ESV translation and word order

The church where I currently serve as pastor uses the ESV translation of the Bible. This translation has many merits, but over the time I have been at the church again and again I have noticed how "clunky" it is.

The ESV translation of the Bible is not a new translation of the Bible, but rather a revision of an existing translation, namely the RSV. The existing word order of the RSV appears to have been retained, meaning that when you read it, the translation sounds rather stilted.

Here is an example (Mark 5:35):

Original RSV: "While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said..."

Current ESV: "While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said..." (in this case the ESV has used the RSV version unchanged)

ESV rearranged based on word order in 2025 English: "While he was still speaking, some people came from the ruler's house who said..."

In 2025 English, it is unnatural to order the sentence beginning with the phrase "there came", and it is unusual to say "some" rather than "some people".

The reason for this feature of the translation is that it is a revision of an older translation, not a fresh translation. A strategy for dealing with this would simply be to reorder the words when reading or preaching.

Comments

The origin and spread of the early Baptist churches in the North West of England and elsewhere

The origins of Baptist churches go back to the 1600s. The very first Baptist church began in 1609 and was for English speaking Christians based in the Netherlands, relocating to London in 1611 (Thomas Helwys). These churches were known as "General Baptists" and followed the theology of Arminius and the Anabaptists. A second genesis of Baptist churches was in London in about 1638 (John Spilsbury). These churches followed the Reformed Theology of John Calvin and the Synod of Dordt. In 1644, the First London Baptist Confession was signed by seven Baptist churches in the capital. Baptist churches later spread from London outwards. During the time of the English Civil War (1642-1651), there were Baptist Christians in the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell. In 1648 the New Model Army campaigned in Lancashire during the Second Civil War. 1. John Wigan & the "Coldhouse cause" During the time of the English Civil War (1642-1651), John Wigan (d. 1665),...

Bury, Greater Manchester - Timeline of churches

979? First Church on the site of the present Parish Church (the picture below is an artist's impression of Bury parish church in 1485). This was the only church in the town of Bury until 1719 (see below). 1585 Parish church (re)built in the gothic style . 1650 During the Commonwealth, Henry Pendlebury was ordained for Holcombe Chapelry. 1662 Having been ejected from the Church of England, Henry Pendlebury of Holcombe (1626-1695) held services at a Chapel on Bass Lane by Richard Kay, and others ejected from the C of E (replaced in 1712 by Dundee Chapel, Holcombe) 1669 The vicar of Bury parish reported to the Bishop of Chester that he heard several conventicles were "constantly kept at private houses of Independents, Presbyterians, Dippers and other such like jointly, of the bset rank of the yeomanry and other inferiors." 1689 ...

Die Erweckung (revival of evangelical Christianity in Germany in the 1800s)

Die Erweckung (literally, "the Revival") is a name for the revival of evangelical Christianity in Germany in the 1800s. It has overlap with the Réveil in Switzerland, France and the Netherlands, and also with the second Evangelical Revival in Britain and the Second Great Awakening in America. The Pietist movement, which began during the Baroque era around 1675 under the leadership of Philip Spener, had waned by the 1730s. By this time, Halle university, originally founded by Pietists and a flagship of the movement, became a centre for rationalism under academics such as Christian Wolff (1679–1754). In the interim, Pietism was kept alive in part by a network of small groups (the Diaspora) which followed the spirituality of the Moravian Christians, a movement similar to Pietism but with its own church structures under the leadership of Von Zinzendorf. There was also the Basle-based Christentumsgesellschaft founded by Urlsperger in 1780, a society founded to counter the ratio...

Crumbs from the Table

Search This Blog