Editing English Standard Version (section)

=== Post-publication ===
In 2008, Crossway published the ''[[ESV Study Bible]]'', which would go on to sell more than one million copies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ESV Study Bible |url=https://www.crossway.org/bibles/esv-study-bible-case/ |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107212344/https://www.crossway.org/bibles/esv-study-bible-case/ |archive-date=January 7, 2021 |access-date=January 7, 2021 |website=Crossway}}</ref> In 2009, the [[Evangelical Christian Publishers Association]] (ECPA) named the ''ESV Study Bible'' as Christian Book of the Year. This was the first time in the award's 30-year history to be given to a [[study Bible]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hodges |first=Sam |date=March 20, 2009 |title='ESV Study Bible' wins Christian Book of the Year award |work=The Dallas Morning News |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/news/faith/2009/03/20/esv-study-bible-wins-christian-book-of-the-year-award/ |url-status=live |access-date=January 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107075047/https://www.dallasnews.com/news/faith/2009/03/20/esv-study-bible-wins-christian-book-of-the-year-award/ |archive-date=January 7, 2021}}</ref> By September 2024, the ''ESV Study Bible'' had sold more than 2.5 million copies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ESV Study Bible |url=https://www.crossway.org/bibles/esv-study-bible-case/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240927121302/https://www.crossway.org/bibles/esv-study-bible-case/ |archive-date=September 27, 2024 |access-date=October 20, 2024 |website=Crossway}}</ref>

[[File:ESV New Classic Reference Bible (Commemorative Edition; Top Grain Leather).png|thumb|''ESV New Classic Reference Bible'' (Commemorative Edition; top grain leather)]]
In 2011, Crossway published a special limited edition ''ESV New Classic Reference Bible'' to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the [[King James Version]] (KJV) first being published.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F_2TZwEACAAJ |title=ESV New Classic Reference Bible: Commemorative Edition (Cloth over Board) |publisher=Crossway |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4335-2961-0 |location=Wheaton, IL |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240109231448/https://books.google.com/books?id=F_2TZwEACAAJ |archive-date=January 9, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> Having a foreword by Leland Ryken, it features a selection of artwork created by [[Makoto Fujimura]] for ''The Four Holy Gospels'',<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cVvOSAAACAAJ |title=ESV The Four Holy Gospels |publisher=Crossway |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4335-2194-2 |location=Wheaton, IL |language=en |access-date=January 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240110001115/https://books.google.com/books?id=cVvOSAAACAAJ |archive-date=January 10, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> a separate edition produced to match the size of the original KJV printing.{{Efn|The original printing of the King James Version measured 11 x 16 inches.}}

Crossway, which operates as a not-for-profit,<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 7, 2023 |title=Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax |url=https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/361143987_202205_990_2023020720933915.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250217050938/https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/361143987_202205_990_2023020720933915.pdf |archive-date=February 17, 2025 |access-date=February 23, 2025 |website=Internal Revenue Service}}</ref> states that most ESV copies are "given away freely through ministry partners around the world."<ref name=":16" /> According to Crossway, the total number of printed ESV Bibles that have been distributed since 2001 are as follows:<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Crossway Global Ministry: 2023 Annual Report |url=https://uploads.crossway.org/excerpt/gm-annual-report-digital-single-pages.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301065924/https://uploads.crossway.org/excerpt/gm-annual-report-digital-single-pages.pdf |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |access-date=March 1, 2024 |website=Crossway}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dennis |first=Josh |date=October 26, 2024 |title=Letter from the President: Our Commitment to Gospel-Centered Publishing |url=https://www.crossway.org/articles/letter-from-the-president-our-commitment-to-gospel-centered-publishing/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241109053235/https://www.crossway.org/articles/letter-from-the-president-our-commitment-to-gospel-centered-publishing/ |archive-date=November 9, 2024 |access-date=November 9, 2024 |website=Crossway}}</ref><ref name=":16" />

* 2015: 100 million
* 2021: 250 million
* 2023: 290 million
* 2024: 300 million
* 2025: 315 million

In October 2024, the ESV was the number one selling Bible translation on the ECPA Bible Translations Bestsellers monthly chart.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Translations Bestsellers, October 2024 |url=https://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/translations.php?id=1024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241109053631/https://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/translations.php?id=1024 |archive-date=November 9, 2024 |access-date=November 9, 2024 |website=Christian Book Expo}}</ref> This was the first time the ESV had reached number one in the chart's history (which began in December 2011),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Translations Bestsellers, December 2011 |url=https://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/translations.php?id=1211 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241109053826/https://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/translations.php?id=1211 |archive-date=November 9, 2024 |access-date=November 9, 2024 |website=Christian Book Expo}}</ref> and the first time the NIV had lost its number one spot in five years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Translations Bestsellers, July 2019 |url=https://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/translations.php?id=0719 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241109053416/https://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/translations.php?id=0719 |archive-date=November 9, 2024 |access-date=November 9, 2024 |website=Christian Book Expo}}</ref>

==== Debate surrounding translation philosophy ====
At the 2008 annual meeting of the [[Evangelical Theological Society]], [[Mark L. Strauss]] presented a paper titled "Why the English Standard Version should not become the Standard English Version: How to make a good translation much better." In the paper, Strauss criticizes the ESV for using dated language, among other perceived issues, such as using gender-neutral language inconsistently in translation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Strauss |first=Mark L. |date=November 25, 2008 |title=Why the English Standard Version (ESV) should not become the Standard English Version: How to make a good translation much better |url=https://zondervan.typepad.com/files/improvingesv2.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213003912/https://zondervan.typepad.com/files/improvingesv2.pdf |archive-date=February 13, 2021 |access-date=February 13, 2021}}</ref> ESV translator Bill Mounce responded to Strauss's criticism:

{{Blockquote
| text = While the content of the paper was helpful, I am afraid that it only increased the gap between the two "sides" of the [translation philosophy] debate.{{Nbsp}}... He kept saying that the ESV has "missed" or "not considered" certain translational issues. While I am sure they were not intentional, these are emotionally charged words that do not help in the debate. They are in essence ''[[ad hominem]]'' arguments focusing on our competence (or perceived lack thereof) and not on the facts. He was not in the translation meetings and does not know if we in fact did miss or did not consider these issues.{{Nbsp}}... The solution to this debate is to recognize that there are different translation philosophies, different goals and means by which to reach those goals, and the goal of the translator is to be consistent in achieving those goals. In all but one of his examples, our translation was the one required by our translation philosophy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mounce |first=Bill |date=November 25, 2008 |title=ETS Day 2 by Bill Mounce |url=https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/ets-day-2-by-bill-mounce |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304201013/https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/ets-day-2-by-bill-mounce |archive-date=March 4, 2021 |access-date=May 18, 2021 |website=Zondervan Academic}}</ref>
}}

Strauss invited Mounce to engage further through participation at the following annual meeting. In 2009, Mounce presented his formal response paper titled "Can the ESV and [[Today's New International Version|TNIV]] Co-Exist in the Same Universe?" In the paper, Mounce describes various points regarding his view of the need for both formal and functional translations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mounce |first=Bill |date=November 23, 2009 |title=ETS Paper on ESV/TNIV (Monday with Mounce 50) |url=https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/ets-paper-on-esvtniv |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518041649/https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/ets-paper-on-esvtniv |archive-date=May 18, 2021 |access-date=May 18, 2021 |website=Zondervan Academic}}</ref>

In October 2019, [[University of Oklahoma]] sociology professor [[Samuel L. Perry]] published a journal article titled "The Bible as a Product of Cultural Power: The Case of Gender Ideology in the English Standard Version." In the article, Perry attempts to demonstrate "how a more critical approach toward 'the Bible' can provide richer, more sophisticated [[Sociological analysis|sociological analyses]] of power and [[cultural reproduction]] within Christian traditions." Perry argues that Crossway's ESV translation committee made "intentional, systematic changes" into the ESV for the purpose of being able to "publish and mass-market a text more amenable to conservative, [[Complementarianism|complementarian]] interpretations." Perry further argues that the ESV translation committee "have engaged in more covert means of cultural reproduction, not only disseminating ''their interpretation'' of the biblical text, but manipulating the ''text itself''."<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last=Perry |first=Samuel L. |date=October 21, 2019 |editor-last=Marti |editor-first=Gerardo |title=The Bible as a Product of Cultural Power: The Case of Gender Ideology in the English Standard Version |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srz022 |url-status=live |journal=[[Sociology of Religion (journal)|Sociology of Religion]] |location=[[Oxford]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] on behalf of the [[Association for the Sociology of Religion]] |volume=81 |issue=1 |pages=68–92 |doi=10.1093/socrel/srz022 |issn=1069-4404 |eissn=1759-8818 |lccn=93642782 |oclc=30932266 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726112202/https://academic.oup.com/socrel/article/81/1/68/5601910 |archive-date=July 26, 2021}}</ref> The ''ESV Study Bible'' often details in its study notes why a complementarian interpretation of the original text may have been rendered in translation.{{Efn|For example, the study notes detailing Genesis 3:16 (in the 2016 text edition; along with its relevance to 4:7), Romans 16:1 (also see note on 1 Tim. 3:11), Romans 16:7; and Ephesians 5:21–6:9 and Ephesians 5:21.<ref name=":15" />}}

In 2020, the Ireland-based [[Association of Catholic Priests]], an independent and voluntary association of Catholic clergy, criticized the ESV for its position on the use of gender-neutral language, perceiving the use of terms such as "mankind" and "brothers" to be "out of sync with modern usage [and] culturally regarded as diminishing and disrespectful of women."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mac Donald |first=Sarah |date=October 29, 2020 |title=Priests warn against language of new lectionary |work=The Tablet |url=https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/13521/priests-warn-against-language-of-new-lectionary |url-status=live |access-date=January 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106203928/https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/13521/priests-warn-against-language-of-new-lectionary |archive-date=January 6, 2021}}</ref>{{Efn|See the section regarding [[#Position on gender-neutral language|gender-neutral language]] for Crossway's philosophy regarding the translation of gender terms.}}

In June 2021, Samuel L. Perry published a journal article titled "Whitewashing Evangelical Scripture: The Case of Slavery and Antisemitism in the English Standard Version." In the article, Perry attempts to demonstrate how "the ESV editors, while modifying certain RSV renderings to establish transitivity for their text among complementarian/[[biblicist]] Christians, sought to establish intransitivity between the text and more pejorative social interpretations by progressively re-translating lexically ambiguous terms and introducing footnotes to obviate the Bible's ostensible promotion of slavery and antisemitism."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Perry |first=Samuel L. |date=June 23, 2021 |editor-last=Jain |editor-first=Andrea R. |title=Whitewashing Evangelical Scripture: The Case of Slavery and Antisemitism in the English Standard Version |url=https://academic.oup.com/jaar/article/89/2/612/6308111 |url-status=live |journal=[[Journal of the American Academy of Religion]] |location=[[Oxford]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] on behalf of the [[American Academy of Religion]] |volume=89 |issue=2 |pages=612–643 |doi=10.1093/jaarel/lfab054 |issn=0002-7189 |eissn=1477-4585 |lccn=sc76000837 |oclc=1479270 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726111944/https://academic.oup.com/jaar/article/89/2/612/6308111 |archive-date=July 26, 2021 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In turn, Perry was interviewed by ''[[Salon.com|Salon]]'' regarding the content of the article.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rosenberg |first=Paul |date=July 10, 2021 |title=When evangelical snowflakes censor the Bible: The English Standard Version goes PC |work=[[Salon.com|Salon]] |url=https://www.salon.com/2021/07/10/when-evangelical-snowflakes-censor-the-bible-the-english-standard-version-goes-pc/ |url-status=live |access-date=July 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714022700/https://www.salon.com/2021/07/10/when-evangelical-snowflakes-censor-the-bible-the-english-standard-version-goes-pc/ |archive-date=July 14, 2022}}</ref> [[Boyce College]] Professor of Biblical Studies Denny Burk points out that Perry makes "a significant error" in referring to Grudem as the general editor of the ESV.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burk |first=Denny |date=January 23, 2023 |title=The Bible of 'Trumpists'? Hardly. |url=https://www.dennyburk.com/the-bible-of-trumpists-hardly/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230303225554/https://www.dennyburk.com/the-bible-of-trumpists-hardly/ |archive-date=March 3, 2023 |access-date=March 3, 2023 |website=Denny Burk}}</ref>{{Efn|J. I. Packer is the general editor of the ESV,<ref name=":2" /> whereas Wayne Grudem is the general editor of the ''ESV Study Bible''.<ref name=":11" />}} In July 2021, ''Bible Study Magazine'' editor Mark Ward published an article to his personal blog in response:

{{Blockquote
| text = Perry raises very important questions about Bible interpretation, and about the proper translation of fought-over words like "slave" and "Jew."{{Nbsp}}... So I carefully read not only the ''Salon'' interview but also the scholarly article in the ''[[Journal of the American Academy of Religion]]'' which gave rise to it.{{Nbsp}}... They [both] carry the same basic message. And that message is full of frankly cynical, acidic ideas about Bible study{{Nbsp}}... The first step in interpretation ''should'' be transitivity. You ''should'' try to fit what you read in the Bible in with your existing tradition. That's simple hermeneutical humility—as long as it's paired with a sincere desire to hold one's tradition up to the light of Scripture.{{Nbsp}}... I can be grateful to Perry for some sharp observations, even some warning shots, while still insisting that any view that muzzles God, that severs the link between his intentions and his words, is rebellion.{{Nbsp}}... To offer "establishing transitivity with existing views" as a wholly sufficient view of evangelical Bible use is to take a small truth and make it the whole truth. It is to say to God, "We can't hear you because other people are talking."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ward |first=Mark |date=July 19, 2021 |title=Did Evangelical Snowflakes Censor the Bible? |url=https://byfaithweunderstand.com/2021/07/19/did-evangelical-snowflakes-censor-the-bible/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726094725/https://byfaithweunderstand.com/2021/07/19/did-evangelical-snowflakes-censor-the-bible/ |archive-date=July 26, 2021 |access-date=July 26, 2021 |website=By Faith We Understand}}</ref>
}}

==== One Million Bibles Initiative ====
In November 2022, Crossway began an effort to fund and distribute one million ESV Bibles throughout English-speaking regions in the [[Global South]], with a primary focus on Africa and Asia. Having been designed on a funding model where Bibles produced at cost are either donated or strategically subsidized, the project was initiated to resource Christians and pastors in low-income communities with study Bibles and various other editions, aiming to prevent "biblical illiteracy, spiritual malnourishment, and the transmission of false teaching run rampant."<ref>{{Cite web |title=One Million Bibles: A Crossway Global Initiative |url=https://www.crossway.org/donate/onemillionbibles/ |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111201259/https://www.crossway.org/donate/onemillionbibles/ |archive-date=November 11, 2022 |access-date=November 9, 2023 |website=Crossway}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Goins-Phillips |first=Tré |date=May 15, 2023 |title=Major Publisher Launches Next Phase of Campaign to Distribute One Million Bibles to Christians in Global South |work=[[Christian Broadcasting Network|Faithwire]] |url=https://www.faithwire.com/2023/05/15/major-publisher-launches-next-phase-of-campaign-to-distribute-one-million-bibles-to-christians-in-global-south/ |url-status=live |access-date=November 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109003616/https://www.faithwire.com/2023/05/15/major-publisher-launches-next-phase-of-campaign-to-distribute-one-million-bibles-to-christians-in-global-south/ |archive-date=November 9, 2023}}</ref>

Crossway states that its ministry partners were in the process of distributing more than 435,000 Bibles by the end of 2023,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Crossway Global Ministry: 2023 Annual Report |url=https://uploads.crossway.org/excerpt/gm-annual-report-digital-single-pages.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301065924/https://uploads.crossway.org/excerpt/gm-annual-report-digital-single-pages.pdf |archive-date=March 1, 2024 |access-date=March 1, 2024 |website=Crossway}}</ref> increasing to 656,000 Bibles by the end of 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=One Million Bibles: A Crossway Global Initiative |url=https://www.crossway.org/donate/onemillionbibles/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241229051737/https://www.crossway.org/donate/onemillionbibles/ |archive-date=December 29, 2024 |access-date=December 29, 2024 |website=Crossway}}</ref> The project reached funding for all one million Bibles by the end of December 2024.