WESTMONT, IL— Scot McKnight, renowned scholar, speaker, and award-winning author, has inked a book contract with IVP Academic for a fresh translation of the New Testament.
Tentatively titled The Second Testament, this volume follows on the heels of John Goldingay’s The First Testament: A New Translation, published by IVP earlier this year.
“From the moment I began reading The First Testament, I knew that John Goldingay was onto something that was going to change the way that I engaged with the Bible forever,” said Justin Paul Lawrence, director of sales for IVP. “I also knew that we needed a New Testament companion that had the same approach. I am so happy that one of my favorite NT scholars Scot McKnight has agreed to help us complete this important set. I can’t wait to delight readers with the complete set.”
The Second Testament aims to provide the careful reader with a closer experience to the original Greek texts, mirroring the work of Goldingay in The First Testament, and keeping in kind with the sounds and styles of the era in which it was originally written.
McKnight, who is a longtime member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Society for New Testament Studies, saw an opportunity to create a fresh translation that would work alongside Goldingay’s. McKnight has closely followed the last three decades of Goldingay’s translations and interpretations and was eager to dig in to The First Testament when it was released in September of 2018.
“Readers of the Bible need a variety of translations,” said McKnight. “Most translations are shaped to speak to English readers, and the translation is pitched at a level that makes the translation understandable to the most possible readers. In so doing the Bible can become so ‘English-y’ that it no longer sounds like it comes from a different era and from non-English writers. The Second Testament complements translations available today by offering one that sounds less like English and more like the native Greek of the ‘second’ (New) Testament authors, and will also provide insights into the unique style and vocabulary of each author of The Second Testament. I am so excited to complement the stimulating and engaging translation of The First Testament by John Goldingay. I will attempt to bring out the new and the old of Goldingay’s approach to translation.”
McKnight is the author or editor of sixty books, and he is the Julius R. Mantey Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL. McKnight obtained his PhD at the University of Nottingham and has been a professor for more than three decades, serving at North Park University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. McKnight’s praised book The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others (Paraclete, 2004) won the Christianity Today Book of the Year award for Christian living. He is also an editor for IVP Academic’s forthcoming revision of the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, set to be published in 2022.
In The Second Testament, McKnight plans to follow Goldingay’s translation principles while adjusting to the language shift to Greek from Hebrew and Aramaic. Additionally, he will provide brief introductions to each book, similar to those in The First Testament. McKnight also would like to bring the New Testament authors’ unique voices to life by highlighting their own syntaxes and styles.
“Any book project is an honor to undertake, but it’s an especially thrilling opportunity—and sobering responsibility—to set out upon a new translation of divine Scripture,” said Jon Boyd, editorial director for IVP Academic. “We’re conscious of the privilege of working so closely with these truly unique texts. This is a project that will call upon our best efforts and attention at every stage of the publishing craft, a challenge we relish and one that prompts our humble prayers.”
This new Bible translation will be added to IVP Academic’s already robust line of reference works and monographs. The Second Testament is expected to release in the spring of 2021 with marketing efforts focused on the annual gatherings of the Evangelical Theological Society, the Institute for Biblical Research, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the American Academy of Religion that fall.
Founded in 1947 as an extension of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, InterVarsity Press serves those in the university, the church, and the world by publishing thoughtful Christian books that equip and encourage people to follow Jesus as Savior and Lord in all of life. For more information, visit ivpress.com.
Contact: Alisse Wissman | 630.734.4059 | awissman@ivpress.com
