Is The Voice a Common English Bible?

By ElShaddai Edwards | Published: December 17, 2008

A few translation tidbits that I noticed during my blogging hiatus this past weekend:

  1. The previously noted “Methodist Bible” now has a name:  the Common English Bible, presumbably CEB for short. (HT: Gary Zimmerli)
  2. Subversive Influence has posted a review and recommendation for The Voice translation (HT: Eddie Arthur)

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6 Comments

  1. Peter Kirk
    Posted December 17, 2008 at 1:56 PM | Permalink

    Thanks. But we are talking about two separate projects here, aren’t we?

  2. ElShaddai Edwards
    Posted December 17, 2008 at 2:18 PM | Permalink

    Yes. Two separate and unrelated as far as I know projects.

  3. Tim
    Posted December 19, 2008 at 10:08 AM | Permalink

    So, will this new Common English Bible be competition to the NIV/TNIV? It seems like it is trying to market itself in that way: “The new Bible translation would be pitched at an 8th grade reading level (compare 11th grade for the NRSV), so that it might enjoy wider use.”

    It is nice to see that this translation, like the NRSV, is truly ecumenical.

    • ElShaddai Edwards
      Posted December 19, 2008 at 11:15 AM | Permalink

      So, will this new Common English Bible be competition to the NIV/TNIV?

      Certainly it seems to be targeting a similar reading level. If the CEB is truly positioning itself as an “ecumenical Bible”, then I’m not sure how much it will compete with the *evangelical* T/NIV… I suppose the answer there depends on how much market share the T/NIV has in non-evangelical churches. The Methodist blogger, Gary Zimmerli, regularly rues the fact that the NRSV is pushed so heavily on his denomination – I suspect he is looking forward to examining this new translation, whenever it appears.

  4. David Ker
    Posted December 20, 2008 at 1:38 PM | Permalink

    IMO The Voice will have a hard time getting noticed or purchased in the already crowded mainstream but it could be a good niche translation.

  5. ElShaddai Edwards
    Posted December 21, 2008 at 12:02 AM | Permalink

    I see the The Voice as possibly as a first step toward the type of audio-visual translation/interpretation aesthetics of Calvin Seerveld. I love the concept of staging the dialog sections of narratives – now push it further and stage Paul’s letters as if he were orating to the recipients himself. Stage the narratives of Job and Song of Songs (as Seerveld has already done). Of course it’s not *in the Bible*, but keep reinventing interpretation in all fields in order to turn over new light in the Word.

    [So says one who in youth group mangled the delivery of his Easter lines as the apostle John (who had arrived at the empty tomb first, looked in, but didn't enter until after Peter went in first): "I told you the tomb was empty..." (Read it while rolling your eyes to get the full effect.)]

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