Q. Stumbled across your website (researching if Boaz was already married) and read that you have worked on a version of the NIV. I love my original NIV and have been appalled at the changes made to it in recent years. Genesis 4:1 for instance. Do you know if the old version is still in print anywhere?
When a new Bible version is created, the translators and publishers release an initial edition with the expectation that they will get a lot of feedback over the next five years or so that they will be able to incorporate into a stable version that should be good for the next 20–25 years. But they recognize that after that, they will need to publish a further revision in order to take into account changes in the English language over that time and advances in scholarship regarding the biblical languages and culture.
The NIV has followed exactly this pattern. The first full NIV Bible was published in 1978 (following up on a 1973 New Testament), and after receiving and considering very extensive feedback over the following six years, the translation committee and publishers released the 1984 NIV, which is the edition that many people are still familiar with. To give one example, the 1978 NIV said in 1 Timothy 2:15 that “women will be kept safe through childbirth,” with a footnote that “kept safe” could also be translated “saved.” The 1984 NIV, reflecting the translators’ response to much input, said instead that “women will be saved through childbearing,” with a footnote explaining that “saved” could also be translated “restored.”
The NIV translation committee continued to receive and evaluate feedback, to consider the latest biblical scholarship, and to reflect on how the English language had been changing, and in 2011 it published the latest version of the NIV. This update incorporated many revisions, including the one that you mentioned. In Genesis 4:1, the 1978 and 1984 versions of the NIV had said that “Adam lay with his wife Eve.” The Hebrew says, “Adam knew Eve, his wife,” meaning that they had sexual relations. Hebrew is able to say this in plain language, but the biblical text uses an idiom here, “knew.” One principle of the NIV is that if the original uses an idiom, it tries to use a comparable idiom in English if possible. The translators considered that by 2011, the English expression “lay” no longer served this purpose as well as it had originally, so they replaced it with an expression that they considered current and comparable, “Adam made love to his wife Eve.”
It’s possible that this expression was perhaps a bit too current and also not quite comparable. Perhaps, in contemporary English, it is more informal than the biblical author’s tone, and some readers might even hear it as vulgar, which is certainly not the case with the Hebrew term “knew.” There is a good chance that the translators have been getting feedback about this, and they may be considering, for their next update, what other English expressions might be comparable and perhaps more appropriate. In fact, if you wish to share your own thoughts about this with the committee, you can send them in an email to: nivtranslation@harpercollins.com. You can also find much helpful further information about the NIV at this site: thenivbible.com.
One thing this site notes is that “in the latest 2011 update, about 95% of the text remains exactly the same as the 1984 NIV.” But the site also explains that the copyright holder of the NIV, Biblica (the International Bible Society), has decided not to continue to publish the 1984 NIV, since the 2011 update reflects the translation committee’s decisions about how best to address advances in scholarship and changes in the English language for contemporary audiences. However, if your copy of the 1984 NIV is just about worn out from use after forty years, and you still want to read that version, there are many secondhand copies in good condition available online from various sellers through sites such as eBay, Amazon, etc. I think it is a testimony to the excellent work that went into creating the 1984 NIV that it still speaks meaningfully to people today.
Good Question 