HCSB and Optimal Equivalence

The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) is an English Bible version that was published in 2004, done by over 100 scholars and English stylists from 17 denominations. Many of those listed as members of the translation team are my modern exegetical heros. The HCSB is available online if you would like to read it yourself.

#6 English Bible
List of best-selling English Bibles in 2011 (in units and dollars), showing HCSB #6:

1. NIV
2. KJV
3. NKJV
4. NLT
5. ESV
6. HCSB

5 Reasons to Like the HCSB
According to an HCSB advertisement flier, there are 5 reasons (and I like these translation decisions by the way):

1. Because it clarifies the original meaning of the Greek word oὕτως in John 3:16: "For God love the world in this way..."
2. Because it uses the personal name of God: "I am Yahweh, that is My name." (Isaiah 42:8)
3. Because it highlights Jewish Messianic expectations: "Peter answered Him 'You are the Messiah!'" (Mark 8:29)
4. Because it identifies Jesus' radical call: "Epaphras, who is one of you, a slave of Christ Jesus, greets you." (Colossians 4:12)
5. Because it employs twenty-first century speech patterns: "When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, 'Look! The Lamb of God!'" (John 1:36)

I really like the linguistic sensitivity that this translation exhibits, but also the exegetical fidelity.

Relevance Theory
For those familiar with this theory (for more info on the theory, read Weber's article), you will find the HCSB friendly to being optimally communicative for the modern reader. The term the translation committee uses for their translation philosophy is optimal equivalence, and if you read their description of the philosophy, you see the resonance with relevance theory:

HCSB employs a first-of-its kind translation philosophy known as Optimal Equivalence, which seeks to achieve an optimal balance of literary precision and emotive clarity through comprehensive analysis of the text at every level. This process assures maximum transfer of both words and thoughts contained in the original.

Explanation of "Yahweh" Translation

We use it as the rendering of YHWH (Which the Hebrew Bible editors first rendered as Adonai, "Lord") whenever God's "name" is being given (either explicitly, using the word "name," or implicitly), when He is being identified ("I am Yahweh"), when He is being contrasted to other gods such as Baal, in certain repeated phrases such as "Yahweh the God of your fathers," or when YHWH has been rendered by Yahweh in the immediate context...our objective is to introduce to the contemporary church what is the most likely pronunciation of the divine name YHWH in the Hebrew Bible. We did not render the majority of occurrences of YHWH as Yahweh because our goal is not only to be accurate but to use an English style that is most familiar to people. Since most Christians today probably do not commonly speak of "Yahweh," but rather of "the Lord," we felt it would be insensitive to use Yahweh for YHWH in every case and would make the Bible seem too uncomfortable for most people.