ESV Info-Review | BibleSanity.org

About...

The Gospel

Biblical Inerrancy

Natural Interpretation

You are Here: BibleSanity.org >> Bible Versions >> Info and Review - English Standard Version

English Standard Version (ESV)

Information and Review

The English Standard Version (ESV)

The ESV (2001) is a Crossway publication which is "essentially literal," seems to be of the hightest quality. According to Crossway, 2025, most copies are given away through ministry parters, with over 2.5 million copies have been sold and 1,255 million copies have been printed and distributed from 2015-2025.

Text Used

This is a Critical Text translation using Kittel's Biblia Hebraica for the Old Testament, and Eberhard Nestle's Novum Testamentum Graece for the New Testament, with the special Gideon's edition utilizing some TR readings (see below).

Gender-Accurate

The ESV Bible uses the original gender in many places and is otherwise gender-accurate, with compliance to the Colorado Springs Guidelines tested to be 100% (17 rules or rule parts, 30 test verses). My gender-translation checks are based on the 2025 edition.

Inclusion/Exclusion of MT Passages

The three main texts which are supported by Majority Texts, but ommited by some Critical Text Bibles are John 5:4 (pool of Bethesda), which the ESV omits but includes in a footnote, John 7:53-8:11 (woman taken in adultery), which the ESV includes in brackets, and the end of Mark, which the ESV includes in brackets.
For 1 John 5:7-8, the ESV follows the Majority Text/Critical Text reading, vs. the TR reading. ESV edition checked was the 2025 revision.

Publications and Variants

It was first published in 2001, used the Revised Standard Version (1971) as initital text, and has utilized the NET Bible translation notes. It has been revised in 2007, 20011, 2016, and 2025.

Publication varients include Anglican spellings (2002, 2019), a Gideons edition with licensed modification to use alternate TR readings, which were used for more than 50 passages (2013), and a Catholic version with deuterocanonical books and Catholic revisions based on the Vatican's Liturgiam authenticam (2018).

I have personally examined one of the Gideons editions in a hotel room - the license page was interesting (I took a picture for future reference), but mostly I wanted to see the KJV passages in the ESV Bible. I flipped to the end of Mark and saw the KJV seamlessly integrated with no brackets or notes, using the same modern English as the ESV. Nicely done.

Literacy before Literal?

ESV.org describes it's version as an "essentially literal translation of the Bible in contemporary English," and "emphasizes 'word-for-word' accuracy, literary excellence, and depth of meaning," and is also published at an 8th grade reading level. This sounds too good to be true - without my own exerience with the Bible, I would come away doubtful, but it is really done quite well, though it is slightly less literal than some translations.

My Personal Experience with the ESV

For a handful of years or so, my pastor and another elder both used the ESV, and so I became familiar with how their versions read compared to my NASB 1995 ed, and I have to say that I have found it slightly too interpretive for my taste. Sadly, I don't remember any particulars to use for examples, but I remember doing a few resultant Greek word checks and coming away satisfied. My own copy is the 2011 version, but I just never got comfortable enough with it to use it for services or daily readings. When I purchased the Bible I did several particular checks for test passages and found no suprises or anything noteworthy. I am very comfortable with the ESV as a very good literal version to recommend, it's just not my choice for my own personal use.