About the New Japanese Bible (Shin-Kaiyaku)
About the New Japanese Bible (Shin-Kaiyaku)
The New Japanese Bible (NJB) is a translation of the bible in contemporary Japanese.The NJB originated from the call among Japanese evangelical church leaders for a Bible suitable for modern day evangelical believers. The call stemmed from a dissatisfaction with previously available Japanese Bible translations, which were either outdated, or based on principles which are questionable in the eyes of those who believe in Biblical inspiration. In answer to this the call, a translation organization with evangelical translation principles was established in 1961.
The first edition of the translation was completed in 1970. Since then, the NJB has undergone a series of revisions. Editions with minor revisions were released in 1978 (the 2nd edition) and 2003 (the 3rd edition). The current edition, which involved major revisions, was released in 2017 (the 2017 edition). It is the mission of the Organization for the New Japanese Bible Translation to continue revising its translation, and for this purpose, it continues to use its resources to enable improvements.
Since its release, the NJB has sold over a million copies, and has gained wide acceptance among numerous denominations for its faithfulness to the original text. Readers of the NJB extend beyond the religious, even to non-religious individuals, fulfilling the mission of our organization, to provide a highly readable, faithful Bible translation for all contemporary Japanese speakers.
A notable feature of the NJB is that its Japanese is closer to “spoken Japanese” than to “written (formal) Japanese,” making it well suited for use in audio format, as well as in written format. Accordingly, the NJB is used today in audios, videos, apps, and other media by a variety of organizations around the world.
The Organization for the NJB established the following principles for its translation and continues to follow them in the revisions.
1. Reverence for the Word of God
We confess that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant word of God.
2. Committee Translation
In order to prevent the theological beliefs of any one individual from skewing the translation, it is to be conducted by a translation committee which places a strong emphasis on linguistic acumen,
3. Faithfulness to the Original Text
We aim to be faithful the original text without resorting to facilely emending the original text.
4. Literary Genre
We seek to produce a readable text within the confines of the original literary genres, without resorting to free translation which overemphasizes understandability in the Japanese language to the detriment of fidelity to the original text. Biblical genres include history, law, prophecy, songs, poetry, proverbs, and epistles.
5. Understandable to the Contemporary Generation
The Japanese language used in the translation is to be suited to the present generation.
6. Continual Revisions
The NJB is to be revised continually in accordance with changes in the Japanese language, as well as in accordance with progress in Biblical studies.
For information concerning printed editions of our Bible, we refer you to the website of the Word of Life Press Ministries, the publishers of our Bibles. However, all rights to the NJB are reserved by the Organization for the New Japanese Bible Translation, not the publishers.
Please refer to the information below concerning use of the NJB.
The following copyright notice must appear where appropriate:
New Japanese Bible
Copyright ©️ 1970, 2003, 2017 by the Organization for the New Japanese Bible Translation
All rights reserved
The NJB may be used without permission for uses permitted in Japanese copyright law, including personal use, quoting in works of research, and quoting in journalism. For use in Japanese language worship services and Japanese language websites, please consult our Japanese page (https://new.seisho.or.jp/s2017/quotation-policy/).
For permission concerning use in things such as, but not limited to, apps, publications of books, and brochures please contact us at support@seisho.or.jp