.
Fourth, in 2 Tim. 2:24, Paul specifically refers to overseers as slaves of the Master.
Finally, in the passage you quote, Mark uses the language of diakonos and doulos to speak of us. Yet he uses only the language of diakonos when speaking of Jesus (in this passage). So your reasoning falls apart there, EE.
So, with all do respect, one could *not* argue what you argue there.
Of course, I do agree that all of our slave-likeness is merely a reflection (and a feeble one at that) of Jesus who was the perfect slave of God.
Fair enough…
I think that the key point is your last sentence, which I agree with 100%!
Will,
they should really reconsider adding some footnotes for how they translate languages.
“But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for languages, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 1 Cor 13:8 (HCSB)” Really, no more languages? NLT uses “unknown languages” Which I think is the best choice. (emphasis are mine)
There inconsistent use of “[another] language” and “[other] language” 1 Cor 14, which is it I’m confused? Also they should consider adding some footnotes explaining this word. For example the TNIV has “Or in another language; also in verses 4, 13, 14, 19, 26 and 27” They can have something like “Or tongues; also in verses 4, 13, 14, 19, 26 and 27
Overall I prefer they just use “unknown language”, that is the intended meaning in context.
The other one that just bugs me is there refusal to add any notes regarding the meaning of brothers. Every other modern translations recognizes that it certain places it means “brothers and sisters”. Footnote from the ESV bible:
Romans 1:13 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God’s family, the church
I know I am late to all of this but I am a new hCSB convert. As a Youth Pastor I have been using the NLT which is great, but for myself I have been really stuggling to find a version that I was comfortable with. I grew up on NIV, tried the ESV, and finally settled for the NKJV. I recently discovered the hCSB and love it, I have almost worn out my paperback edition. The changes listed above about sum it up the only other change I would add would be get rid of ‘Messianic Age’ in Matthew 19:28.
Thanks for your blogs…very helpful.
FYI – I clicked on a link for the Bible giveaway (since mine is in bad shape and I am a minister it would be great to have) but it came up with a 404 error. Not sure what that means but I just thought I would let you know.
God Bless
I would really love to see the use of behold and lo instead of look!
It is one thing to look at the Lamb of God but it is another thing to behold the Lamb of God. In another example to look at the landscape of a beautiful mountain is one thing but to behold the landscape is to absorb it, take it all in and to cherish it.
I don’t think people are so lacking in their English vocabulary to not understand the power of meaning or lack of meaning behind the differences between the two words.
Thank you for allowing me to add my comment.
In Christ I stand.
Bill Baker
Please, make it available in Spain. I would be more than happy with that.
In Spain’s Christian Libraries it is already quite difficult to get a NLT or ESV…. don’t get me started with a NRSV. But when one spells HCSB… my!!!!