Formal and dynamic equivalence : a comparative corpus study of two modern English versions of the Gospel of John

Bible translation can be based on a spectrum of approaches between formal and dynamic equivalence. This study will compare two currently popular English Bible translations, the New International Reader’s Version and the New American Standard Bible, and analyze how they reflect these translation approaches linguistically. This study employed a corpus analysis of the Gospel of John, utilizing frequency analysis, keyword analysis, KWIC analysis, and n-gram analysis. The results reveal that the New International Reader’s Version prioritizes unambiguous, contemporary, and relatively informal terms along with simpler syntax compared to the New American Standard Bible. Some of these simplifications result in a loss of meaning in theological doctrine.