Translation

NASB95

The default translation of ris3n's Apologetics Codex. The 1995 update of The Lockman Foundation's New American Standard Bible, descended from the 1901 American Standard Version, itself a revision of the 1885 English Revised Version (UK), itself a revision of the 1611 KJV. Widely regarded as the most-literal widely-used English Bible. The Lockman Foundation released NASB 2020 as the next update, but the 1995 edition remains in print and is the codex's reference text for verse quotations.

History

Ancestry through the ASV

1611: KJV
1885: English Revised Version (UK)
1901: American Standard Version (US), the American counterpart to the ERV; widely respected in conservative-scholarly circles but never popular for devotional reading due to its strict literalism
1963: NASB NT
1971: NASB full Bible (first edition)
1977: minor update
1995: NASB95 (major update, modernized "thee/thou" to "you" for non-deity references; smoothed English flow; the canonical NASB for ~25 years)
2020: NASB 2020, Lockman's next update; controversial in some conservative circles for more inclusive language and modernized renderings, which catalyzed the LSB project at Master's Seminary

NASB95 remains in continuous print despite the 2020 update.

The Lockman Foundation

A 1942-founded nonprofit translation organization. Doctrinally evangelical, conservative, dispensational-leaning. The Foundation also produces the Amplified Bible (1965) and Spanish and other-language translations.

Translation principles

Lockman publishes its Fourfold Aim:

Be true to the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek
Be grammatically correct
Be understandable
Give the Lord Jesus Christ His proper place, capitalize personal pronouns referring to deity (He, Him, His)

Translators

NASB95 translation committee, ~20 evangelical Hebrew and Greek scholars working under Lockman Foundation editorial leadership. Lockman has historically kept translator identities relatively unpublicized compared to NIV/ESV. Theological tradition: conservative-evangelical, often dispensational, complementarian.

Textual basis

OT: Biblia Hebraica (Kittel) then BHS for later editions; Masoretic Text; DSS/LXX/Vulgate/Targums consulted in footnotes
NT: Nestle-Aland 26th/27th editions (NA26/27); critical eclectic text
Apocrypha: not included; standard Protestant 66-book canon
Footnoting: textual notes where MT/LXX/DSS readings diverge significantly

Translation philosophy

Formal equivalence taken to a higher degree than ESV; word-for-word where English allows; Hebrew/Greek word order preserved where it makes English sense. Italicized supplied words (continuing KJV/ASV convention). Bracketed where words are added for English clarity. Verse-by-verse formatting (one verse per paragraph in many editions), useful for study, less so for narrative flow.

Distinctive features:

Capitalization of personal pronouns referring to deity (He, Him, His, Whose), an interpretive choice not present in Hebrew or Greek
Old Testament Christological renderings sometimes retain Christian-tradition interpretations (e.g., capitalized "Son" in Psalm 2)
Greek verb tenses are rendered with attention to aspect (present participles, perfect tense distinctions) more aggressively than dynamic-equivalence translations

Strengths

Most-literal widely-used English Bible (alongside the LSB), invaluable for word-study, exegesis, sermon preparation
Tense and aspect precision, Greek participles and perfect tenses rendered with care
Italicized supplied words, readers can see translator additions
Consistent Hebrew/Greek-to-English lexical mapping, supports concordance work
Wide acceptance among evangelical conservatives, common in Bible colleges and seminaries
Strong study-Bible ecosystem, NASB Study Bible, MacArthur Study Bible (formerly NASB before LSB), Ryrie Study Bible
Lockman copyright policy is one of the more generous among modern translations, up to 500 verses without permission for non-commercial use with the standard copyright footer

Weaknesses

English flow suffers in places compared to dynamic translations (NIV/NLT); reading aloud can feel choppy
Verse-by-verse paragraphing in many print editions obscures narrative and argumentative flow (especially in Paul's letters)
Pronoun capitalization for deity is interpretive, Greek/Hebrew make no such distinction; modern translations like ESV/NIV have moved away from this convention
Complementarian translation choices in gender-related passages (1 Tim 2:12, Rom 16:7)
2020 update divided the NASB readership, many conservatives stayed with NASB95 (or moved to LSB)
NASB95 is no longer Lockman's flagship edition; long-term ecosystem maintenance shifts to NASB 2020

Notable / problematic verses

1 Timothy 2:12, "I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man", complementarian rendering
Romans 16:7, Junia/Junias; NASB95 has "Junias, my kinsmen... outstanding among the apostles" (rendering the name as male and ambiguating apostle status); see Romans 16.7 if a hub exists
Isaiah 7:14, "behold, a virgin will be with child", preserved
John 1:1, "the Word was God", standard Christological rendering
John 1:18, "the only begotten God", NA27-following rendering ("only begotten" preserved despite scholarly drift to "only / unique")
Genesis 1:1-2, relatively straightforward; relative-clause possibility not adopted
Mark 16:9-20, bracketed with note that these verses are not present in the earliest manuscripts
John 7:53-8:11, bracketed similarly
1 John 5:7, Johannine Comma omitted (follows critical text)
Acts 8:37, omitted (in footnote)
Romans 9:5, "Christ who is over all, God blessed forever", Christological rendering preserved
2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is inspired by God", standard rendering of theopneustos
Hebrews 1:8, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever", Christological reading
Philippians 2:6, "did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped", kenosis passage; NASB rendering preserves the harpagmos debate's complexity
Bethel youth incident (2 Kings 2:23-24), NASB95 has "young lads" (acknowledging Hebrew neʿarim qeṭannim range); see Bears Mauling Youth Objection

Notable users / influence

Standard translation in conservative-evangelical seminaries (Dallas Theological, Master's Seminary historically, Talbot, others)
Common in study contexts: word-study work, sermon preparation, doctrinal apologetics
Foundational text for the MacArthur Study Bible (1997-2021 NASB era; subsequently LSB)
Used in Lockman's broader ecosystem (Amplified Bible cross-references, Spanish translations)
Less common in pew or pulpit use vs. NIV/ESV; more common as a personal study Bible

The NASB95 holds particular weight for readers who prioritize translation transparency over English readability, those preparing teaching material, doing exegesis, or comparing translation choices.

Codex usage notes

The NASB95 is the default translation for verse quotations across this codex. The Lockman copyright requires the attribution footer on every published page that quotes NASB95 text:

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org

This footer is added automatically by tools/generate_passage_stubs.mjs for new passage pages, and is preserved when stubs are promoted to rich hubs.

Common questions this page answers

Q: Why prefer the NASB95?

The NASB95 (New American Standard Bible, 1995 update) is among the most formally-equivalent modern English translations, preserves Hebrew and Greek grammar without smoothing to dynamic-equivalence idiom, retains "only begotten Son" (John 3:16) where NASB2020 and other modern translations have shifted, and is the codex's default for rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation fair-use.