The New King James Version: In the Great Tradition

The author initially served as the New Testament Editor and later, as Executive Editor for the New King James translation project. Thus, he is intimately familiar with this particular modern translation and the principles behind its development. It also makes his treatment of the subject somewhat less objective at times. The book is intended to address questions on a popular, rather than technical level. In his forward, R. K. Harrison identifies some of the popular questions: "What changes were made and why? Who was involved with the project? Did they believe in the inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility of the Scriptures? Were the original languages considered? How long did it take to do all this? Who paid for it? Why a New King James? Why not a completely new translation?" The style of the book makes it both easy to read and interesting. Those looking for technical detail concerning translation theory or the treatment of problem passages by the NKJV translators will not find such issues dealt with here. The author evaluates the NKJV translation according to three primary criteria: accuracy (chapters 1 through 4), beauty (chapters 5 through 8); and completeness (chapters 9 through 12). Concerning accuracy, the author surveys the various English translations leading up to the venerable King James version and explains their contribution to the traditional text which also underwrites the New King James Version. Having explained the desire of the NKJV translation committee to update the excellent KJV translation, Farstad lists the various guidelines which were established by the translators to guide their work of updating the KJV text while preserving much of its heritage. Numerous examples are given of passages where KJV terminology was rendered differently by the NKJV and explaining the reasons why-usually due to changes in language with time or a better grasp of the underlying Hebrew or Greek terms since the time of the KJV translation. Concerning beauty, the author explains the desire of the NKJV translators to preserve the majesty and literary qualities for which the KJV is rightfully known. Presentation improvements in the area of phrasing (poetry) and fulfillment (quotation of the OT in the NT) are explained. The final chapter in this section is perhaps the weakest-describing the desire of the NKJV translation to render Hebrew idioms in a manner more acceptable to polite company: "The contemporary mass media often revel in vulgar language. But is it right for Christian children to find in their Bibles what they are taught are "no-no" words elsewhere? We think not." But is this the correct question to be asking? The question should not be "can children read the Bible without encountering harsh realities-including language that may seem vulgar in places," but "what is the most accurate rendering of the underlying Hebrew or Greek text, period. The unfortunate result of the tendency of the translators to apply perfume to some o