International Standard Version


The International Standard Version or ISV is a new English translation of the Bible for which translation was complete and published electronically in 2011. Hardback and paperback editions of the complete translation are expected in 2019.
The texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls have been used to provide a textual apparatus for understanding the Old Testament.
Although the version is copyrighted, the ISV Foundation has made digital versions of the Bible available freely in some formats such as e-Sword and mysword applications for mobile phones.

The project

The ISV New Testament was released on 10 April 1998, and the complete Bible made available in 2011. Release 2.0 is available in digital form with complete bound volumes expected in 2019.

Literary attributes

Translation

The translation aims to be central between a literal translation and an idiomatic translation, a philosophy the ISV translation team call "literal-idiomatic". A distinctive feature of the ISV is that biblical poetry is translated into English metrical rhyme.

Release numbers

The Holy Bible: International Standard Version is being produced with identifying release numbers and build sequence identifiers so as to provide tracking of improvements and additions to the text. The current release is Release 2.0. According to the ISV foundation website, a 3.0 build is not expected to be completed until 2021 at the earliest.

Dead Sea Scrolls Project

In late 2007, the ISV Foundation of Paramount, California, announced commencement of a collaborative effort with Dr. Peter Flint, Canada Research Chair in Dead Sea Scrolls Studies of Trinity Western University to produce a comprehensive set of footnotes for the International Standard Version documenting the variants between the biblical manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls and that of the Massoretic Text of the Hebrew Scriptures. In early May 2008, the ISV Foundation reached a preliminary agreement by which scholars associated with Dr. Flint and his colleague Dr. Eugene Ulrich would produce footnotes for the ISV concerning approximately 90 variants between the DSS and the MT contained in the Psalms and Proverbs. The ISV Bible intends to release an edition of the Psalms and Proverbs containing the variants in mid-2008.