Abbreviation BV | Complete Bible published 1959 | |
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Full name The Berkeley Version in Modern English Copyright Copyright by Zondervan Publishing House Similar Modern Language Bible, Moffatt - New Translation, New English Bible, Revised English Bible, Sacred Scriptures Bethel Ed | ||
The Berkeley Version of the New Testament is an English translation published by Zondervan in 1945. This "New Berkeley Version in Modern English" was later expanded to include the entire Bible, published in 1959 as the Modern Language Bible.
The stated aim of this version was to achieve plain, up-to-date expression which reflects as directly as possible the meaning of the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. This revision was very extensive, while not being a retranslation. Explanatory notes were revised as well as added. Topical headings were rephrased.
According to editor-in-chief Gerrit Verkuyl: "The conviction that God wants His truth conveyed to His offspring in the language in which they think and live led me to produce the Berkeley Version (BV) of the New Testament. For I grew increasingly aware that the King James Version (AV) is only, in part, the language of our people."