(CP) The English Standard Version (ESV) Bible is undergoing its first text update in nearly a decade, with revisions to 36 passages across 42 verses, the ESV Translation Oversight Committee announced.
The changes, aimed toward improving accuracy and clarity, shall be rolled out step by step over the following two years, the committee revealed in an update Monday.
The TOC, a standing committee of the Crossway Board of Directors, oversees the ESV’s publication and ensures its faithfulness to the unique biblical texts. The latest update involves 68 word changes, roughly one per 11,000 words of the interpretation, together with modifications to 57 footnotes and punctuation adjustments in 14 verses.
“Given that greater than 540 editions of the ESV are currently in print worldwide, the rollout of the text update will take nearly two years to finish,” the committee said. “The first copies of the brand new ESV text editions shall be released within the spring of 2025, and, Lord willing, just about all of them shall be published by the autumn of 2026.”
One of probably the most significant changes involves Genesis 3:16, a verse that has been widely discussed amongst theologians. The ESV’s 2016 edition translated the Hebrew preposition el as “contrary to,” rendering the verse:
“Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
In the 2025 revision, the verse will revert to its 2001 translation:
“Your desire shall be on your husband, and he shall rule over you.”
The revision aligns the interpretation with historic English Bible versions comparable to the Revised Standard Version (RSV), New American Standard Bible (NASB) and New King James Version (NKJV), the TOC said
“The interpretive options can now be seen in the choice renderings provided within the footnotes: ‘Or to, or toward, or against,'” the committee said. “The conjunction ‘but’ has been modified to ‘and’ in Genesis 3:16 and 4:7 in order to not impose a contrast that shouldn’t be explicit within the Hebrew text.”
J.I. Packer, the late general editor of the ESV, often emphasized the importance of preserving interpretive options for readers. The TOC reiterated his guidance:
“We respect readers after we pass along to them the job of interpretive work, not going beyond what the linguistic details require and never foreclosing the interpretive options.”
Another notable change appears in John 1:18, where the phrase “the one God” has been revised to “God the one Son.” The TOC contends the update reflects the Greek terms “theos” and “monogenēs” and maintains consistency with John 1:14.
The updated footnote acknowledges manuscript variations, providing alternative readings comparable to “the one God who” and “the one Son.”
Other changes include:
- Genesis 2:14: Clarifies that the third river, the Tigris, flows east of Assyria with a footnote stating “Or Asshur.”
- Genesis 6:14: Provides additional clarity in regards to the term “gopher wood,” stating, “Transliterated from Hebrew; the identity of this tree is uncertain.”
- Exodus 20:11: Now reads, “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth” as a substitute of “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth.”
- Deuteronomy 32:17: Adjusts “They sacrificed to demons that were no gods” to “They sacrificed to demons that weren’t God.”
While Crossway doesn’t plan frequent text updates, the TOC said the ESV stays open to revisions when latest archaeological, linguistic or textual discoveries provide higher clarity.
“With this purpose in mind, we’re committed to maintaining a faithful, stable, and standard ESV Bible text that may meet the reading, memorizing, preaching, and liturgical needs of Christians worldwide,” the committee said.
Since its first publication in 2001, greater than 315 million copies of the ESV have been distributed, with many given away through ministry partnerships.
“We know that no Bible translation is ideal, but we also know that God uses imperfect and inadequate things to his honor and praise,” the TOC concluded, quoting from the ESV preface.
“So to our triune God and to his people, we provide what we’ve done, with our prayers that it might prove useful, with gratitude for much help given, and with ongoing wonder that our God should ever have entrusted to us so momentous a task. To God alone be the glory!”
TOC editors modified the previous translation of Genesis 3:16 to “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you” in 2016, drawing criticism from some, including Northern Seminary New Testament professor Scot McKnight.
At the time, McKnight told CP that the word changes had “profoundly negative implications.”
“This latest translation of Genesis 3:16 suggests the curse against the girl is an act of God (a curse) that seals estrangement, alienation and tension between females and males,” he said. “By so rendering this verse, the ESV creates the impression that females and males are contrarians with each other.”
“Some think they make women rebellious and men authoritarian in response. That is a tragic and potentially dangerous interpretation for it gives the incorrect form of males a ready-made excuse for domination,” he added.
Edits made to the 2025 English Standard Version Bible will be found here.
