“A fresh translation to touch the heart and mind.” That’s the inviting tag line of the forthcoming Common English Bible, a new translation of the Bible attempting to strike that elusive balance between the letter and the spirit of ancient Middle Eastern languages, between faithful scholarship and accessibility to people in the pews. The project is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2011. A free PDF download of the Gospel of Matthew is available now at www.commonenglishbible.com and interested parties may also sign up for a free hard copy of the entire New Testament when it becomes available.
Not surprisingly, a project requiring top-notch scholars attuned to culture and context includes a number of faces familiar to McCormick. No fewer than 17 participants in the project have connections to the seminary:
Elizabeth Caldwell (faculty), Readability Editor
Carol Wehrheim (trustee), Readability Editor and Reading Group Leader
David Esterline (faculty), Translator and Reading Group Leader
Theodore Hiebert (faculty), Translator
Melody Knowles (faculty), Translator
Sarah Tanzer (faculty), Translator
Deborah Block (trustee, D.Min., Class of 1989), Reading Group Leader
Kathy Bostrom (D.Min., Class of 2000), Reading Group Leader
Barbara Cathey (ACTS D.Min. in Preaching, Class of 2008), Reading Group Leader
Virstan Choy (former faculty), Reading Group Leader
Stacy Kitahata, (former AADVENT Advisory Team), Reading Group Leader
Joanne Lindstrom (faculty, D.Min., Class of 2008), Reading Group Leader
Abby Mohaupt (student), Reading Group Leader
Jose Morales (M.Div., Class of 2005), Reading Group Leader
Rosa M. Sailes (student), Reading Group Leader
One of the overarching challenges in the project has been striking the right balance between readability and faithfulness to historical context. On the front line of this tension are the translators.
“One of the basic issues I wrestled with is the introduction of footnotes,” says Dr. Sarah Tanzer, a Reformed Jew, Professor of New Testament and Early Judaism at McCormick, and Secondary Translator of the Book of Ruth.
“Getting rid of archaic language that sounds so stilted to modern ears is, from my perspective, very important. However, there are also opportunities to provoke the reader’s curiosity and to foster an awareness of the differences between the modern world and the ancient world. The two are often collapsed into one. In Ruth, for example, it talks about ‘gleaning’ in the fields. The choice is between finding a more modern, familiar word or using ‘gleaning’ with a footnote so that the reader doesn’t gloss over what he or she doesn’t understand. For the translators, there are judgment calls like this at every step of the way in which we have to weigh what is at stake.”
Seventy-seven dedicated reading groups representing 13 faith traditions embarked on a rigorous process of assessing the translation, which by then had passed through two different translators. The primary translator was given the role of providing the initial translation and setting the tone and scope, while the secondary translator would offer a critical second pass and make relatively specific revisions.
“One of the most interesting things about the group I convened is the demographics,” said PCUSA student Abby Mohaupt, who served as Readability Group Coordinator for the second half of the Book of Numbers. “I worked with a relatively young, very diverse group – a couple of Presbyterians, a Southern Baptist, a scholar of Jewish history, and a non-denominational Christian among others. We all brought our different theological and political sensibilities, which at times made for some lively debate and moments of ‘I love you, but you’re wrong.’ But in the end, I was struck by how much the text ended up reading like a narrative. It was really exciting to be a part of that.”
Find out more about the Common English Bible, its leadership and participants at www.commonenglishbible.com.