IMAGINE THE PRIVILEGE of being offered the opportunity to create a completely new translation of the Bible.
You are living in 1940s Great Britain and are one of group of scholars assigned to break new ground in the field of Bible translations. You have been asked to produce a Protestant English translation of the Bible that, for the first time in over 300 years, will not be based on the vocabulary and tradition of the Authorized King James Version (KJV). When completed in 1970 as The New English Bible (NEB), this work will be seen as a pioneer of a new wave of translations arriving in the second half of the century.
One of the first challenges you and your colleagues face is reaching agreement on which of the "variant" ancient Greek and Hebrew manuscripts to use as the basis of your translation. Your next task will involve years of analysis, applying the most up-to-date techniques for arriving at the most precise meanings of the ancient terms and expressions used in those old manuscripts. Finally, you will take up the most demanding task of all, finding the English words that best convey those expressions.
