The New English Translation (NET) is a free, "completely new" English translation of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, "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, New Jerusalem Bible and the

New American Bible The New American Bible (NAB) is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Bible first published in 1970. The 1986 Revised NAB is the basis of the revised Lectionary. In the Catholic Church it is the only translation approved ...

, 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 a translation of the Bible in American English. It was first published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches, the NRSV was created by an ecumenical committee of scholars "comprising about thirt ...

of 1989, which is a revision of the Revised Standard Version 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 scholars who worked directly from the best currently available

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

, and Greek texts. The NET Bible was initially conceived at an annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in November 1995 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The translation project 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. 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. The translation is most notable for an immense number of lengthy

footnote In publishing, a note is a brief text in which the author comments on the subject and themes of the book and names supporting citations. In the editorial production of books and documents, typographically, a note is usually several lines of tex ...

s (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. As of 2019, editions with

apocrypha Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

are in development.

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

References

External links

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