Customer Reviews

New English Bible Illustrated (Bible Neb)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In most of the world, it would be unthinkable for the syndics of the country's two leading university presses to commission a new vernacular edition of the Bible. Yet in the middle of the twentieth century, such a project was still imaginable to the grey men of Oxford and Cambridge University Presses.

The result is the unforgettable New English Bible.

The presence of two giants of biblical criticism linger like strong, classic perfume in the pages of this Bible: Oxford's G. Driver and Cambridge's C.H. Dodd, venerable figures of Old and New Testament interpretation, respectively.

The project's brief to think all pertinent new thoughts is evident from the very first verse: In the beginning of creation, when God made heaven and earth, the earth was without form and void ...' Driver's understanding of creation as an ordering of pre-existing material rather than the creation ex nihilo of the magisterium is there to be discerned. He would take a daring tack throughout the Old Testament, Dodd following his precedent with a somewhat more conventional touch.

The language throughout is fresh. Witness John 1.1: 'When all things began, the Word already was. The Word dwelt with God, and what God was, the Word was.' In two sentences, Dodd and his colleagues take a discernible step in the direction of the pre-systematized text.

Bible reading in the English-speaking world would not be particularly helped if the New English Bible were its only text. Yet such readers would be notably impoverished if the NEB were not within arm's reach.

The New English Bible is my favorite Bible translation. I have had it since it was published in 1970 with the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha.

This edition does not include the Apocrypha. The book is physically too small: the pages are too thin (too much show-through) and the print is too small. It has parts of the Old Testament in even smaller print than the rest of the book, including much of the Law of Moses in Exodus through Deuteronomy.

The New English Bible is such a great translation, it deserves to be published in a better physical book. I ended up getting a used copy of the 1970 edition for my daughter.

For an example of translation, consider Job 38: 1 - 2.
The Revised Standard Version has "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: 'Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?'"
The New English Bible has "Then the Lord answered Job out of the tempest: 'Who is this whose ignorant words cloud my design in darkness?'"

I rate the book five stars for the translation and three stars for the physical book, making four stars overall. The book has good drawings and the binding is good; it's just too small.

This is a great book for anyone that having difficulty understanding the King James version of the Bible. I recommend this Bible.

Page X paragraph 5 points out the substitution of God's name Jehovah with "the LORD" except in six places in Exodus as follows: Ex. 3:15, 3:16, 6:3, 33:19, footnote pg. 65, and footnote pg. 73. See also Genesis 22:14; Exodus 17:15; Judges 6:24; Ezekiel 48:35.

The map on pg. 59 of the Israelite's journey out of Egypt fails to show them cross the Red Sea or to travel to Mt. Sinai. (This may be do to higher criticism of this Bible account.)

John 1:1 shows some promise in not dogmatically translating "the Word was God", translating it "what God was, the Word was."