The 2011 NIV makes several noteworthy improvements over the 1984 NIV and the 2005 TNIV,
including 933 improvements in accuracy in translating gender language in places where CBMW
had criticized the TNIV in 2002 and 2005. And the entire translation process was carried on in a
commendable spirit of transparency and openness, for which Zondervan and the NIV‘s
Committee on Bible Translation are to be appreciated.
However, the 2011 NIV was based not on the current NIV (1984) but on the TNIV (2005). The
2011 NIV retains 2,766 (or 75%) of the TNIV‘s problematic gender-related translations that led
CBMW, and eventually the larger evangelical world, to reject the TNIV in 2002 and 2005. We
still consider these 2,766 examples to be inaccurate translations of terms that have male meaning
in the original Hebrew or Greek, male meaning that is lost in this new NIV. Therefore, this
translation cannot be considered sufficiently trustworthy in its translation of gender language or
in its translation of singular and plural pronouns generally. We consider this too high a price to
pay for attaining gender-inclusiveness in a translation.
In addition, the 2011 NIV changes some key verses on women‘s role in the church so that they
favor an evangelical feminist position, especially in translating 1 Timothy 2:12 in a way that
differs with all other commonly-used modern English translations and that gives women a wide
open door to serve as pastors and elders in churches, contrary to the actual teaching of the New
Testament.
We regret, therefore, that we cannot recommend the 2011 NIV as a sufficiently reliable English
translation. And unless Zondervan changes its mind and keeps the current edition of the 1984
NIV in print, the 2011 NIV will soon be the only edition of the NIV that is available. Therefore,
unless Zondervan changes its mind, we cannot recommend the NIV itself.