NL: Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling (New Bible Translation - NBV) designated for use in worship

Counter proposal

The reporting committee was very critical towards the proposal of the synod board and advised not to designate the translation for use in worship. Elder Mrs. Hiebsch emphasized that the committee’s point of view was not about repetition of moves or a reprise of the discussion of the principles of translation. However, the committee questioned the quality of the bible translation and suggested in a counter proposal to wait for the revision of the NBV before designating it as one of the translations for worship.

The counter proposal of Rev. Van Nieuwpoort, delegate of the classical assembly of Amsterdam, was similar. He was of the opinion that releasing the NBV for worship would be ‘an irresponsible decision and unworthy of our church.’ He characterized the NBV as a very liberal translation which brings readers in a stage of tutelage. He as well proposed to wait for the revision of the NBV.

Missionary translation

Elder Van Dijk, delegate of the classical assembly Rotterdam I, supported whole-heartedly the release of the NBV as translation for use in worship. He thought that this translation could render great service to the missionary situation of the church. Therefore he presented an amendment, in which the relation with the missionary calling of the church was made, which asks for a contemporary and accessible translation.

Advantages and disadvantages

In the ongoing discussion on the synod various points of view were further elaborated. Also experiences with regard to use were addressed.

On behalf of the synod board  the secretary brought the discussion to an end. He advised the synod against postponing the decision on the NBV until the revision to be held by the Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap (NBG). This revision will not be of such a radical order that it will drastically change the NBV. Therefore suspension of the decision will not be necessary according to the secretary. Further the secretary promised to pass the collected reactions on to the Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap. On the proposal of elder Van Dijk the fore-carriage  of the synod board was extended with the assignment to the Ministry of Services to make a record of the various translations and their specific characteristics, provided with a brief assistance for the discussion in the congregations.

Finally the synod decided, with 16 votes against, to agree with the proposal of the synod board and to release the NBV for use in worship. The amendment of elder Van Dijk was accepted.

Revised Statenvertaling (Staten Bible)

Several questions were asked in the synod about the status of the revised Statenvertaling. On behalf of the synod board the secretary reported that the view is taken that the revision of the Statenvertaling is not of such an order that this results in a completely new translation. Therefore the revision is within the release which was already given for the Statenvertaling.