There are several key distinctions that make the HCSB a reliable translation. Here are nine of them. 1.) It brings new meaning and insight into your favorite verses. For example, take John 3:16 - "For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." Readers of the verse, when translated "For God so loved the world...," will think that the verse says how much God loved. The adverb "so" indicates how much or to what degree. Scholars, however, understand the verse actually describes how God loved us, not how much. This is the way in which God has demonstrated His love for us: He gave His Son. The HCSB translation makes it clear that the proof of God's love is the gift of His Son. There is no degree of God's love. It's total and complete. 2.) A word-for-word translation doesn't always offer the best translation. Look at Psalm 147:10. "He is not impressed by the strength of a horse; He does not value the power of a man." In the NASB and ESV the power of a man is translated literally as "the legs of a man." The original audience would have understood that "legs" meant the total strength of a man. Using "the power of a man" gives a clearer meaning of what the verse is trying to convey. 3.) When God uses His personal name, it should mean something. Is there a difference in Lord and Yahweh? Aren't they both names of God? Actually, no, they aren't. Lord is a title, not a personal name. Yahweh is God's personal name, not a title. In the HCSB, when God is using His own personal name, that's how you will find it said. In Isaiah 42:8 the ESV says, "I am the Lord; that is my name ...," but the HCSB says, "I am Yahweh, that is my name ..." It's a subtle difference, but important. 4.) Biblical figures of speech are often difficult to understand. Admit it. Sometimes it is hard to understand phrases in the Bible. You could compare it to slang. If you read that someone "lit a shuck" what would come to mind? You would might think it meant that someone set corn on fire ... maybe to use as a torch ... maybe to destroy an enemy's crop. But, you'd be wrong. It simply means someone "went away." At least that what it meant in the 1800s. When you read Amos 4:6 in the NASB that God gave them "cleanliness of teeth in all their cities," it sounds like something wonderful. Clean teeth are great and to have a whole city of people with clean teeth ... impressive! The problem, however, is that what we (today) understand cleanliness of teeth to mean isn't what the Scripture means to communicate. Therefore, HCSB translates the ESV's "cleanliness of teeth in all their cities" into phrasing we understand: God gave them "absolutely nothing to eat in all your cities ...." Clean teeth meant teeth that had no food to chew, not glowing pearly whites. It changes how we understand the passage. 5.) The greater use of "Messiah" adds deeper meaning. It might come as a surprise to some, but Christ isn't Jesus' last name. "Christ" comes from the Greek word "Christos," meaning "anointed." The Hebrew concept of the Christos translation conveys the Jewish longing for the Messiah. Because of this, the HCSB uses "Messiah" as the translation for "Christ" in Jewish context. Look at Luke 3:15. The NIV says "The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ." The HCSB translators, understanding that the verse's context regarding the Jews, translated it "Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were debating in their minds whether John might be the Messiah." 6.) Words we consider synonyms have different biblical meanings. Consider words like slave and servant. All slaves were servants, but not all servants were slaves. A slave had no rights, didn't receive any pay for work but was completely dependent on the master for everything. A servant, on the other hand, worked for a master but had rights and privileges aside from the master. The HCSB uses "slave" instead of "servant" in order to indicate the relationship of believers to Jesus. When believers are called "slaves," it is to show they have no rights before Christ. 7.) Words like "behold" and "shall" are no longer commonly used. Words such as "behold" and "shall" don't creep into today's English too often. Most people don't speak that way, just as most people don't use "thee" and "thou." We certainly know what they mean, but the formality they convey isn't standard for us any longer. Archaic words should never be a stumbling block for people reading the Bible. "Shall" appears in the KJV almost 10,000 times, but it was published in 1611 when people used the word in everyday conversation. 8.) Greater word precision makes for a tighter translation. The word count of the original Hebrew and Greek texts in the standard critical editions is 545,202. (How's that for a really cool fact?) The HCSB comes closer to this word count than other major translations. So why does this matter? It says that the HCSB is able to convey the original texts in a more precise fashion. 9.)The HCSB team are men and women (most not Southern Baptist, by the way) of integrity and reliability who worked with reliable source texts. The team was comprised of 100 people representing some of the most outstanding scholars from 17 Protestant denominations. The works they used included Nestle-Aland's Novum Testamentum, 27th edition; United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament, 4th edition; and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 5th edition.
For example, take John 3:16 - "For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." Readers of the verse, when translated "For God so loved the world...," will think that the verse says how much God loved. The adverb "so" indicates how much or to what degree. Scholars, however, understand the verse actually describes how God loved us, not how much. This is the way in which God has demonstrated His love for us: He gave His Son. The HCSB translation makes it clear that the proof of God's love is the gift of His Son. There is no degree of God's love. It's total and complete.
Look at Psalm 147:10. "He is not impressed by the strength of a horse; He does not value the power of a man." In the NASB and ESV the power of a man is translated literally as "the legs of a man." The original audience would have understood that "legs" meant the total strength of a man. Using "the power of a man" gives a clearer meaning of what the verse is trying to convey.
Is there a difference in Lord and Yahweh? Aren't they both names of God? Actually, no, they aren't. Lord is a title, not a personal name. Yahweh is God's personal name, not a title. In the HCSB, when God is using His own personal name, that's how you will find it said.
In Isaiah 42:8 the ESV says, "I am the Lord; that is my name ...," but the HCSB says, "I am Yahweh, that is my name ..."
It's a subtle difference, but important.
Admit it. Sometimes it is hard to understand phrases in the Bible. You could compare it to slang. If you read that someone "lit a shuck" what would come to mind? You would might think it meant that someone set corn on fire ... maybe to use as a torch ... maybe to destroy an enemy's crop. But, you'd be wrong. It simply means someone "went away." At least that what it meant in the 1800s.
When you read Amos 4:6 in the NASB that God gave them "cleanliness of teeth in all their cities," it sounds like something wonderful. Clean teeth are great and to have a whole city of people with clean teeth ... impressive! The problem, however, is that what we (today) understand cleanliness of teeth to mean isn't what the Scripture means to communicate. Therefore, HCSB translates the ESV's "cleanliness of teeth in all their cities" into phrasing we understand: God gave them "absolutely nothing to eat in all your
cities ...." Clean teeth meant teeth that had no food to chew, not glowing pearly whites. It changes how we understand the passage.
It might come as a surprise to some, but Christ isn't Jesus' last name. "Christ" comes from the Greek word "Christos," meaning "anointed." The Hebrew concept of the Christos translation conveys the Jewish longing for the Messiah. Because of this, the HCSB uses "Messiah" as the translation for "Christ" in Jewish context.
Look at Luke 3:15. The NIV says "The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ." The HCSB translators, understanding that the verse's context regarding the Jews, translated it "Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were debating in their minds whether John might be the Messiah."
Consider words like slave and servant. All slaves were servants, but not all servants were slaves. A slave had no rights, didn't receive any pay for work but was completely dependent on the master for everything. A servant, on the other hand, worked for a master but had rights and privileges aside from the master.
The HCSB uses "slave" instead of "servant" in order to indicate the relationship of believers to Jesus. When believers are called "slaves," it is to show they have no rights before Christ.
Words such as "behold" and "shall" don't creep into today's English too often. Most people don't speak that way, just as most people don't use "thee" and "thou." We certainly know what they mean, but the formality they convey isn't standard for us any longer. Archaic words should never be a stumbling block for people reading the Bible.
"Shall" appears in the KJV almost 10,000 times, but it was published in 1611 when people used the word in everyday conversation.
The word count of the original Hebrew and Greek texts in the standard critical editions is 545,202. (How's that for a really cool fact?) The HCSB comes closer to this word count than other major translations. So why does this matter? It says that the HCSB is able to convey the original texts in a more precise fashion.
The team was comprised of 100 people representing some of the most outstanding scholars from 17 Protestant denominations. The works they used included Nestle-Aland's Novum Testamentum, 27th edition; United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament, 4th edition; and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 5th edition.