When Bible scholars on the Committee on Bible Translation (CBT) were first commissioned in 1965 to translate the New International Version (NIV) Bible, their goal was to create a readable version for the entire English-speaking world. Translators from the United States, Canada, England, Northern Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand were involved in the process to ensure that it would appeal to all English-speaking audiences.
[See our blogpost: 50-Year Anniversary Celebration Continues with the NIV Bible: ‘Made to Study’]
A top priority for the CBT was that the NIV allow for future revisions of the text, as new scholarship would inevitably emerge that would provide fresh understanding of the original languages and texts. Because of its unprecedented readability and precision, the NIV has become the world’s most-read modern-English Bible translation with over 450 million copies distributed worldwide.
[See our blogpost: Zondervan to Release NIV Zondervan Study Bible]
Today the NIV is supported by Bible commentaries, concordances, biblical language books, and other Bible study resources based on or keyed to the NIV translation. The above chart groups these reference works into the following categories:
- Inner Band: Resources for Beginning, Basic Bible Study
- Middle Band: Resources for Pastors, Bible Study Leaders, and Serious Bible Students
- Outer Band: Resources for Scholars, Pastors, and Bible Students working with the Biblical Languages
You’ll find all these resources in the Bible Gateway Store, where you’ll save money while supporting the ministry of Bible Gateway when making a purchase.
[Click to read The Truth About the NIV: Guest Post by Carl Moeller]
History of the NIV
Howard Long, an engineer from Seattle, was known for his passion for sharing the gospel and his love for the King James Bible. One day, he tried sharing Scripture with a non-Christian—only to find that the KJV’s 17th-century English didn’t connect.
In 1955, Long embarked on a ten-year quest for a new Bible translation that would faithfully capture the Word of God in contemporary English. Eventually his denomination, the Christian Reformed Church (CRC), and the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) embraced his vision for the NIV.
In 1965, a cross-denominational gathering of evangelical scholars met near Chicago and agreed to start work on a new, clearer translation of the Bible: the New International Version. Instead of just updating an existing translation like the KJV, they chose to start from scratch, using the very best manuscripts available in the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic of the Bible…. Read the rest of the NIV history in the Bible Gateway Store.
By the time the full New International Version of the Bible was released to the public on October 27, 1978, more than one million copies had already been preordered.
Those who had purchased the 1973 version of the NIV New Testament had eagerly awaited the publication of the full Bible, and the word was spreading in Christian circles about this new, contemporary English-language Bible. Retailers stocked their shelves, and everyone involved in producing the translation rejoiced, thankful that 13 years of effort was not in vain.
As the translation entered the market, it also gained popularity organically through the movement toward a more generic form of evangelicalism. Prior to the 1970s, churches were usually associated with a particular denomination—Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, etc. When the NIV was published, more churches were branding themselves as nondenominational or just evangelical. A faithful version of the Bible that wasn’t tied to a particular church, person or denomination was just what these churches needed…. Read the rest of this historical perspective on the NIV Bible website.
[Browse the Bible Gateway Store to see the many editions of New International Version Bibles.]
[Download the free Bible Gateway App, on which is available the NIV and many other Bible versions.]
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