About the TNIV

In March, 2011 Zondervan replaced the TNIV with the updated NIV (2011). Read more about the NIV 2011 update, or visit our NIV Store for our collection of NIV Bibles.

Some TNIV Bibles may still be available. Click Here to see what's on hand.

Gender-Neutral vs. Gender-Accurate
Ultimately, only 7% of the TNIV New Testament text differs from the NIV (1984), and more than 70% of those changes have nothing to do with gender at all. According to Zondervan, the TNIV replaces masculine nouns and pronouns when they are used generically with more precise language.

There has been much discussion about the TNIV being a "gender-neutral" translation. Zondervan prefers the term "gender-accurate":

The term 'gender-neutral' has often been used in error when used to describe inclusive language texts. The TNIV is in fact 'gender-accurate.' Gender-neutrality suggests the removal of specific male or female attributes. The TNIV does not remove these attributes or 'neuter' any passages of Scripture. The TNIV uses generic language only where the meaning of the text was intended to include both men and women. These changes reflect a better understanding of the meaning of the original Greek and Hebrew.

The TNIV is a gender-accurate translation. This means that more specific language is used in place of masculine language when it is clear that the text was originally intended to include both men and women. Without exception, the TNIV retains masculine terminology for all references to God and Jesus, and in all instances where the biblical writers referred specifically to men. Only 1.7 percent of the entire text is affected by gender-accurate updates, making them a very small percentage of the total changes. The majority of the changes focus on non-gender-related improvements in accuracy and clarity.