The Gideon ESV

Over ten years ago, the Gideons in essence created a new Bible version. I guess I am just now catching up. The Gideons International, more commonly simply called Gideons, is a parachurch organization made up of Christian business & professional men and their wives, They are best known for freely distributing Bibles. In 2013 they made an unusual decision, to distribute a hybrid edition of the English Standard Version (ESV). The ESV, first published by Crossway in 2001, is a revision of the Revised Standard Version.

Originally the Gideons distributed King James Bibles, but at some year unknown to me, they began to distribute the New King James Version. After HarperCollins acquired Thomas Nelson, the publishers of the NKJV, apparently the Gideons were unable to negotiate a satisfactory licensing agreement with them. This is when they negotiated with Crossway and changed to the ESV. (I believe they may still distribute the KJV as well.)

Excerpts from “About This Bible” in the Gideons ESV.

“This edition of The Holy Bible is distributed free of charge throughout the world by The Gideons International. …

“The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ® (ESV ®) is copyright © Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, Illinois, 60187, USA. …

“At the request of The Gideons—and in appreciation for their worldwide, century-plus distribution of more than 1.8 million Bibles—Crossway is pleased to license the ESV Bible text to the Gideons, and to grant permission to The Gideons to include certain alternative readings based on the Textus Receptus, for exclusive free distribution of a Gideons edition, as follows: Bible translations of the New Testament into English and other languages are almost exclusively based on either (1) the Greek Textus Receptus manuscript tradition (which was the basis for the 1611 translation of the KJV Bible), or (b) the Greek NA-UBS manuscript corpus (which is the basis for almost all Bible translations completed since the late 1800s). In some places in the New Testament of the ESV Gideons edition, as printed and distributed exclusively under license to The Gideons International, the Gideons edition follows the Textus Receptus manuscript tradition, which corresponds in the vast majority of instances to the corpus of the New Testament Greek manuscripts known among scholars today as the Majority Text.”

Textual changes demonstrated.

Apparently the only textual changes in the ESV Gideons Bible are in the New Testament. Joshua Holman has studied the changes and published “Gideon changes to the English Standard Version New Testament.”

Promotional puffery.

Crossway includes this edition of the ESV as part of their promotional material. For example:

“More than two billion Bibles and New Testaments have been distributed in two hundred countries, territories, and possessions across the globe. The ESV Bible text is the primary English text used by The Gideons International for their printed Bibles and New Testaments.”

Final thoughts.

All told, the Gideons ESV is a very strange mash-up of a Bible. Eternity magazine reported in 2014:

“The Gideon’s new ESV translation is a unique edition produced with permission from Crossway Publishing. It includes over 50 alternate readings consistent with the Textus Receptus, the Greek text that formed the basis of the translations for the King James Bible.”

Lack of consistency.

It certainly is unique! The Gideons and Crossway have created a Bible that does not follow the Traditional Text, the Critical Text, or the Majority Text. The theoretical underlying Greek in fact does not exist. Though it restores some traditional text readings, it does not consistently reintroduce TR readings that are missing in the ESV.

Lack of cooperation.

The Gideons ESV creates a Bible that does not exist outside of their organization. It hands readers a Bible that they cannot obtain elsewhere. In this they separate from all existing Bibles used in Christian churches, and create an exclusive version of their own making. This promotes confusion to its readers.

Lack of conviction.

The Gideons ESV demonstrates a lack of conviction – on both the part of the Crossway and the Gideons. If Crossway had a conviction that Bibles should be translated from the Critical Text, they should stand by the courage of their convictions. If the Gideons had a conviction about the Traditional Text, they should not settle for a hodge-podge Critical/Traditional text.

Though I do not prefer or promote interdenominational parachurch organizations, I have generally thought well of the Gideons in their doing the work of distributing Bibles widely. This Gideons ESV, however, is a bad decision from every angle.