Editing New Revised Standard Version (section)

== Principles of revision ==
=== Improved manuscripts and translations ===
The [[Old Testament]] translation of the RSV was completed before the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] were available to scholars. The NRSV was intended to take advantage of this and other manuscript discoveries, and to reflect advances in scholarship.{{r|autogenerated1}}

=== Gender language ===
In the preface to the NRSV [[Bruce M. Metzger|Bruce Metzger]] wrote for the committee that "many in the churches have become sensitive to the danger of linguistic sexism arising from the inherent bias of the English language towards the masculine gender, a bias that in the case of the Bible has often restricted or obscured the meaning of the original text".{{r|autogenerated1}} The RSV observed the older convention of using masculine nouns in a gender-neutral sense (e.g., "man" instead of "person"), and in some cases used a masculine word where the source language used a neutral word. This move has been by some, including within the Catholic Church, and continues to be a point of contention today. The NRSV by contrast adopted a policy of [[gender-neutral language|inclusiveness in gender language]].{{r|autogenerated1}} According to Metzger, "The mandates from the Division specified that, in references to men and women, masculine-oriented language should be eliminated as far as this can be done without altering passages that reflect the historical situation of ancient [[patriarchal]] culture."{{r|autogenerated1}}