The New English Translation (NET Bible) is a free, "completely new"

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" ...

English translation of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

, "with 60,932 translators' notes" sponsored by the Biblical Studies Foundation and published by Biblical Studies Press.

History and textual basis

The New English Translation, like the

New International Version The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The ''NIV'' was created as a modern translation, by Bible scholars using the earliest a ...

, New Jerusalem Bible and the

New American Bible The New American Bible (NAB) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1970. The 1986 Revised NAB is the basis of the revised Lectionary, and it is the only translation approved for use at Mass in the Latin-rite Catholic dioces ...

, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not an update or revision of an older one (such as the

New Revised Standard Version The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches.Revised Standard Version The Revised Standard Version (RSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1952 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. This translation itself is a revision of the Amer ...

of 1946/71, itself a revision of the

American Standard Version The American Standard Version (ASV), officially Revised Version, Standard American Edition, is a Bible translation into English that was completed in 1901 with the publication of the revision of the Old Testament. The revised New Testament had ...

of 1901). The translation and extensive notes were undertaken by more than twenty biblical

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

s who worked directly from the best currently available

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...

, and Greek texts. The NET Bible was initially conceived at an annual meeting of the

Society of Biblical Literature The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), founded in 1880 as the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, is an American-based learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible and related ancient literature. Its current stated mis ...

in November 1995 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The

translation project A translation project is a project that deals with the activity of translating. From a technical point of view, a translation project is closely related to the project management of the translation process. But, from an intercultural point of vi ...

originally started as an attempt to provide a digital version of a modern English translation over the

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and on

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without cost for the user: "The NET Bible project was commissioned to create a faithful Bible translation that could be placed on the Internet, downloaded for free, and used around the world for ministry." Many of those involved in the project's initial discussions eventually became part of the translation team. The translation itself claims to be non-sectarian, "inter-denominational" and

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

. The translation is most notable for an immense number of lengthy footnotes (which often explain its textual translation decision). Other significant features include its open translation process, its availability on the Internet (both during its beta process and in its final form), and its open copyright permitting free downloads. An original beta was released in 2001, followed by a second beta in 2003 and the first edition in 2006. A second edition with updated Strong's Hebrew and Greek to English mappings was released in 2017.

Copyright status

The NET Bible's approach towards copyright comprises a full copyright license which is explained in its "Ministry First" statement, both of which emphasize its openness and free availability. The publishers claim that "after 10 years, the NET Bible is still the only major modern translation that can be downloaded free in its entirety and used seamlessly in presentations and documents." However, as of October 2010, the NET Bible's copyright statement is over 1500 words long, and contains different conditions for generic copyright,

diglots A polyglot is a book that contains side-by-side versions of the same text in several different languages. Some editions of the Bible or its parts are polyglots, in which the Hebrew and Greek originals are exhibited along with historical transla ...

and bible quotations in multiple formats, including commercial and non-commercial publications. The NET Bible's approach to copyright is self-summarised as: In "Copyright Innovations – Toward a New Model," the Ministry First position statement makes at least four additional important clarifications: *We still don’t fully like the copyright notice for the NET Bible, but in our litigious world it remains a challenge... *We believe that 1 Tim 5:17-18 (the author has the right to be paid) and Lev 23:22 (allow the poor and foreigner free access) can be simultaneously satisfied far better with a new Internet model... *We want all authors to know that the NET Bible is a safe choice. *It is time for ministry to be more free – and for a Bible which puts ministry first....Let us know how we can better serve your needs. However, these statements do not form part of the copyright notice itself, so their legal value is unclear.

Functional and formal translation

Gordon Fee Gordon Donald Fee (May 23, 1934 – October 25, 2022) was an American-Canadian Christian theologian who was an ordained minister of the Assemblies of God (USA). He was professor of New Testament Studies at Regent College in Vancouver, British ...

and Mark L. Strauss see the NET (along with the NIV and the

HCSB The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) is a modern English Bible translation from Holman Bible Publishers. The New Testament was published in 1999, followed by the full Bible in March 2004. Beginnings The roots of the HCSB can be traced to ...

) as a "mediating version" between functional equivalence and formal equivalence. In the preface to the first edition, W. Hall Harris III, PhD, "The NET Bible Project Director" claims that the NET Bible solve the problem of dynamic vs. formal equivalence: The preface of the NET Bible presents the advantage of this feature in the following way: "The translators’ notes make the original languages far more accessible, allowing you to look over the translator’s shoulder at the very process of translation."

Other versions

The NET Bible has both English and Chinese versions. The Chinese version is also called Chinese NET Bible.

Notes

References

External links

* {{English Bible translation navbox 2005 books 2005 in Christianity Bible translations into English