Author Description

The Revised Standard Version of the New Testament purported to be a revision of the American Standard Version, although very little of the ASV remains in the RSV. The Greek text usually followed was the 17th edition (1941) of the Nestle text. The American Standard Version excelled in literal accuracy, but the RSV tended to be more free in its renderings. As F.F. Bruce puts it, the RSV translators "blurred some of the finer distinctions in New Testament wording which... have some significance for those who are concerned with the more accurate interpretation of the text." Nevertheless, the RSV New Testament was well received by American churches, including the evangelical ones, when it first appeared. But the Old Testament (1952) provoked a storm of controversy, and killed the version's chances of becoming a generally accepted standard Bible in America. Bruce Manning Metzger (9 February, 1914, Middletown, Pennsylvania – 13 February, 2007, Princeton, New Jersey) was a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and Bible editor who served on the board of the American Bible Society. He was a scholar of Greek, New Testament and Old Testament, and wrote prolifically on these subjects.