The Evangelical Heritage Version

A brief review of Northwestern Publishing House’s Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV) Bible (ISBN 9780810028425). The EHV is a Lutheran translation. My hardback copy has text printed in a single column, formatted into paragraphs. The 10 point font is attractive and sharp, while the line spacing is more than adequate. On the other hand, the ink appears dark gray rather than black, and the text is not line-matched. But the soft, wavy paper is perhaps the worst aspect of this edition. The Deuterocanonical books are not included. The words of Christ are NOT in red. Pronouns that refer to the Divine Persons are not capitalized. Headings are placed in the text, and some of these direct the reader to parallel passages. In this review, I read four short selections to give you a sense for the character and style of the EHV.

Detailed contents

00:00 Details (dimensions, margins, layout, font, paper quality …) – three charts
00:32 Size compared to three other single-column Bibles (an ESV single column, a 1973 NASB, and a recent NKJV)
01:30 Page layout
01:53 Page dimensions
02:05 The print is crisp but seems dark gray rather than black
02:17 The text is not line matched
03:15 The font in the text, and line spacing
04:15 Old Testament passages quoted in the New Testament are not in a special format
04:52 Pronouns that refer to the Divine Persons are not capitalized (a choice I agree with)
05:12 Notice that the words of Christ are in black ink
05:20 The notes at the bottom of the page
05:47 Paper qualities (this is a waxy paper)
06:32 Show-through (ghosting)
07: 33 Headings in the text -- with parallel passages
08:00 Books of the Bible begin on a separate page
08:55 The red and yellow head and tail bands
09:05 An illustration of Ezekiel’s temple
09:30 The binding is sewn, and the Bible lies flat
10:10 The text does drop off into the gutter toward the middle of the book, but the gradient is gentle
11:01 The copyright page
11:44 The table of contents – the Deuterocanonical books are not included
12:09 The introduction
13:45 The appendices (which are placed in front), and the EHV’s textual basis
15:20 A close-up look at the font, and font comparisons
17:26 Damage (in my copy) to the edges of a section of pages
17:58 A reading from Genesis 11
19:13 A reading from Psalm 22
20:33 A reading from Matthew chapter 6 (The Lord’s Prayer)
21:48 Luke chapter 2 (the birth narrative)
23:49 Summary

[gbantock]

Wow! Thanks for reviewing this! I am a Lutheran, so this version is of considerable interest to me.

[alanpruett]

I have the New Testament and Psalms in this translation. I like it. Very readable. I prefer it to the NIV.

[MAMoreno]

From my limited experience with the translation, it reads well and doesn't have any major flaws compared to other major translations, but it also has little to give it an edge over the other choices. It's just kinda there. At a certain point, I just start to wish that I could grab the few little quirks I like from each of these formal equivalence translations and assemble them together into one text, but then I recognize that such a mindset is exactly what leads to the publication of works such as the EHV.

[gbantock]

It is good for viewers to know that to have this Bible version in book form, one best orders it from Northwestern Publishing directly; Amazon only offers it in Kindle form.

[ericjustasinner]

I just got this bible hard to find. I hope I will look like it much

[colonyofcells]

I wonder if there will be an ehv study bible.

[JeremyBelter]

I have the online study Bible in this translation. It is a blessing for me. @R Grant Jones you say the "Deuterocanonical books are not included" The reasoning is because many Christians do not consider them inspired.

[thechannelofrandomness]

In Genius it say animal skins besides fig leaves

[gbantock]

Regarding the Apocrypha, the Lutheran Church WIsconsin Synod is a "less catholic" synod than the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. It therefore gives short shrift to the Apocrypha. The L.C.M.S., on the other hand, has published one of the most elaborated annotated Apocrypha editions (in the E.S.V.) that you ever are likely to find, available separately from the rest of the Bible. The ELCA pays heed, also, to the Apocrypha. The WELS, though, sort of pretends that it is not there (well, not quite, but relatively speaking).

[barryjtaft]

Did Jesus fall from Heaven?
Isaiah 14:12
• CSB Shining morning star, how you have fallen from the heavens! You destroyer of nations, you have been cut down to the ground.
• KJV How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Jesus is the bright and morning star.
Revelation 22:16
• I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.