The English Standard Version (ESV) Bible is about to get its first text update in nearly a decade.
The ESV Translation Oversight Committee (TOC) has announced that they’ll be making revisions to 36 passages across 42 verses, with the changes rolling out over the next two years. The first updated editions are expected to be released in spring 2025.
According to the committee, these changes are aimed at improving both accuracy and clarity.
One of the most notable updates is in Genesis 3:16. The 2016 translation, which reads “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,” will be changed back to “Your desire shall be for your husband.” This aligns more closely with earlier English versions like the Revised Standard Version (RSV) and New King James Version (NKJV). The TOC stressed that they wanted to provide interpretive options, so you’ll also find alternative translations in the footnotes.
Professor Walter Moberly, Emeritus Professor at Durham University, spoke to Premier about this change: “Genesis 3:16 is tricky because it's part of a divine judgment, not a description of what a healthy relationship between a man and a woman should look like. So, it’s always been difficult to know how much weight to give these small changes.
“I think scholars who really dig into the text might get bogged down in the details, while most readers are just looking for something more straightforward. The issue here is how to translate the Hebrew preposition ‘L’. It can go both ways and honestly, I don’t think it makes that much of a difference. If you’re looking for a good biblical view of male and female relationships, this passage probably isn’t the best place to start.”
Another big update comes in John 1:18, where “the only God” will be changed to “God the only Son” to better match the Greek wording and keep it consistent with John 1:14. There are also updates in Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy, along with some revised footnotes offering alternative translations and additional explanations.
In a statement, the TOC said that while updates like this won’t happen all the time, they’re committed to staying faithful to the original text while also taking into account new archaeological and linguistic discoveries. As they said in the ESV preface: “To our triune God and to his people, we offer what we have done, with our prayers that it may prove useful.”
Professor Moberly added: “For me, being faithful to the original text is something both versions of the ESV do well, and that’s true of any responsible modern translation. The differences you see tend to come from the fact that Hebrew can be interpreted in different ways, and there are plenty of Hebrew phrases that have more than one possible reading.
"As we understand more about the technical details—like weights and measures, though I don’t think we’ve discovered anything new there—we just want to make sure we keep translating in a way that’s accurate and easy to understand. My complaints would be that they're one or two passages which I would rather see a slightly different translation."