Podcast Episode 79
The American Standard Version Bible
with Dr. Mark Ward & host Nick Walters
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For nearly three centuries after its publication in 1611, the King James Version dominated the English-speaking Protestant world. Its words shaped preaching, worship, literature, and the way generations of Christians memorized Scripture. By the nineteenth century, however, discoveries of additional biblical manuscripts and advances in the study of Hebrew and Greek led scholars to reconsider whether the familiar King James text should be revised.
British scholars produced the English Revised Version of the New Testament in 1881 and the Old Testament in 1885. American scholars participated in the project but disagreed with their British counterparts over a number of translation decisions. Their preferred readings were initially published in appendices, with an agreement preventing the Americans from issuing a competing revision for fourteen years. Once that period expired, the American committee prepared its own edition.
In 1901, Thomas Nelson & Sons published the American Standard Version.
The ASV represented an important turning point in the history of the English Bible. Its translators emphasized close adherence to the Hebrew and Greek texts, sometimes choosing precision over the literary elegance associated with the King James Version. One of its most recognizable features was its extensive use of “Jehovah” for the divine name in the Old Testament.
The arrival of another major Protestant English Bible also raised questions that remain familiar today. Should Christians replace beloved and familiar biblical language when translators believe another rendering is more accurate? Which Greek and Hebrew manuscripts should carry the most weight? How should translators balance literal accuracy with understandable English? And does replacing the King James Version represent an improvement in translation or an abandonment of a trusted Christian tradition?
Those debates would become increasingly significant as additional translations appeared during the twentieth century. The ASV itself became an important ancestor of later translations, particularly the Revised Standard Version and New American Standard Bible. Long before the modern King James Only movement emerged as a recognizable movement, the publication of the ASV demonstrated that moving beyond the King James Bible could generate serious discussion among English-speaking Christians.
Helping place that controversy in historical and linguistic context is Dr. Mark Ward, a scholar of biblical language who has become a prominent Christian educator on Bible translation. Ward holds a Ph.D. in New Testament Interpretation from Bob Jones University and is the author of Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible. Through his Ward on Words YouTube channel and his work at By Faith We Understand, Ward examines the King James Version, modern Bible translations, textual criticism, biblical languages, and the ways changes in English can affect how modern readers understand older translations.
Also this week in Christian history:
The Execution of Elizabeth Vander Kerk
Long before the Salem witch trials became synonymous with colonial accusations of witchcraft, similar prosecutions occurred elsewhere in the European world. Elizabeth Vander Kerk was executed after being accused of witchcraft, reflecting a period when civil and religious assumptions about supernatural evil frequently overlapped. Authorities could treat witchcraft not merely as religious error or superstition but as a criminal offense deserving severe punishment. Her execution provides another window into the larger history of witchcraft accusations and the complicated relationship between Christianity, popular belief, and civil law in the early modern period.
The Beheading of John the Baptist
John the Baptist’s confrontation with Herod Antipas became one of the earliest and most memorable accounts of martyrdom associated with the Christian story. According to the Gospels, John condemned Herod’s marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and was imprisoned. At Herod’s birthday banquet, Herodias’s daughter danced before the ruler and his guests. After Herod promised to grant her request, she asked at her mother’s direction for the head of John the Baptist. Herod ordered John beheaded, and his head was brought on a platter. Christian tradition commemorates the martyrdom of John the Baptist on August 29.
Image Credit:
Title page of the American Standard Version Bible, published by Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. Public domain. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons (digitized from the Internet Archive).