Preface
The goal of the New International Version ( NIV ) is to enable English-speaking people from around the world to read and hear God ’ s eternal Word in their own language . Our work as translators is motivated by our conviction that the Bible is God ’ s Word in written form . We believe that the Bible contains the divine answer to the deepest needs of humanity , sheds unique light on our path in a dark world and sets forth the way to our eternal well-being . Out of these deep convictions , we have sought to recreate as far as possible the experience of the original audience — blending transparency to the original text with accessibility for the millions of English speakers around the world . We have prioritized accuracy , clarity and literary quality with the goal of creating a translation suitable for public and private reading , evangelism , teaching , preaching , memorizing and liturgical use . We have also sought to preserve a measure of continuity with the long tradition of translating the Scriptures into English .
The complete NIV Bible was first published in 1978 . It was a completely new translation made by over a hundred scholars working directly from the best available Hebrew , Aramaic and Greek texts . The translators came from the United States , Great Britain , Canada , Australia and New Zealand , giving the translation an international scope . They were from many denominations and churches — including Anglican , Assemblies of God , Baptist , Brethren , Christian Reformed , Church of Christ , Evangelical Covenant , Evangelical Free , Lutheran , Mennonite , Methodist , Nazarene , Presbyterian , Wesleyan and others . This breadth of denominational and theological perspective helped to safeguard the translation from sectarian bias . For these reasons , and by the grace of God , the NIV has gained a wide readership in all parts of the English-speaking world .
The work of translating the Bible is never finished . As good as they are , English translations must be regularly updated so that they will continue to communicate accurately the meaning of God ’ s Word . Updates are needed in order to reflect the latest developments in our understanding of the biblical world and its languages and to keep pace with changes in English usage . Recognizing , then , that the NIV would retain its ability to communicate God ’ s Word accurately only if it were regularly updated , the original translators established the Committee on Bible Translation ( CBT ). The Committee is a self-perpetuating group of biblical scholars charged with keeping abreast of advances in biblical scholarship and changes in English and issuing periodic updates to the NIV . The CBT is an independent , self-governing body and has sole responsibility for the NIV text . The Committee mirrors the original group of translators in its diverse international and denominational makeup and in its unifying commitment to the Bible as God ’ s inspired Word .
In obedience to its mandate , the Committee has issued periodic updates to the NIV . An initial revision was released in 1984 . A more thorough revision process was completed in 2005 , resulting in the separately published TNIV . The updated NIV you now have in your hands builds on both the original NIV and the TNIV and represents the latest effort of the Committee to articulate God ’ s unchanging Word in the way the original authors might have said it had they been speaking in English to the global English-speaking audience today .
TRANSLATION PHILOSOPHY
The Committee ’ s translating work has been governed by three widely accepted principles about the way people use words and about the way we understand them .