RSV
Word-for-WordTranslation profile
Revised Standard Version
RSV
How it translates, how hard it is to read, where it came from, and what makes it distinctive.
Now showing Guided. How it translates, how hard it is to read, where it came from, and what makes it distinctive.
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The short version
RSV stays closer to the wording and structure of the original languages.
These sentences use the listed method, reading-grade, lineage, and notable-facts fields. They are not a ranking.
Translation approach
RSV stays closer to the wording and structure of the original languages. This guide lists this as Word-for-Word.
Reading difficulty
More complex sentence structure. This guide lists grade 10.
What makes it distinctive
Received some criticism because translators followed the Hebrew (Masoretic) Text and used the concrete term young woman instead of virgin (Isa.
Lineage / history
This guide lists earlier English work: American Standard Version.
How it translates
Translation approach: . RSV stays closer to the wording and structure of the original languages.
Scholars translate each word based upon the word usage at the time of the writing. No translation is actually “word for word,” but the intent is to come as close as possible. This method is also called formal equivalence.
Reading level
More complex sentence structure. This guide lists grade 10. Reading level does not measure accuracy.
Where it came from
: American Standard Version
First listed 1952, NT updated in 1971.
Text and source listings
Old Testament: , ,
New Testament: Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece
What makes it distinctive
A translation’s story
Why this translation exists
1
Before it
American Standard Version → RSV → Revised Standard Version · Revised Standard Version (1971 edition)
American Standard Version
2
Why it was created
Revision of the ASV. To preserve the best of the Tyndale-King James Bible heritage; to put the Bible's message in simple, enduring words.
3
How it translates
Word-for-Word. Scholars translate each word based upon the word usage at the time of the writing. No translation is actually “word for word,” but the intent is to come as close as possible. This method is also called formal equivalence.
4
Where it sits
Word-for-Word · Grade 10 · First released 1952 (Historical English).
See it in action
Compare with translations that offer a useful contrast — not a ranking.
ASV
Related English lineage
GNT
Different translation approach
NIrV
Different reading grade
Sample verses
And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.