Here’s a roundup of a couple of recent developments which readers have shared with me by email and the comments:
Updates to the ESV
The English Standard Version Translation Oversight Committee announced in early February that they would be releasing a small update to the ESV text in 2025. The change includes:
- 68 word changes
- 57 footnote changes
- Punctuation changes in 14 verses
This is the first update to the ESV since the 2016 edition, which was originally advertised (in August of 2016) as a final and permanent edition of the ESV text. That decision was reversed in September of 2016 with an explanation from Dr. Lane Dennis, President of Crossway (the publisher of the ESV).
A complete list of the changes that will be introduced in the 2025 revision is available here. I’m personally happy to see that the translation of Genesis 3:16 and Genesis 4:7 has been revised. The 2016 version of the ESV introduced an interpretive rendering in these verses (translating it as “desire is contrary to” instead of “desire is for”). The 2025 text takes the ESV back into line with many other English translations.
The new 2025 text has been implemented on the ESV.org website and their associated Android and iOS apps. All of these include only the protestant canon.
RNJB Approved for Use in the Episcopal Church
The Episcopal Church has revised its canons to include the RNJB as an authorized translation. The revised list also includes the NRSVue (listed as the 2022 edition of the NRSV). This is the first official approval of the RNJB from a non-Catholic communion which I’m aware of. Meanwhile, the bishops of Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand are joining efforts to produce a lectionary based on the RNJB text. This is likely to be a multi-year project.