Oxford Study Bible-REB

I have neen using this edition of the REB for a month now and I have havn't been this excited about reading the Bible in years. This translation is the best written I have come across.(The JB,NJB,and NEB come close)The words flow for reading silently and for reading outloud. I would wish all my evangelical friends out there who think the NIV is a well written Bible to read the REB for one month. You will be a amazed at the difference between the Bible being alive in the joy of God's words as it reads in the REB and the NIV, where God's words are functional means to get one to read the large amount of notes at the bottom of the page i.e NIV Study, Life Application, or any other gimmick Bible Zondervan, Tyndale, or Nelson can come up with this month.It's the differance between a well-written paperback and work of fine literature. REB is great literature, and beyond all dogma and duty, shouldn't we read the Bible at least once in the most beautiful English available? This translation is it. (2nd choice-NJB-but that is another review)

I carried a Revised English Bible with me through all three years of seminary; and constantly compared it to the Greek and Hebrew texts. Although it is not the most precise, literal translation (here I would lean towards the New Revised Standard because of my personal dislike for the scholarship behind the New American Standard), the sense of language and poetry in the REB is far superior to any reliable translation. For this reason, the REB is the translation that I read from the pulpit.The scholarly articles and footnotes in the Oxford edition are top-notch; although they have a decidedly Anglican flavor in places they are generally ecumenical and quite informative. If you were to only have one study Bible, this is the one I would recommend.

The 200 pages of prefatory articles form a really good introduction to contemporary Biblical scholarship. Twenty scholars offer such titles as "The Social World of the New Testament," "Torah and Covenant," "The Contributions of Archaeology," "The Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Jewish Literature." Each book from Genesis to Revelation has a compact introduction and the chapters are usefully annotated. The translation is perhaps the clearest rendering of the Bible into English ever accomplished. There are 14 wonderful maps (based on the Oxford Bible Atlas) with an index to all place names in the Bible. There is a condensed concordance of people, places and themes. This is a marvelous rendering of faith into words that deserves a place in every library. I notice many of the reviews refer to its "liberal bias" which misrepresents the triumph that is this work. To denounce "liberalism" in this way defends ignorance. To read the Oxford Study Bible is like studying the Bible at a great seminary with brilliant professors offering great lectures employing state-of-the-art scholarship.

I have read and compared three translations of the Bible in English: the New International Version, the New Revised Standard Version, and the Revised English Bible. My favorite is the REB. The NRSV is the most literal (except for the gender neutral changes), and it is also the most difficult to read. The NIV is often too informal for my tastes. Although the REB is a scholarly translation, it is the least literal of the three in its phrasings, but less gender-neutral than the NRSV. Because the REB is so well-written, I find that I get more out of reading it than either of the other two, and I tend to use the others primarily for comparison of specific passages. Reading a study bible with its commentary, study aids, and maps is essential for most of us, especially the beginner. This study bible is one of the best for the layman. It strikes a good balance between what I consider to be too much information (Harper NRSV Study Bible) and too little (Oxford Annotated NRSV Bible). My only complaint is that this study bible does not come in a nice leather edition. The only leather REB is the superb edition published by Cambridge, but it contains only text with no study aids or maps.