Word Magazine # 78: Review: Christian Standard Bible (CSB) (2017)

I just posted WM 78: Review: Christian Standard Bible (CSB) (2017) (listen here). Below are my notes:

The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) was completed in 2003. The translation was produced by a division of LifeWay of the SBC. This year (2017) an updated edition of this translation has been released, now under the title of the Christian Standard Bible (CSB).

You can read about the CSB on its website. One page is titled: “Why the CSB?” It notes a Barna study which suggests that Bible ownership is up but Bible reading is down. The problem? They do not have a Bible “optimally translated for today’s English reader?” So, here comes the CSB to meet this gaping need!

The CSB was revised through the work of more than a hundred scholars under the supervision of a ten member translation oversight committee, with two SBC scholars (Thomas Schreiner of SBTS and David Allen of SWBTS) serving as co-chairs. Note: One might think the co-chairs would be scholars of both testaments. Schreiner is a NT scholar and Allen a professor of preaching. Is their co-chairmanship a nod to “political balance” in the SBC between Calvinists (Schreiner) and Non-Calvinists or “traditionalists” (David Allen).

Advance copies of the CSB with the full notes were distributed in the fall 2016 ETS meeting and “reading copies” were also available for those who requested them. I have a reading copy.

Among other things, the front matter indicates:

The text for the translation: For the NT, NA-28 and UBS-5. For the OT, BHS-5.

The translation philosophy: “optimal equivalency,” a supposed via media between “formal” and “dynamic” equivalency.

And, what has proved most controversial, there is a statement on the CSB’s use of “gender language.”

Controversy over “gender accurate” language:

Controversy surfaced around the time of the SBC annual meeting. See the Atlantic article by Jonathan Merritt and Garet Robinson from June 11, 2017.

Here is a table comparing some readings in the KJV, HCSB, and the CSB (emphasis added):

Passage	KJV	HCSB (2003)	CSB (2017)
Psalm 1:1	Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.	How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path of sinners, or join a group of mockers!	How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers!
Psalm 8:4	What is man that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man that thou visitest him?	what is man that You remember him, the son of Man that you look after him?	what is a human being that you remember him, a son of man that you look after him?
Michah 6:8	He hath shewed thee, O man what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?	He has told you men what is good and what it is the LORD requires of you: Only to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.	Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the LORD requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 1:12	But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:	But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name,	But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name,
Philippians 2:7	But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:	Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men…	Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity…
Hebrews 2:10	For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.	For it was fitting, in bringing many sons to glory, that He, for whom and through whom all things exist, should make the source of their salvation perfect through sufferings.	For in bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was entirely appropriate that God—for whom and through whom all things exist—should make the source of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

Hearing some of the phrasings in the CSB (despite having Michael Card as “stylist”) reminds me of T. S. Eliot’s 1962 review of the NEB, in which he described it as “an active agent of decadence.”

Questions about the text:

As substantial as questions about the “gender accuracy” of the CSB, there have also been questions raised about the textual approach of the CSB, as pointed out in an article by Peter J. Gurry which appeared on January 25, 2017 on the Evangelical Textual Criticism blog. Gurry raises questions about the CSB notes on 2 Peter 3:10 and references Maurice Robinson’s questions about John 1:18 (see WM 56 on this controversial verse). Some good points are also made in the comments section. Here are a few comparison passages (emphasis added):

KJV	ESV	CSB
Jeremiah 1:9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold I have put my words in thy mouth.	Jeremiah 1:9 Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.	Jeremiah 1:9 Then the LORD reached out his hand, touched my mouth, and told me: I have now filled your mouth with my words.
John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.	John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only God who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.	John 1:18 No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son who is himself God and is at the Father’s side—he has revealed him.
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.	2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.	2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed.

New Translation, Same Old Problems:

It seems unlikely that the CSB will gain a large market-share of the English Bible market (perhaps that is not really its goal so much as providing an in-house translation for LifeWay publications) or insure that more Bible owners will become Bible readers. That is the Spirit’s work.

JTR