The CEB Study Bible With Apocrypha: Common English Bible

In general, I like this as a study bible. The page layout, which resembles that of the New Jerusalem Bible, has abundant cross-references and notes arranged such that they're there if I want them, but are easily ignored if I just want the text. The CEB website offers a free PDF download of the gospel of Mark from this edition if you'd like to see it for yourself. Tastes will differ about such things, but I like the layout.The physical book has an "economy" binding, but it seems reasonably sound for this price point. Overall, it's attractive and quite usable if one likes the "new, fresh and modern" aesthetic.There's the easy part. The translation itself may be a bit more "fresh" than some are expecting, never mind the obvious example of "The Human One". The "smooth and natural reading experience" promised by this translation will not remove all difficulties. Let me offer an example.In the CEB, Lamentations 3:38 reads: "From the mouth of the Most High evil things don't come, but rather good!"That is a perfectly "smooth and natural" English sentence, and not hard to understand. But if one looks at other translations (I checked the NRSV, NASB, KJV, NJB, RSV, NEB, REB, GNB, NIV, NET, NJPS and a few others), they nearly all seem to say the opposite, that evil and good DO both come from the mouth of the Most High. Check for yourself, I may have missed something.Are all these other translations wrong? Is the CEB wrong? What's going on here? With a little work, we can find a clue.The venerable KJV translates Lam 3:38 "Out of the mouth of the Most High proceedeth not evil and good?"Young's Literal Translation gives "From the mouth of the Most High go not forth the evils and the good."If we can take these two translations as being fairly close to the underlying Hebrew, and then read them both as statements (AFAIK, Biblical Hebrew did not use question marks), we can see that the CEB's rendering of Lam 3:38 seems at least possible. We might ask why the translator made this choice rather than what seems to be the majority choice, but the CEB rendering seems a choice and not an error.While I don't know Biblical Hebrew, I've sometimes earned my living by translating a non-biblical language in a specific context. Translation is not always easy, and translators sometimes have to make judgment calls -- sometimes even guesses. I understand that. Words can mean wildly different things depending on who is using them and in what context, and context can be difficult to recover after a few thousand years. So I expect to do a little head scratching when reading the Bible.In this case, though, I felt in need of a little more help than the CEB gave me. "Heb. uncertain" or an alternative reading would have been helpful, particularly since both are readily used in the same chapter of the same book. The lack of an alternative reading may have been an oversight; this is a large project and it's not reasonable to expect it to be perfect on roll-out -- has that been true of any new translation? Still, this is not a typo but a translator's choice.This does not make the CEB a bad translation. I don't mind being challenged to see things in a different way; it's often a good thing. I keep a copy of the New English Bible around partly because it has "adventurous" readings from time to time. Just remember that "smooth and natural" English does not necessarily mean that the underlying languages are clear and unambiguous.EDITED FOR SPELLING ONLY.

This fine study bible is valuable because it uses the Common English Bible translation and the notes are easy to follow as a person reads the translation. I have very little difficulty reading conventional translations like the NRSV and NIV, but there are places where they use words in outdated senses. The CEB is a fresh translation that is not afraid to make changes in well-known passages. To give one example, the Jewish Day of Atonement is the "Day of Reconciliation" in the CEB. According to Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, "atonement" was originally used in the (now obsolete) sense of "reconciliation." There are many differences between the CEB and more traditional translations which raise questions about the meaning of the original texts. This makes the CEB a very good "second translation" to use alongside more traditional versions.The study notes generally point out things in the Bible text that may not be immediately obvious to Bible readers and, along with the cross-references, indicate the relationship of verses to other parts of the Bible. However, a few of the sidebars state the contributors' religious positions -- for instance, the sidebar on sex suggests that Christians' positions on homosexuality should be decided after obeying the "love commandment" in the gospels. (It does not state what the conclusion should be.)The CEB Apocrypha includes all the books that are in the NRSV Apocrypha, including the books used in Eastern Orthodox churches. It is unfortunate that the CEB Study Bible is not available in a leather-bound edition with the Apocrypha.

CEB = Common English Bible I LOVE THIS EDITION.I like the translation. [NO translation is PERFECT.] You can compare translations at the Bible Gateway online and compare for yourself to see which you prefer: CEB, CEV, or NLT. . I have many translations of the Bible, and find this one very good. Although the CEV has a slightly simpler vocabulary than some translations, and is very functional for some readers, it is NOT a simplified translation. For carrying with you, I suggest a non-study Bible.The study notes are quite excellent, also there are MANY cross references which you will find useful for study. You can't go wrong with this Bible. The introductions to the books are written in a more lively manner than the typical Bible-- not so dry. If your eyes can read the small print of the notes you will be VERY pleased with this bible.This is an attractive hard cover Bible. a LARGE print version is coming out late in 2014.This is an attractive hard cover Bible. It is good to have the Apocrypha in a study Bible, especially since Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches include them. You might start your Bible study thinking you don't need the Apocrypha, but then someday you will want to read all or some of those books.

In my opinion this has everything - good marginal cross-references/textual notes and clarifications/and copious analyses and explanations. Also and importantly it is very well-made and will last.A complete Apocrypha is included covering ALL books accepted by all the Christian denominations.Just one caveat as there always must be of course: This is a very Modern translation and some readings might surprise/alarm some more traditionalists. But this is also a scholarly work which undoubtedly combines that modernity with accuracy and reliability. The list of contributors and biblical specialists involved in the project is impressive and re-assuring alike. Would recommend.

This is a great Bible with lots of study notes and easy to read. The Apocrypha is a huge bonus.

The youth like to read from this bible... easier for them to read and to understand. Have used it with study groups as well and the commentary and historical location information is excellent.