This day in history: The entire New English Bible was published on this day in 1970. The NEB is unique in that it was the first Protestant translation of the Bible made by a committee that abandoned the Tyndale/King James tradition. It was truly an ENGLISH Bible, as it was sponsored by the:
Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland
British and Foreign Bible Society
Church of England
Church of Scotland
Congregational Church in England and Wales
Council of Churches for Wales
Irish Council of Churches
London Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
Methodist Church of Great Britain
National Bible Society of Scotland
Presbyterian Church of England
It was also very British in its use of "Whitsuntide" instead of "Pentecost" at 1 Corinthians 16:8. Luke 12:6 has "Are not sparrows five for twopence?" and Mark 12:42 uses the word "farthing." Mark 6:37 has "Are we to go and spend twenty pounds on bread and give them a meal?"
The New English Bible has retained the old English (thee, thou) only when God is addressed, for its respectful tone, but the NEB has also been criticized for its irreverence. For instance, it starts Genesis 11:1 with "Once upon a time..." This was changed in its successor The Revised English Bible. The NEB has also been criticized for "watering down the Deity of Christ", but then, as Bible scholar Rudolf Bultmann stated: "In describing Christ as _God_ the New Testament still exercises great restraint."
The translators of the New English Bible, much like those of the Good News Bible, chose to render their translation using a principle of translation called dynamic equivalence (also referred to as functional equivalence or thought-for-thought translation). C. H. Dodd, Vice-Chairman and Director of the Joint Committee, commented that the translators "...conceived our task to be that of understanding the original as precisely as we could... and then saying again in our own native idiom what we believed the author to be saying in his." Dodd goes on to summarize the translation of the New English Bible as "...free, it may be, rather than literal, but a faithful translation nevertheless, so far as we could compass it." As a result, the New English Bible is more of a paraphrase at times in order to render what they thought the original author was saying.
The New English Bible does make for great reading however: "I call him a pompous ignoramus. He is morbidly keen on mere verbal questions and quibbles...all typical of men who have let their reasoning powers become atrophied." 1 Timothy 6:4. "It is an intractable evil, charged with deadly venom." James 3:9.
Still, I can't help thinking that the translators had a little fun. For instance, Joshua 15.18 reads “As she sat on the ass, she broke wind, and Caleb asked her, 'What did you mean by that?'”
Job 18:11 has "The terrors of death suddenly beset him and make him piss over his feet."
Ezekiel 21:7 has "all men's knees run with urine"
Also:
"Have nothing to do with loose livers" 1 Corinthians 5:9
"Am I a babboon..." 2 Samuel 3:8
"buffaloes/bison" Isaiah 34:7
"the griffon-vulture" Deut 14:12
"guardian angels" Matthew 18:10
"mother earth" Ecclesiastes 5:15
"porpoise hides" Exodus 35:23
"dragon" Psalms 68:22
"goddesses of the field" Song of Solomon 2:7
In Proverbs 18:10 there is a quote from Shakespeare's "Richard III, 5, iii, 12.
Hebrews 12:8 has "you must be bastards"
The Matthew 16:18 reading of "You are Peter, the Rock" has a very Catholic feel to it, as does the inclusion of the Apocrypha.
The Divine Name Jehovah is used 6 times in the book of Exodus (Ex.3:15,16; Ex.6:3; Ex.33:19; Ex.34:5,6).
The NEB is however a very readable Bible and is a complement to any present Bible version on your bookshelf, though it should not be used as a primary Bible (though I could say the same thing about the New International Version, which is a poorer Bible version). It did not catch on with the public in a lasting way, though it was successful enough to garner a revision.
One amazon reviewer noted on the
Oxford Study Edition of the NEB: "Beautifully constructed language based on the earliest possible sources result in a loving and living Bible. The impressive group who did this monumental work intentionally ignored later and better known translations in order to get to the heart of the text and to use words that more closely communicate the intent and actual usage of the day. The contemporary language is not slangy or dumbed-down, either. This translation assumes you have a decent vocabulary and grasp of English, a FAR cry from the NIV, which is easy to read but does not have the rich evocative qualities that the NEB has.
Add all the Study notes, maps, etc, and this is a truly valuable and provocative Bible with many interesting historical references about the politics, commerce and customs of the day, richly added to every page as footnotes. Cross-references to other passages for clarity or reinforcement, alternative translations for some words or descriptions of items also add to the broad scope of appreciation one can get reading this lovely translation... even if you aren't Christian.
If you want to experience how beautifully the Bible can be conveyed in modern, real language, this is the Bible for you, and the study notes only make it all the more enriching."
