Authoritative Texts and Translation Method
Purpose
The purpose of the UPDV Bible is to provide a modern version that retains the accuracy of older English translations, to update archaic words so that it is easier to read using a modern English vocabulary, and to apply discoveries of new materials — such as manuscripts — to improve accuracy.
The UPDV Bible is free to copy, even commercially, but is not to be modified except as specified in the copyright restrictions published with the text.
Starting Point
The UPDV Bible is based on the American Standard Version of 1901 (ASV). The ASV was used as the starting point for this Bible, with the exception of First Maccabees and Sirach. The UPDV Bible is a revision of the ASV, refined against the authoritative texts described below.
Authoritative Texts
Old Testament
The Old Testament text is based on:
- Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS), Electronic Edition — the standard critical edition of the Hebrew Bible.
- United Bible Societies' Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project (HOTTP), 5 volumes — a committee evaluation of textual difficulties in the Hebrew text, rating each decision by confidence level.
- Critique Textuelle de l'Ancien Testament (CTAT) by Dominique Barthelemy, first 4 volumes — the final, expanded report of the HOTTP committee's work.
New Testament (Greek)
The New Testament Greek text is based on:
- United Bible Societies — The Greek New Testament, Fifth Edition (UBS5).
- Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th Edition (NA28).
Readings in these Greek editions within single brackets have been generally retained as part of the regular text in the UPDV Bible. These readings may be regarded as part of the text but they cannot be taken as completely certain. This type of bracketed text should not be confused with the UPDV Bible's own use of brackets, which indicates words supplied to help in understanding the text that are not present in the original languages.
New Testament (Syriac)
The Old Syriac and Peshitta versions were also reviewed for variant readings. In some cases, it was found that one or more Syriac versions were more likely to contain the original reading than was the Greek critical text. Footnotes indicate where the Syriac was followed instead of the Greek critical text.
Eclectic Method
By using the above texts, the UPDV Bible uses the eclectic method of selecting the original reading of verses. This means that when more than one reading of a passage exists, each verse is evaluated independently based on its merits.
Some variants — different readings of verses — are disclosed in footnotes, especially when they affect entire verses which are omitted or inserted. In rare instances, the authoritative texts above were not followed if convincing evidence was found to the contrary. In such cases, they are listed in the Variant Exceptions section.
Special Features
Plural-You Markers
Plus signs (⁺) are used in superscripts next to words such as "you" and "your" when they refer to a group of two or more. This is done to improve accuracy, since English does not distinguish between singular and plural "you" as the original languages do. For a detailed discussion, see Plural-You Markers.
In some cases, the word "you" or "your" is not present in certain verses for smoother English style. This was mostly done in imperative (command) sentences. If the word "you" was plural and the context is not clear, the plus sign will move to the verb.
Brackets
Brackets [ ] are used to enclose words supplied in the translation that are not present in the original Bible text, in order to make a passage more understandable. A threshold is involved in disclosing these: some words that are normally supplied will not be disclosed in brackets, but for the most part brackets are required if the supplied words are not clearly implied by the original text.
The Name of God
The UPDV restores the divine name "Yahweh" to the Old Testament and distinguishes between "Yahweh" and "the Lord" in the New Testament where possible. For a full discussion, see The Name of God.
Style Guidelines
The conventions for usage and style generally follow The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition (University of Chicago Press, 2003) and The SBL Handbook of Style (Hendrickson Publishers, 1999), with some exceptions.
Notable conventions include:
- Numbers are spelled out from one through one hundred.
- Brackets for words not found in the original follow rules 6.104 and 11.68. Italics were not used for this purpose since rule 7.49 states that the purpose of italics is to call attention to a certain portion of text — which would be misleading for supplementary words.
- Capitalization is used for what are clearly proper nouns and adjectives per the rules for religious names and terms at 8.97 through 8.119. Accordingly, words such as "he" and "his," even when referring to God, are not capitalized unless at the beginning of a sentence. The original Hebrew and Greek texts generally do not show any difference when using words such as "he" and "his" in reference to God.
Abbreviations
The following abbreviations are used throughout the UPDV Bible and its footnotes:
| Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|
| ASV | American Standard Version |
| CT | Critical Text of the New Testament based on NA28 |
| CTAT | Critique Textuelle de l'Ancien Testament by Dominique Barthelemy |
| DBL | Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains by James Swanson, 2nd edition (Logos Research Systems, 2001) |
| DSS | Dead Sea Scrolls and findings in the Judean Desert |
| HOTTP | Hebrew Old Testament Text Project (United Bible Societies) |
| K&D | Commentary on the Old Testament by C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch |
| KJV | King James Version |
| LXX | The Septuagint — an ancient translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek |
| NA28 | Nestle-Aland — Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th Edition |
| Syr-c | The Curetonian Old Syriac text |
| Syr-s | The Sinaitic Old Syriac text |
| TA | The Dialogue of Timothy and Aquila — critical text presented by Robert Gerald Robertson (Harvard University, 1986) |
| TCGNT | A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 1st and 2nd editions, by Bruce M. Metzger (United Bible Societies) |
| UBS5 | United Bible Societies — The Greek New Testament, Fifth Edition |