There are many English translations of the Bible. What are the advantages of using the Legacy Standard Bible and New American Bible?

The Legacy Standard Bible (LSB), and the New American Bible (NAB) are  very helpful translations for a number of reasons. They both adhere to a very high standard of accuracy in their rendering of the Hebrew-Aramaic, and Greek scriptures into modern English, and combating Trinitarian bias that infects almost all Bible translations.

LEGACY STANDARD BIBLE

Accurate Renderings

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.” (Philippians 2:6 LSB).

“Yahweh” in the Old Testament

The LSB, first published in 2021, in most places, quite accurately translates the Hebrew-Aramaic, and Greek scriptures. In contrast to the vast majority of Bible translations that use the substitute generic “LORD” for “Yahweh”, what mainly sets it apart from other Bible translations is its correct use of the most accurate form of God’s name, Yahweh, 6,800 times in the OT, and the Inside Column Reference Edition also uses Yahweh in many marginal notes in the NT. The Foreward to the translation states why:

“Yahweh appears in the OT over 6,800 times . . . is substantiated by scholarly reconstruction . . . allows proper distinction between God’s personal name  and the title ‘Lord’ , which emphasizes God’s authority . . . helps the reader to engage God with the name which He gifted to His people . . . enhances the precision, intensity, and clarity of the biblical text in English”.

A notable example of the advantage of accurately translating  God’s name “Yahweh” can be seen from the following:

“The LORD says to my lord” (Psalm 110:1). There are two Lords mentioned in this verse. This is how the vast majority of translations render the verse, which is quite confusing to a new Bible reader, and is actually a deliberate mistranslation of the sacred “word of God” (2 Timothy 3:16; Revelation 22:18-19). 

“Yahweh says to my Lord” (Psalm 110:1 LSB). The LSB accurately renders God’s name Yahweh from the Hebrew into English, and doesn’t create any unnecessary confusion about who is who, as most translations do.

Yahweh in the New Testament

Matthew 22:41-45 – “Jesus asked them a question, saying, ‘What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?’ . . . ‘Then how does David by inspiration call Him “Lord”, saying, “Yahweh SAID TO MY LORD, SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET”?’ Therefore, if David calls him “Lord”, how is He his son?”‘” (LSB margin). The LSB uses “Yahweh” in its New Testament (NT) marginal notes for many of the Old Testament (OT) quotes.

“I WILL BE THEIR GOD . . . AND I WILL BE A FATHER TO YOU . . . SAYS YAHWEH ALMIGHTY” (2 Corinthians 6:16-18 LSB margin). Using “Yahweh” in these OT quotes is very helpful in identifying that Yahweh God Almighty is the Father.

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE

Accurate Renderings

Romans 9:5 – “Theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh is the Messiah. God whois over all be blessed forever. Amen” (NAB). The NAB explains the reason for its translation in its footnote on the verse: “Paul’s point is that God who is over all aimed to use Israel, which had been entrusted with every privilege, in outreach to the entire world through the Messiah.”

“Who, although he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness, and found human in appearance” (Philippians 2:6,7 NAB). “What the man Jesus refused to grasp at to attain divinity . . . Jesus, though . . . in the form of God (Gn 1:26-27) did not reach out for equality with God, in contrast with the first Adam in Gn 3:5-6”—NAB note 

“As we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of the great God and of our Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13 NAB).

The Holy Spirit Is An “It”

The NAB is very good in various areas of translation, such as those dealing with the holy Spirit, such as by rendering it as “holy Spirit”, and referring to it as “it” (John 1:32; 14:17; Acts 2:33; 8:16; 11:15; Romans 8:16,26,27; 1 Peter 1:11).

John 14:17 – “The Spirit of the truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees it nor knows it. But you know it because it remains in you and will be in you” (NAB). – As accurately translated here, the holy Spirit is called “it” three times in this scripture, because the holy Spirit is not a person. Persons are not called “it”. The reason the NAB uses “it” for the Spirit here is because of the Greek word: “While it has been customary to use masculine personal pronouns in English for the Advocate, the Greek word for ‘spirit’ is neuter” (NAB note on John 14:17).

Footnotes

The NAB has some footnotes that are very helpful, such as these:
“Was God: lack of a definite article with ‘God’ in Greek signifies predication rather than identification” (John 1:1).

“O God: the king, in courtly language, is called ‘god, i.e., more than human, representing God to the people” (Psalm 45:6).

Marginal Renderings

“Through the righteousness of our God and the savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1 NAB margin).

Jesus Was Not Worshipped 

The NAB is very accurate in rendering most of the scriptures commonly translated as though Jesus was worshipped. For example:

“On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they prostrated themselves and did  him homage”—Matthew 2:11 NAB

“Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, ‘Truly, you are the Son of God'”—Matthew 14:33 NAB

“Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage”—-Matthew 28:9 NAB

“When they saw him they worshipped, but they doubted”—-Matthew 28:17 NAB. Most translations insert “him” after “worshipped”, although “him” is not in the Greek text.

“They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy”—Luke 24:52 NAB

CONCLUSION

We have discussed some of the reasons why there are many advantages for English readers to use the Legacy Standard Bible and the New American Bible translations.