Customer Reviews

Chinese Bilingual Bible (Blue, Traditional Chinese) (English and Taiwanese Chinese Edition)

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The New Chinese Version (xinyiben NCV 1992) is a conservative translation, a half way house between the honoured and respected Chinese Union Version [heheben CUV 1919] and the Today's Chinese Version [xiandaiben TCV 1975, mainland edition 1997]. As such the NCV combines the readability of the TCV with the word-for-word literalism of the CUV. That has to be welcomed, but let the reader be aware that the origins of the NCV and the more conservative line in translation show that it is in part a step back from the TCV.

The NCV makes great claims for accuracy, largely at the expense of the TCV which is its only serious competitor - not making any comparison in this review with the Chinese Living Bible [dangdai shengjing 1979]. It's difficult to say whether TCV or NCV is more likely to follow the original Hebrew and Greek in any given verse. As a rule of thumb the NCV is a more faithful translation - such as in the Beatitudes where TCV infamously has "the meek shall inherit what God has promised" and where NCV restores the Matt 5:5 quote of Psalm 37:11 "inherit the earth" found in Greek and CUV. However the TCV is less driven by theological orthodoxy than the NCV, and consequently is less conservative in this sense too.

1. CHRISTOLOGY

When comparing versions, verses with Christological implications show a slight, but perceptible, difference in translation philosophies. For example in 1 Tim 2:5 the CUV inserts "descended as a" [jiang shi wei] in front the "man Christ Jesus" [ren de Jidu Yesu], with three dots under each character to show that it is not in the Greek original. The three dots are the equivalent signal as italics in some verses of the English KJV. In 1 Tim 2:5 the TCV changes "descended as" to "made as" [cheng wei]. But the NCV returns to the CUV reading. These differences should not be exaggerated - all three versions delete Jesus' reference to himself as "a man" in John 8:40 but preserve "man" referring to Jesus in Acts 2:22, 13:38, 17:31, Romans 5:15. In 1 Corinthians 15:47 TCV changes "second man" to "second Adam", the NCV reverts back to CUV and Greek.

The above example leads naturally to the subject, as discussed by Carson in 'The King James Debate', of which version is 'more Trinitarian' in its choice of variant Greek manuscript readings. In Romans 9:5 the CUV adopts the strongest reading "Christ.. he is God over all", the TCV follows a neutral reading "God who is over all be blessed for ever" with two alternatives in the footnotes, the NCV returns to a strong Trinitarian reading. Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1, the area of Greek scholars' dispute over Granville Sharp's rule, are given both readings in CUV, the TCV gives a choice of footnotes in Titus 2:13 and a neutral reading in 2 Peter 1:1, only the NCV adopts a Trinitarian reading in both verses, with no alternatives noted.

In Romans 15:6 the CUV avoids the neutral reading that God is "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" but TCV allows it and NCV follows TCV. In 2 Cor.11:31 all 3 versions follow the Greek "God and father of the Lord Jesus".

2. HEBREW

None of the versions is particularly faithful to Hebrew concepts of mortality, or the translation of 'nephesh' as a being rather than the 'soul' inside a being. For example in Genesis 2:7 and Numbers 6:6 different words are adopted for 'living soul' and 'dead soul' in all three Chinese versions. But then this is the case in most English versions too.

In Job 19:26, where the Massoretic Text has "in my flesh I will see God", CUV has "outside my flesh I will see God", TCV has something closer to the Hebrew: "from my body I will see God", NCV restores "outside my flesh I will see God".

A demonstration of the way the NCV is closer to the KJV, Morrison Bible of 1830 and CUV than TCV comes in the way the translators treat one Hebrew word 'ruakh', breath:

Ecc 3:19 CUV "breath", TCV "breath", NCV "breath"

Ecc 3:21 CUV "soul" TCV "soul" NCV "soul or spirit or breath"

Ecc 8:8 CUV "life", TCV "not die", NCV "wind or life"

Ecc 11:5 CUV "wind", TCV "life", NCV "wind",

Ecc 12:7 CUV "spirit", TCV "breath", NCV "spirit"

From these examples it can be seen that the TCV is the least concerned to avoid the implication of mortality in the Old Testament, reminiscent of the English TEV's approach to such verses, while the CUV and NCV translations are more likely to support the concept of an immortal soul.

3. UTILITY

That is probably enough for most readers to gain an impression of where the NCV stands relative to the TCV and CUV. At the moment however it is somewhat academic as the TCV, not the NCV, is the modern version that has been adopted, albeit without much enthusiasm, by the Chinese State churches. It does not have the mantle of the Morrison Bible of 1830 in the way the 1919 CUV does, but at least a modern language version is now available, subsidised by the State, in most State church book kiosks for 14 yuan, i.e. less than two dollars. The NCV, carried in from Hong Kong, is prohibitively expensive compared to the TCV.

However neither TCV nor NCV is likely to make much headway against the CUV until a range of study aids is available. The CUV has a marginal reference version, two full study Bibles, a full concordance [shengjing huibian], a giant four volume commentary, DVDs of Matthew, Luke and Acts, CDs and cassettes of readings. The TCV and NCV have none of these aids.

4. BINDINGS

As regards the NCV-English Standard Version parallel text version reviewed here, there are a variety of sizes, bindings and colours available. The text is also available in simplified mainland script and traditional Hong Kong script:

ISBN 962-8815-14-8 Standard/Traditional/Black/White edge

ISBN 962-8815-15-6 Standard/Traditional/Black/Gold edge/Leather

ISBN 962-8815-20-2 Compact/Traditional/Black/White edge

ISBN 962-8815-21-0 Compact/Traditional/Black/Gold edge/Zipper

ISBN 962-8815-22-9 Compact/Traditional/Navy/White edge

ISBN 962-8815-23-7 Compact/Traditional/Navy/Silver edge/Zipper

ISBN 962-8815-16-4 Compact/Simplified/Black/White edge

ISBN 962-8815-17-2 Compact/Simplified/Black/Gold edge/Zipper

ISBN 962-8815-18-0 Compact/Simplified/Navy/White edge

ISBN 962-8815-19-9 Compact/Simplified/Navy/Silver edge/Zipper

* The "white edge" editions are hardback, the zipper leather.

It goes without saying that whenever ordering any Bible be careful with ISBN and ASIN numbers to be sure you are getting the version you want.

The compact parallel text version ISBN 962-8815-17-2 has no references whatsoever - not in English or Chinese - to NT quotes of OT verses, but does have a Chinese introduction and synopsis to each book, as well as very brief English introduction, and a partial English concordance at the back. There is a history chart from Eden to Patmos in Chinese, and 18 colour bilingual maps. The ESV concordance has 2,700 headwords and 14,500 verse references. Unfortunately I cannot comment on whether the Standard size version has a different concordance or better notes. It definitely has larger print.

I hope this review has been of some use to purchasers. Both TCV and NCV are a considerable improvement in readability over the CUV and to be welcomed with open arms and five stars.

This marvelous bilingual Bible is delight with some cool features.

First, I was expecting a bulky Bible but I was pleasantly surprised that it is about the size of a handy sized Bible. It measures about 7.25 x 5.25 x 1.5. The font is small but not uncomfortable - the font size is similar to that of a Nelson's Compact Text Bible (maybe slightly larger) but there is adaquate spacing between each line so that it makes it comfortable to read. The Chinese characters are a little larger.

There are two columns on each page with the ESV on the inner column and the NCV on the outer column (so the ESV is right in the middle if you open the Bible). Each page also has inlined/printed tab at the edge to indicate the name of the book in both English and Chinese. Each book of the Bible has good introductions in both languages.

A quite adaquate ESV concordance is provided at the back. There are about 18 colored maps, each map is bilingual.

The hard cover binding seem sturdy and it comes with 2 ribbon bookmarks, positioned for the Old Testament and the New Testament.

I bought this to brush up my Chinese characters and I am quite pleased with it.

I'm not Chinese, nor do I read or understand it, but the friend I got this Bible for was very pleased with it. It's flows in both languages from page-to-page; so whatever part of the Bible you're reading, you get the story in both languages simultaneously.

It's a nice size- not to large but not too small either. My friend commented that whilst the print isn't illegible, it's quite small and takes a bit of time to get used to reading. Once your eyes have adjusted to the print, it's not a probelm. Apart from that- everything else about the Bible is fine.

I am very happy with the purchase- well worth the price (even with the shipping charges added, it's a lot cheaper than those available at high-street Christian bookstores, I might add).

I can only pray that through reading his own personal Bible and his continued curiosity about the Christian faith, my friend will come to the saving knowledge of Jesus :-)