Common English BibleRecensioni

If you are looking for a reliable and accurate translation that is easy to read and understand this is the bible translation for you! The new Common English Bible (CEB) is very close to the ESV. This translation is not wooden but instead is very fluid and easily understood. Anyone, of any age would be able to pick it up and read it with full assurance of understanding the verse. I think that such translations help modern Christians get a better grasp of the richness and depth of the scriptures. I find, as a Sunday School teacher and youth worker, that many younger people get hung up on the archaic language and vocabulary of older translations such as the KJV. I however, do not discount the beauty and poetic flow of the KJV or its unique richness. This newer translation, though, is easier for the modern reader to pick up and understand without losing the original intent of the scriptures. This is not like the other modern "translations" that are based on a paraphrase or a translation based on the "idea" of the text nor is it loose like the newer Message bible that has been confused as an actual translation when in fact it is a loose paraphrase modern re-telling of the scriptures.


The following is a scripture and the other translations. As you can see this translation does not lose any of the meaning, depth or beauty of the original language but instead makes it more readable for the modern reader.

I Chronicles 16:8-9

(CEB) Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make his deeds known to all people! Sing to God, sing praises to him; dwell on his wondrous works!

(ESV) Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among all peoples! Sing to him; sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!

(HCSB) Give thanks to Yahweh; call on His name; proclaim His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him; sing praise to Him; tell about all His wonderful works!

(KJV) Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Song unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye all of his wondrous works!

(NKJ) Oh, Give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing palms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works!


*** Visit my blog to participate in a give - away. Simply leave a comment here or on my blog and be entered to win a free copy of this bible. Winner to be notified on Friday, December 2, 2011 ***

First of all, if you haven't read the Common English Bible (CEB) translation, you're missing out. It is an enlightening use of dynamic equivalence without the theological assumptions of the NIV. I use it alongside my NRSV regularly. In this volume, Dennis Smith and other editors have collected a treasure of resources for preaching, study, and personal enrichment. I highly recommend adding this bible to your collection! The stories are a mix of ancient and contemporary resources that bring life to the text and illuminate the context.

I went ahead and read the whole thing, including Apocrypha. I also preached from it weekly for around a year. It is great in English read aloud, clear for public worship, well-written for private devotion. But it's just not a good translation, constantly choosing ease in English over accuracy, driving me insane when preaching and comparing it to original languages week-by-week.

As far as personal reading, I continue to recommend it alongside basically any other translation someone will actually read.

Interesting books with some beautiful prose and ideas, but on some accounts I can see why they weren't included in the main canon of the Bible.½

The Bible and the full Apocrypha in the Common English Bible translation.

As a volume this includes the full Apocrypha, including 3/4 Maccabees, the Prayer of Manasseh, Psalam 151, etc., and not just the Catholic apocrypha; in the actual ordering on the Kindle edition the deuterocanonical works are placed at the end of the New Testament (although, somewhat confusingly, in the "Go To" menu they are listed between the Testaments).

As a translation the CEB opts for a dynamic equivalence, thought-for-thought, philosophy, with much thought also given to common epithets and phrases more fully fleshed out in meaning. This means that the text does not provide a word-for-word translation more suitable for deriving inferences based on how the text reads; the translation exists to convey the primary meaning of the text. In my reading I did not notice many glaringly bizarre or misguided moments in translation, although, as is common in dynamic equivalence translations, certain texts become rather flattened or one-dimensional in the process.

For its purposes, facilitating an understanding of the primary meaning of the text, the CEB does well. As a primary or study Bible it, as all dynamic equivalence translations, falls short; one is better off using a KJV, NASB, or ESV for such purposes.

I was extremely encouraged by the ecumenical nature of the notes and the emphasis on the Church, the body of faith, and its role in reading, understanding, and worshiping through Scripture.

I was discouraged by the overt and forceful egalitarianism and gender-neutral language. Exchanging "Son of Man" for "Human One" is silly. I also just do not like the translation. It sounds silly at points, almost trying to be The Message but lacking the quality found there.

I am undecided how I feel about the approach to Mark. It seems to be treated more as a piece of literature than a historical document. I feel it could have been more balanced in that respect.

I received a copy of Mark from the publisher for review purposes.

This is a protestant bible; therefore it lacks several important books of the Old Testament.

There were several fresh translations I noted in this New Testament. One that I particularly liked was "emerge victorious" rather than "overcome" used in Revelation in the letters to the churches. Other than that, and a few other bright spots, the translation was generally dull and at times pathetic. I would not recommend it to anyone.

I received a review copy from the editor and it was painful to read even for a free book.

A translation that has been highly publicized and promoted over the past few months. I have not found anything from the publisher that indicates whether they are suggesting that it is a formal equivalence or dynamic equivalence translation.

If I had to guess, however, I would place it firmly in the "dynamic equivalence" category. The translation is not word-for-word in many places.

The positives: there are many places where the reader who is familiar with other translations of Scripture is challenged, and while many times one will likely favor the "standard" rendering, there are other times when the rethinking is valuable. The challenge has value nonetheless. In many places the version makes the meaning clearer for some passages.

Negatives: there are some times when the decisions were not wise. Joseph not having "sexual relations" with Mary in Matthew 1:25 is rather Clintonesque. Speaking of "God's DNA" in 1 John 3:9 might give some the impression that God would have DNA, and is an evident anachronism nonetheless. Renderings in 1 Timothy 2 and 3 are intolerable. "Wife" in 1 Timothy 2:12 is interpretation, not translation. The "supervisor" (elder) is to be "faithful to their spouse" in 1 Timothy 3:2, yet the widow of 1 Timothy 5:9 was to be "faithful to her husband," and yet the Greek words in the two passages are consistent. There is no excuse for this kind of reading one's interpretation into the text. Going back and forth from rendering weights, measures, and such things in modern idiom to ancient idiom is also a bit annoying. The 90-day suggested reading program also does not seem to be the best thought out: some days have two chapters, and yet one is expected to read Philippians and Colossians (total: 8 chapters) on the same day!

If one is familiar with the text of the Bible, one might find value in the CEB and will appreciate having their thinking about how certain passages are rendered and understood challenged. Unfortunately, it is being marketed toward the "typical reader," presumably under the assumption that it will be "easier" for them than a more formal equivalence translation.

There is a great danger here. The Bible student often derives ideas, doctrines, and applications based not just on the direct meaning but also on the basis of inferences of how the text is rendered. If one were to use the CEB's rendering of the New Testament to make inferences in many places (consider above with 1 Timothy 2/3 or 1 John), s/he would be led very astray.

Therefore, the CEB is best for those who already have a decent enough understanding of what the Bible says. No inference should be drawn on the basis of its particular rendering of given verses-- consultation with the Greek and formal equivalence translations (KJV, ASV, etc.) should be made.

Nevertheless, on the whole, there's not a lot here that cannot be otherwise gained from a good formal equivalence version (like the ESV) and explanations from commentaries and lexical sources.

*--received free from publisher.