Featured Legacy Standard Bible

I've begun using the Legacy Standard Bible recently and am pleasantly surprised.

I thought I'd post features that I encounter as I use the new version.

Always read the Preface of the version(s) you use!

A Preface may identify the translators philosophical position about translation translation and their methodology.

"...the goal of this translation is to be a window into the original text. Within that goal, this revision has focused upon accuracy and consistency. It has checked that words and grammar have been carried over properly. It also established rules for the consistent translation of terms within their various nuances. This allows the reader to more easily reconstruct what the original texts said."​

"In this edition, a word might not be translated consistently in order to maintain a highly familiar rendering of a text or to preserve a word play in the text that advances the inspired author’s message. Moreover, because Scripture is a literary masterpiece, some linguistic features could not be transferred to this translation, not even by a note. Nevertheless, ensuring that the original languages are precisely rendered paves the way for careful readers to discover these insights for themselves."​

The Preface will identify the source of the text from which they are translating.

Hebrew Text: The Legacy Standard Bible utilizes the latest edition of Rudolf Kittel’s Biblia Hebraica together with the most recent light from lexicography, cognate languages, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Greek Text: The Legacy Standard Bible has the benefit of a number of critical Greek texts in determining the best variant reading to translate. The 27th edition of Eberhard Nestle’s Novum Testamentum Graece, supplemented by the 28th edition in the General Epistles, serve as the base text. On every variant reading the Society of Biblical Literature GNT as well as the Tyndale House GNT were also consulted. In the end, each decision was based upon the current available manuscript evidence.​

A Preface may identify features that make the translation different from others.
This is pertinent since the NASB 2020 version was released shortly before the Legacy Standard Version. Both were revisions of the original NASB and its 1997 Update.

I'll be posting on some of the various features in later posts but the first one IMO, is the feature that stands out most prominently.

Names of God: ...
Traditionally, the translation “God” renders the Hebrew word Elohim. Likewise, the word “Lord” is a translation of Adonai. In the LSB, God’s covenant name is rendered as Yahweh. ...

In addition to Yahweh, the full name of God, the OT also includes references to God by a shorter version of His name, Yah. By itself, God’s name “Yah” may not be as familiar, but the appearance of it is recognizable in Hebrew names and words (e.g. Zechar-iah, meaning Yah remembers, and Hallelu-jah, meaning praise Yah!). God’s shortened name “Yah” is predominantly found in poetry and praise.​

The NT uses the term “Lord” (Kurios) to translate Yahweh. The LSB maintains the translation “Lord” and does not change those instances to Yahweh. In cases when “Lord” explicitly translates Yahweh in a quotation of the OT, a footnote is provided stating such. Nevertheless, the LSB maintains the translation of “Lord” in the NT for the same reason it upholds Yahweh in the OT: because that is what is written in the original text. ​

I did not enjoy the Holman Christian Standard Version which used Yahweh, so I was quite reluctant to try the LSB.
The LSB's Preface identifies the reasoning behind their decision.

Preserving this in translation foundationally records what is present in the OT text. It also allows proper distinction between God’s personal name and the title “Lord” (Adonai), which emphasizes God’s authority. Even more, it helps the reader to engage God with the name which He gifted to His people. Thus, the reintroduction of God’s personal name into the translation of the OT is a feature that enhances the precision, intensity, and clarity of the biblical text in English.​

Psalm 68:1–4 (LSB)
1 Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered,
And let those who hate Him flee before Him.

2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;
As wax melts before the fire,
So let the wicked perish before God.

3 But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God;
And let them rejoice with gladness.

4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts,
Whose name is Yah, and exult before Him.​

Rob

 

(BHS)
שִׁ֤ירוּ׀ לֵֽאלֹהִים֮ זַמְּר֪וּ שְׁ֫מֹ֥ו סֹ֡לּוּ לָרֹכֵ֣ב בָּ֭עֲרָבֹות בְּיָ֥הּ שְׁמֹ֗ו וְעִלְז֥וּ לְפָנָֽיו׃


(Wycliffe)
Synge ye to God, seie ȝe salm to his name; make ye weie to hym, that stieth on the goyng doun, the Lord is name to hym. Make ye fulli ioye in his siyt, enemyes schulen be disturblid fro the face of hym,

(Coverdale [1535])
Oh synge vnto God, synge prayses vnto his name: magnifie him yt rydeth aboue the heauēs whose name is ye LORDE & reioyse before hī.

(Geneva Bible [1560])
Sing unto God, & sing praises unto his Name: exalt him, that rideth upon the heavens, in his Name Jah, & rejoyce before him.

(AV 1873)
Sing unto God, sing praises to his name:
Extol him that rideth upon the heavens
By his name JAH, and rejoice before him.

(ASV [1901])
Sing unto God, sing praises to his name:
Cast up a highway for him that rideth through the deserts;
His name is Jehovah; and exult ye before him.

(HCSB)
Sing to God! Sing praises to His name.
Exalt Him who rides on the clouds —
His name is Yahweh —and rejoice before Him.

(NASB [1971 and 95])
Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts,
Whose name is the LORD, and exult before Him.

Pick the right one!

Rob

 

The Legacy Standard Bible is generally an update of the 1995 edition of the NASB...

...but not exactly.
Word exchanges abound.​

My general general impression is that the changes that were made in the LSB are conservative.
And where textual questions exist, the version is quite cautious.

A case in point is Psalm 145

Psalm 145 is an acrostic psalm. In the BHS it is missing the verse for the Hebrew letter "nun".
The verse is present in a few ancient manuscripts.

Psalm 145:12–14 (LSB)
Lamedh
12 To make known to the sons of men His mighty deeds
And the glory of the majesty of His kingdom.

Mem
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures from generation to every generation.

Samekh
14 Yahweh sustains all who fall
And raises up all who are bowed down.
​

Pluses - the LSB provides the letters in the acrostic psalm identifying it for the reader.
Minuses - the LSB fails to note the existence of the missing verse, either in the passage or a note.

Compare with ESV
Psalm 145:12–14 (ESV)
12 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[The Lord is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.*] [*note - "These two lines are supplied by one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac (Compare Dead Sea Scroll)"]

14 The Lord upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.​

Note also the use of "sons of men" in verse 12 of the LSB and "children of man" in the ESV.

Rob

 

No, not really outdated,
reading between the lines of its preface, the LSB is clearly a conservative and cautious evangelical translation.

There are plenty of changes but nothing groundbreaking or exciting.

Rob

 

I'd have to mull that over for a while.
The LEB is a niche Bible, not one I usually compare with others.
~~~~~~~~~~
And as long as the Lexham English Bible was mentioned I'll continue with it.

I encountered an interesting variant today where the Legacy Standard Bible departed from its NASB heritage.

We had communion today. In his opening remarks the worship leader quoted from Jude 5.
The difference immediately drew my attention (I'm guessing he was quoting from the ESV).

Jude 5 (ESV) (cf. LEB, LSB)
Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.​

I'm familiar with the more common variant tradition.

Jude 5 (NASB 2020) (cf. NASB71, 1995, NIV, KJV, ,
Now I want to remind you, though you know everything once and for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.​

It's a rather complicated variant with many twists and turns that have even seasoned textual critics changing their position over time. See the following comment by James Snapp on his blog [link]

Contracted as nomina sacra, the competing variants are ΚΣ (“Lord”) and Ὁ ΙΣ (“Jesus”), or, if the article is considered secondary,ΚΣ and ΙΣ. Setting aside a question about the arrangement of the phrases in this verse (a question which is extraordinarily complex), and focusing on the simpler question of which word at this point is original, it is initially difficult to resist the appeal of Ἰησοῠς [Jesus]. Not only is it supported by Alexandrinus, Vaticanus, 1739, 1881, the Vulgate and the Sahidic version, but, from a utilitarian perspective, it conveys an apologetically convenient point about the pre-existence of Jesus.

Ἰησοῠς was the reading in the 1966 edition of the UBS GNT, and a note in Metzger’s Textual Commentary shows that he and Allen Wikgren pressed for its adoption. Years ago, I too favored the reading ΙΣ [Jesus] – but upon further consideration, ΚΣ [Lord] commends itself as original. I would argue that an early scribe felt that κύριος was too ambiguous (does it refer to the Father, or to the Son?) ...
[... brackets and translation in red added ...]​

The Legacy Standard Bible (surprisingly to me) follows the ESV by using the name Jesus.
Comment: Although the following variant is not the traditional choice it is attuned to its evangelical audience.
Many modern versions footnote the variant.

Rob

 

Van, the translations you have provided above do not coincide with the LSB translators guidelines.

As as you keep trying to make this thread about John 3.16, I’ll give you an assignment:

(1) Provide your own translation of Jn 3.16 using the principles illustrated in the preface of the Legacy Standard Bible.​

(2) While being restrained by their guidelines, provide the reasons why your translation would differ from that of the translators.​

Rob