What is the status of the Revised English Bible?
That's exactly the question I want to ask. Perhaps there are not enough people who have read the REB to recommend it. I wonder if it's that most Logos users are Americans. I know for my part, I never saw the REB in America, except in a dusty section of a specialty used book shop (very dusty corner). I really hope they consider negotiating for it. Some people think it is the best translation in terms of literary value among modern versions.
I know for my part, I never saw the REB in America, except in a dusty section of a specialty used book shop (very dusty corner)
And here I thought I was in America - My primary parallel Bible and one study Bible are REB. The original EB is what we used in college. Yes, there are several requests for it but is the publisher interested?
I was just talking about myself. I meant no offense. I am American anyway, from the Midwest. [:)]
I am lucky enough to have it on a competitors program (no translation notes) but at least I have access to it on my computer and iphone. I have used the New English Bible and I think some people got turned off with it because it was fairly radical in some respects. THE REB kept the best of the NEB but took a more conservative bent with the textual judgements. It certainly isn;t as gender inclusive as I would like but I find it a very refreshing translation for those unfamiliar with it I have taken some of the most popular texts to give people a feeling for the translation. With familiar texts
Psa. 23:0 (REB) ¶ [A psalm: for David]
Psa. 23:1 (REB) The Lord is my shepherd; I lack for nothing.
Psa. 23:2 (REB) He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me to water where I may rest;
Psa. 23:3 (REB) he revives my spirit; for his name’s sake he guides me in the right paths.
Psa. 23:4 (REB) Even were I to walk through a valley of deepest darkness I should fear no harm, for you are with me; your shepherd’s staff and crook afford me comfort.
Psa. 23:5 (REB) You spread a table for me in the presence of my enemies; you have richly anointed my head with oil, and my cup brims over.
Psa. 23:6 (REB) Goodness and love unfailing will follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord throughout the years to come.
1Cor. 13:1 (REB) ¶ I may speak in tongues of men or of angels, but if I have no love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
1Cor. 13:2 (REB) I may have the gift of prophecy and the knowledge of every hidden truth; I may have faith enough to move mountains; but if I have no love, I am nothing.
1Cor. 13:3 (REB) I may give all I possess to the needy, I may give my body to be burnt, but if I have no love, I gain nothing by it.
1Cor. 13:4 (REB) ¶ Love is patient and kind. Love envies no one, is never boastful, never conceited,
1Cor. 13:5 (REB) never rude; love is never selfish, never quick to take offence. Love keeps no score of wrongs,
1Cor. 13:6 (REB) takes no pleasure in the sins of others, but delights in the truth.
1Cor. 13:7 (REB) There is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its hope, its endurance.
1Cor. 13:8 (REB) ¶ Love will never come to an end. Prophecies will cease; tongues of ecstasy will fall silent; knowledge will vanish.
1Cor. 13:9 (REB) For our knowledge and our prophecy alike are partial,
1Cor. 13:10 (REB) and the partial vanishes when wholeness comes.
1Cor. 13:11 (REB) When I was a child I spoke like a child, thought like a child, reasoned like a child; but when I grew up I finished with childish things.
1Cor. 13:12 (REB) At present we see only puzzling reflections in a mirror, but one day we shall see face to face. My knowledge now is partial; then it will be whole, like God’s knowledge of me.
1Cor. 13:13 (REB) There are three things that last for ever: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of the three is love.
John 14:1 (REB) ¶ ‘Set your troubled hearts at rest. Trust in God always; trust also in me.
John 14:2 (REB) There are many dwelling-places in my Father’s house; if it were not so I should have told you; for I am going to prepare a place for you.
John 14:3 (REB) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I shall come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also;
John 14:4 (REB) and you know the way I am taking.’
John 14:5 (REB) Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’
John 14:6 (REB) Jesus replied, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except by me.
. I am American anyway, from the Midwest.
I went to college in the Midwest (Beloit, Wisconsin) but as a true West Coaster I'm not sure that land between the two coasts is American? Seriously, I've discovered that the Community Bible seems to be popular only on the West Coast. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a geographical component to the most familiar translations.
you do have a tendency to ramble
Thanks for posting these! It is truly a lovely translation. I am looking forward to a hard copy I ordered in the mail. It's clear that the translators, if they erred, did so on the side of pleasing poetics. [:)]
I wouldn't be surprised if there were a geographical component to the most familiar translations.
From what I have experienced, I suspect that you are correct in this assessment MJ.
I apparently lost or sold or gave away my REB years ago, because I couldn't find it when I went looking for it. I believe Dr. Carl Conrad on B-Greek said it was one of his favorites.
But I was fortunate to find one (w/Apocrypha) recently in new condition (other than the owner's name being written in it) for $5 at a used bookstore. While I agree that it could be more gender inclusive, and probably would be if it were published today, it's a very nice translation to have, and I'd like it in Logos.
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