What do you do? How do you assess a new translation? Do you want something that sounds familiar or something that startles you by change and makes you to think anew about the text? Which translations do you find most useful today?<\/strong><\/p>\n115 leading Bible scholars participated; ecumenical and mainline; field tested by 77 reading specialists in 13 denominations. It comes out completely in 2011, four hundred years after the KJB. The CEB will be useful and good for personal reading, public reading, and for classroom study. It will have the Apocrypha when completed.<\/p>\n
Here are a few big summary thoughts, and I\u2019ve only dabbled in other passages:<\/p>\n
First, it sides in general with an NIV or TNIV approach: it aims at accessibility, clarity and avoidance of unnecessary misunderstandings. Thus, it has \u201cbrothers and sisters\u201d instead of \u201cbrothers\u201d throughout. While some call this \u201cinclusive\u201d there is a solid fact suggesting this isn\u2019t \u201cinclusive\u201d so much as \u201caccurate.\u201d Very often a \u201cbrothers\u201d means \u201ceveryone\u201d and not just \u201cmale Christians.\u201d So that it is not an inclusive view so much as an accurate translation.<\/p>\n
It has \u201chuman being\u201d and \u201cthe Human One\u201d instead of \u201cSon of man,\u201d and whether you like the former or not, the latter is often misunderstood. So, this rendering will push the reader to read more closely.<\/p>\n
Second, this translation sometimes adds expressions to make the Bible clear where a more literal translation will prompt some to misunderstand. Some of these clarifications will be disputed, but I\u2019d rather have an attempted clarification followed by discussion than as assumption that we are right when we are dead wrong. Thus, Matthew 5:44 has \u201cthose who harass you because of your faith<\/em>\u201d instead of the Greek\u2019s ending with \u201charass you.\u201d The \u201cbecause of your faith\u201d is added in order to clarify that the harassment was generated by faith and following Jesus.<\/p>\nAt the end of the same paragraph we have \u201cyour heavenly Father is complete in showing love to everyone<\/em>\u201d instead of just \u201ccomplete\u201d or, as in most translations, \u201cperfect.\u201d (Be perfect as your Father is perfect.) Here the perfection\/completeness is seen, on the basis of solid contextual information, in the Father\u2019s love for all.<\/p>\nThird, there\u2019s a little New Perspective flash at times when it cames to translating \u201cfaith of Christ\u201d (often translated \u201cfaith in Christ\u201d) and the CEB has \u201cfaithfulness of Christ.\u201d Thus, Romans 3:22 has \u201cGod\u2019s righteousness comes through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ\u201d and here we see a clear emphasis on the obedience of Christ. In 3:25 we have \u201ca ransom that was paid\u201d for the typical \u201credemption.\u201d And then we have \u201cthe place of sacrifice where mercy is found\u201d and this has been often understood more in terms of propitiation.<\/p>\n
James 2:1 has the \u201cfaithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ\u201d \u2014 and there again we have a \u201cfaith of Christ\u201d taken to refer to Christ\u2019s faithfulness and not our faith in Christ. But in the famous justification passage of James 2:14-26 they translated \u201cshowed to be righteous\u201d instead of \u201cjustified.\u201d Not all agree, but having a translation like this will yield to fruitful study and inquiry.<\/p>\n
Fourth, there is variety: I\u2019m happy to say the translators didn\u2019t get too wooden. Sometimes the word is \u201crighteousness\u201d and other times it is \u201cjustice\u201d and I\u2019m not sure the rationale for each, but there\u2019s two sides to the Hebrew term and therefore also to the background for the NT terms and I like this ambivalence and variety.<\/p>\n
Fifth, everywhere the sentence structure is clean and clear; they\u2019re doing their dead-level best to translate so that the Bible makes sense. I\u2019m not sure I like \u201cHappy\u201d in the beatitudes, but I think as many will be helped by \u201cHappy\u201d as are led into confusion by \u201cBlessed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I get a new translation, I read three passages slowly and carefully, with a Green NT near at hand, to give me a feel for the translation and the translation theory: I read the Sermon on the Mount, I read Romans 3, and then I read James. Usually I can get a good solid feel for the translation from these three passages.<\/p>\n
I did this recently with The Common English Bible (New Testament). I like what I see here and I’ll keep this translation near me on my desk.<\/p>\n
What do you do? How do you assess a new translation? Do you want something that sounds familiar or something that startles you by change and makes you to think anew about the text? Which translations do you find most useful today?<\/p>\n
115 leading Bible scholars participated; ecumenical and mainline; field tested by 77 reading specialists in 13 denominations. It comes out completely in 2011, four hundred years after the KJB. The CEB will be useful and good for personal reading, public reading, and for classroom study. It will have the Apocrypha when completed.<\/p>\n
Here are a few big summary thoughts, and I’ve only dabbled in other passages:<\/p>\n
First, it sides in general with an NIV or TNIV approach: it aims at accessibility, clarity and avoidance of unnecessary misunderstandings. Thus, it has “brothers and sisters” instead of “brothers” throughout. While some call this “inclusive” there is a solid fact suggesting this isn’t “inclusive” so much as “accurate.” Very often a “brothers” means “everyone” and not just “male Christians.” So that it is not an inclusive view so much as an accurate translation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[456,1425],"tags":[1848,1846,1847],"class_list":["post-7690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-translations","tag-bible-translations","tag-common-english-bible","tag-translation"],"yoast_head":"\n
The Common English Bible: a new translation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When I get a new translation, I read three passages slowly and carefully, with a Green NT near at hand, to give me a feel for the translation and the translation theory: I read the Sermon on the Mount, I read Romans 3, and then I read James. Usually I can get a good solid feel for the translation from these three passages. I did this recently with The Common English Bible (New Testament). I like what I see here and I'll keep this translation near me on my desk. What do you do? How do you assess a new translation? Do you want something that sounds familiar or something that startles you by change and makes you to think anew about the text? Which translations do you find most useful today? 115 leading Bible scholars participated; ecumenical and mainline; field tested by 77 reading specialists in 13 denominations. It comes out completely in 2011, four hundred years after the KJB. The CEB will be useful and good for personal reading, public reading, and for classroom study. It will have the Apocrypha when completed. Here are a few big summary thoughts, and I've only dabbled in other passages: First, it sides in general with an NIV or TNIV approach: it aims at accessibility, clarity and avoidance of unnecessary misunderstandings. Thus, it has "brothers and sisters" instead of "brothers" throughout. While some call this "inclusive" there is a solid fact suggesting this isn't "inclusive" so much as "accurate." Very often a "brothers" means "everyone" and not just "male Christians." So that it is not an inclusive view so much as an accurate translation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/08\/the-common-english-bible-a-new-translation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Common English Bible: a new translation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When I get a new translation, I read three passages slowly and carefully, with a Green NT near at hand, to give me a feel for the translation and the translation theory: I read the Sermon on the Mount, I read Romans 3, and then I read James. Usually I can get a good solid feel for the translation from these three passages. I did this recently with The Common English Bible (New Testament). I like what I see here and I'll keep this translation near me on my desk. What do you do? How do you assess a new translation? Do you want something that sounds familiar or something that startles you by change and makes you to think anew about the text? Which translations do you find most useful today? 115 leading Bible scholars participated; ecumenical and mainline; field tested by 77 reading specialists in 13 denominations. It comes out completely in 2011, four hundred years after the KJB. The CEB will be useful and good for personal reading, public reading, and for classroom study. It will have the Apocrypha when completed. Here are a few big summary thoughts, and I've only dabbled in other passages: First, it sides in general with an NIV or TNIV approach: it aims at accessibility, clarity and avoidance of unnecessary misunderstandings. Thus, it has "brothers and sisters" instead of "brothers" throughout. While some call this "inclusive" there is a solid fact suggesting this isn't "inclusive" so much as "accurate." Very often a "brothers" means "everyone" and not just "male Christians." So that it is not an inclusive view so much as an accurate translation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/08\/the-common-english-bible-a-new-translation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-09-08T10:44:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-09-08T16:35:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/files\/2010\/09\/CEB.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/08\/the-common-english-bible-a-new-translation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/08\/the-common-english-bible-a-new-translation\/\",\"name\":\"The Common English Bible: a new translation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-09-08T10:44:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-09-08T16:35:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"When I get a new translation, I read three passages slowly and carefully, with a Green NT near at hand, to give me a feel for the translation and the translation theory: I read the Sermon on the Mount, I read Romans 3, and then I read James. Usually I can get a good solid feel for the translation from these three passages. I did this recently with The Common English Bible (New Testament). I like what I see here and I'll keep this translation near me on my desk. What do you do? How do you assess a new translation? Do you want something that sounds familiar or something that startles you by change and makes you to think anew about the text? Which translations do you find most useful today? 115 leading Bible scholars participated; ecumenical and mainline; field tested by 77 reading specialists in 13 denominations. It comes out completely in 2011, four hundred years after the KJB. The CEB will be useful and good for personal reading, public reading, and for classroom study. It will have the Apocrypha when completed. 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While some call this \\\"inclusive\\\" there is a solid fact suggesting this isn't \\\"inclusive\\\" so much as \\\"accurate.\\\" Very often a \\\"brothers\\\" means \\\"everyone\\\" and not just \\\"male Christians.\\\" So that it is not an inclusive view so much as an accurate translation.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/08\/the-common-english-bible-a-new-translation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/08\/the-common-english-bible-a-new-translation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/08\/the-common-english-bible-a-new-translation\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Common English Bible: a new translation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. 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Which translations do you find most useful today? 115 leading Bible scholars participated; ecumenical and mainline; field tested by 77 reading specialists in 13 denominations. It comes out completely in 2011, four hundred years after the KJB. The CEB will be useful and good for personal reading, public reading, and for classroom study. It will have the Apocrypha when completed. Here are a few big summary thoughts, and I've only dabbled in other passages: First, it sides in general with an NIV or TNIV approach: it aims at accessibility, clarity and avoidance of unnecessary misunderstandings. Thus, it has \"brothers and sisters\" instead of \"brothers\" throughout. While some call this \"inclusive\" there is a solid fact suggesting this isn't \"inclusive\" so much as \"accurate.\" Very often a \"brothers\" means \"everyone\" and not just \"male Christians.\" So that it is not an inclusive view so much as an accurate translation.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/08\/the-common-english-bible-a-new-translation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Common English Bible: a new translation","og_description":"When I get a new translation, I read three passages slowly and carefully, with a Green NT near at hand, to give me a feel for the translation and the translation theory: I read the Sermon on the Mount, I read Romans 3, and then I read James. Usually I can get a good solid feel for the translation from these three passages. I did this recently with The Common English Bible (New Testament). I like what I see here and I'll keep this translation near me on my desk. What do you do? How do you assess a new translation? Do you want something that sounds familiar or something that startles you by change and makes you to think anew about the text? Which translations do you find most useful today? 115 leading Bible scholars participated; ecumenical and mainline; field tested by 77 reading specialists in 13 denominations. It comes out completely in 2011, four hundred years after the KJB. The CEB will be useful and good for personal reading, public reading, and for classroom study. It will have the Apocrypha when completed. Here are a few big summary thoughts, and I've only dabbled in other passages: First, it sides in general with an NIV or TNIV approach: it aims at accessibility, clarity and avoidance of unnecessary misunderstandings. Thus, it has \"brothers and sisters\" instead of \"brothers\" throughout. While some call this \"inclusive\" there is a solid fact suggesting this isn't \"inclusive\" so much as \"accurate.\" Very often a \"brothers\" means \"everyone\" and not just \"male Christians.\" So that it is not an inclusive view so much as an accurate translation.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/08\/the-common-english-bible-a-new-translation\/","og_site_name":"Jesus Creed","article_published_time":"2010-09-08T10:44:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-09-08T16:35:29+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/files\/2010\/09\/CEB.jpg"}],"author":"Scot McKnight","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scot McKnight","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/08\/the-common-english-bible-a-new-translation\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/08\/the-common-english-bible-a-new-translation\/","name":"The Common English Bible: a new translation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-09-08T10:44:00+00:00","dateModified":"2010-09-08T16:35:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252"},"description":"When I get a new translation, I read three passages slowly and carefully, with a Green NT near at hand, to give me a feel for the translation and the translation theory: I read the Sermon on the Mount, I read Romans 3, and then I read James. Usually I can get a good solid feel for the translation from these three passages. I did this recently with The Common English Bible (New Testament). I like what I see here and I'll keep this translation near me on my desk. What do you do? How do you assess a new translation? Do you want something that sounds familiar or something that startles you by change and makes you to think anew about the text? Which translations do you find most useful today? 115 leading Bible scholars participated; ecumenical and mainline; field tested by 77 reading specialists in 13 denominations. It comes out completely in 2011, four hundred years after the KJB. The CEB will be useful and good for personal reading, public reading, and for classroom study. It will have the Apocrypha when completed. Here are a few big summary thoughts, and I've only dabbled in other passages: First, it sides in general with an NIV or TNIV approach: it aims at accessibility, clarity and avoidance of unnecessary misunderstandings. Thus, it has \"brothers and sisters\" instead of \"brothers\" throughout. While some call this \"inclusive\" there is a solid fact suggesting this isn't \"inclusive\" so much as \"accurate.\" Very often a \"brothers\" means \"everyone\" and not just \"male Christians.\" So that it is not an inclusive view so much as an accurate translation.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/08\/the-common-english-bible-a-new-translation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/08\/the-common-english-bible-a-new-translation\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/08\/the-common-english-bible-a-new-translation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Common English Bible: a new translation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/","name":"Jesus Creed","description":"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252","name":"Scot McKnight","description":"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. 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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/sites\/40\/2010\/09\/CEB.jpg\" "\\"CEB\\"")
<\/a>I did this recently with The Common English Bible (New Testament)<\/a>