Stylos is the blog of Jeff Riddle, a Reformed Baptist Pastor in North Garden, Virginia. The title "Stylos" is the Greek word for pillar. In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul urges his readers to consider "how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar (stylos) and ground of the truth."
Image (left side): Decorative urn with title for the book of Acts in Codex Alexandrinus.
Whether one does or does not use the ESV, one can heartily agree that there is no need to issue yet another revised volume, as the revisions are easily dealt with by way of a booklet, marginal notes, footnotes, etc.. I suspect that the otherwise increasing use of the ESV may be jeopardised by a step too far. Anyway, the following statistics should give food for thought, and encouragement to those who prefer a more traditional translation of their Bible.
The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) has issued its usual annual list, for 2024, of the top ten Bible sales. The results are : 01 NIV, 02 ESV, 03 KJV, 04 NLT, 05 NKJV, 06 CSB, 07 RV [Spanish], 08 NirV, 09 NASB, 10 NRSV. While this is always an interesting list, it should be noted that : 1. it is limited to sales in the US; 2. it includes many NIV’s printed in the US but sent and read abroad; 3. it excludes many KJV’s published and distributed by organisations not registered with the ECPA. Below I set out the Serious Student Bible Project’s 2024 results, in percentages. [The “KJV2”total is entered because many respondents read both of these versions together and/or interchangeably.]
It is clear that the TOP3 - KJV, NKJV, ESV – have continued, and indeed strengthened, their dominance. NLT, along with CSB, has continued in the US to overtake NIV; while NIV is just continuing to hold fourth place in the UK.
What is abundantly clear is that the TOP3 / TOP 4 dominate both general reading and also serious study.
Such statistics are generally not welcome in the world of Bible publishing and punditry.
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Whether one does or does not use the ESV, one can heartily agree that there is no need to issue yet another revised volume, as the revisions are easily dealt with by way of a booklet, marginal notes, footnotes, etc.. I suspect that the otherwise increasing use of the ESV may be jeopardised by a step too far. Anyway, the following statistics should give food for thought, and encouragement to those who prefer a more traditional translation of their Bible.
The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) has issued its usual annual list, for 2024, of the top ten Bible sales. The results are : 01 NIV, 02 ESV, 03 KJV, 04 NLT, 05 NKJV, 06 CSB, 07 RV [Spanish], 08 NirV, 09 NASB, 10 NRSV. While this is always an interesting list, it should be noted that : 1. it is limited to sales in the US; 2. it includes many NIV’s printed in the US but sent and read abroad; 3. it excludes many KJV’s published and distributed by organisations not registered with the ECPA. Below I set out the Serious Student Bible Project’s 2024 results, in percentages. [The “KJV2”total is entered because many respondents read both of these versions together and/or interchangeably.]
US General Readers – KJV 23 + NKJV 20 = “KJV” 43 + ESV 25 = TOP3 68 + NLT 13 = TOP4 81
+ NIV 06 + CSB 08 + NASB 02 + NRSV 02 + Others 01 = TOTAL 100
US Serious Students – KJV 34 + NKJV 17 = “KJV” 51 + ESV 27 = TOP3 78 + NLT 10 = TOP4 88
+ NIV 04 + CSB 03 + NASB 02 + NRSV 02 + Others 01 =TOTAL 100
UK General Readers – KJV 12 + NKJV 17 = “KJV” 29 + ESV 35 = TOP3 64 + NIV 14 = TOP4 78
+ NLT 10 + CSB 04 + NASB 03 +NRSV 02+ Others 03 =TOTAL 100
UK Serious Students KJV 18 + NKJV 31 = “KJV” 49 + ESV 37 = TOP3 86 + NIV 04 = TOP4 90
+ NLT 03 + CSB 02 + NASB 02 + NRSV 02 + Others 01 =TOTAL 100
It is clear that the TOP3 - KJV, NKJV, ESV – have continued, and indeed strengthened, their dominance.
NLT, along with CSB, has continued in the US to overtake NIV; while NIV is just continuing to hold fourth place in the UK.
What is abundantly clear is that the TOP3 / TOP 4 dominate both general reading and also serious study.
Such statistics are generally not welcome in the world of Bible publishing and punditry.
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