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CEV - Contemorary English Version

Discussion in 'Bible Versions & Translations' started by jonathan.borland, Jan 1, 2012.

  1. jonathan.borland

    jonathan.borland Active Member

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    I read Gen 1-3 in the CEV today and really appreciated easily flowing English. Anyone else ever read this version? I picked it and the TEV (Today's English Version) as a couple of adds-on to my new Bible software for Christmas, Accordance, which I love, by the way!

    Jonathan
     
  2. Martin Marprelate

    Martin Marprelate Well-Known Member
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    Jonathan,
    I recommend that you don't use either of these versions as your main Bible. I had occasion a few years back to look through a Christmas leaflet which my former church was thinking of using for an outreach. I came upon Like 1:50, wich in the C.E,V. reads, 'And He is always kind to everyone who worships Him.' This is wrong on so many levels. I can't believe that anyone who knows Greek could translate so badly!

    The TEV, which I think is the one called Good News Bible in Britain, is really no better. I was preparing some memory verses for a Junior Church group and transfering them from the NIV to the TEV. I was struck by how weak and unfaithful to the originals the TEV renderings were.

    I'm sure someone could be saved by the grace of od through reading a CEV or TEV, but I really don't think they are suitable for any sort of study; they won't help you grow as a Christian.

    Steve
     
  3. JesusFan

    JesusFan Well-Known Member

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    wasn't that the "Good news for modern man?' remember had a paperback that had stick figures in it!

    Both set up to be paraphrases weren't they" Like the message?

    Really meant for kids, or those whose native tongue not English?

    Would recommend the NLT for that, instead of using those 2 versions!
     
  4. Martin Marprelate

    Martin Marprelate Well-Known Member
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    That's the one!
    Some people speak well of the N.L.T. and I don't own one so it's hard to make a comment. However, Logos 1 quoted from it in one of his Hyper-preterist rants:-

    Col 1:23 NLT “the good news has been preached all over the World.”

    Now what the Greek actually says is that the Gospel 'has been proclaimed to every creature.' The NLT allows Logos to imagine that 'world' means 'Roman World' and to suppose (wrongly) that the Gospel had been preached all over the Roman world by around 61 AD when Colossians was written..

    Obviously it's a bit unfair to make the NLT responsible for the fact that Logos is two choruses short of a full hymn book, but if Bible versions just translated what the text says instead of trying to interpret it, then I think some of the modern errors that are about these days might not be so prevalent.

    Steve
     
  5. JesusFan

    JesusFan Well-Known Member

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    was just comparing the NLT to those 2 versions that were oriiginally mentioned!

    It is a more conservative version of the living bible , and as such, it is definitely better suited as being treated as a paraphrase, and we would need to use versions like NASB/NKJV/NIV etc for 'serious studies"
     
  6. jonathan.borland

    jonathan.borland Active Member

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    I'm reading through this translation this year, and am quite enjoying it for its colloquial expressions, you know, KOINE, the common language of the people.

    BTW, Luke 1:50 in the CEV reads:

    "He always shows mercy to everyone who worships him."

    What's so wrong about this sentence? Is God not always merciful to everyone who worships him, or is he only merciful to such people some of the time, or only merciful to some people who worship him?

    Of course you might have a hang up with their translation of τοις φοβουμενοις αυτον (literally: "those who continue to fear him"), and perhaps they should have said "fear." The problem is that fear in today's terminology may not mean exactly what it did back then. Perhaps "those who stand in awe of him" would be better, or you can just say those who worship him, which has the idea of actionable reverence and not just abject terror (another meaning of "fear.")

    Jonathan C. Borland
     
  7. Rippon

    Rippon Well-Known Member
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    In many cases what the ancient text says and what it means can be very different. Being very literal does not enhance accuracy.
     
  8. Rippon

    Rippon Well-Known Member
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    The NLTse is certainly not a paraphrase! It's a dynamic equivalent translation. The original Living Bible and the Phillips are true paraphrases.
     
  9. JesusFan

    JesusFan Well-Known Member

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    that is correct, as the translators did due diligence to have the Living Bible updated to reflect more of being a "real translation!"

    I see it as being a translation, more to the left side of either HCSB/NIV...

    DO however think it telling that one of the chief translators on the revision of the NLT said that he viewed it as being a "stopgap" version, to be suitable to have the Bible to be read by young adults, or for those who has English as a second language!
     
    #9 JesusFan, Jan 6, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 6, 2012
  10. Rippon

    Rippon Well-Known Member
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  11. DaChaser1

    DaChaser1 New Member

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  12. Martin Marprelate

    Martin Marprelate Well-Known Member
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    I'm sorry. I forgot al about this thread and have only just come across it gain after a month or so.
    Koine Greek was the language in which the N.T. was written. The job of the translator is to render that faithfully into English, not to imagine what an English equivalent of koine might be like. If you suppose that Koine was some sort of slang, you are very much mistaken. It follows precise grammatical rules.

    There are two things wrong with this sentence. First of all the Greek says, 'From generation to generation.' What right does someone have to say, "Well frankly, God's being a bit long-winded here. I think we need to correct what He's written." The Holy Spirit is stressing the generational aspect of salvation here. It's not for someone else to second-guess Him.
    Secondly, God is not always merciful to everyone who worships Him (eg. Matt 7:21; Mark 7:6-8).

    Phobeo is the word from which the English word 'Phobia' comes. It does not mean worship, and those who pretend it does are effectively sending people to hell with a pocket-full of false promises.

    Steve
     
  13. jonathan.borland

    jonathan.borland Active Member

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    I just mean the NT was written in a language that common people spoke and could understand. And I think it should be so translated today.

    Well, Codex Vaticanus, which I think you've criticized in the past, and four other manuscripts may say "from generation to generation," but most manuscripts don't. They say "to generations of generations," which is poetic for saying that God's grace extends to everyone who fears him. The people in Matt 7:21 are not true worshipers, and neither are those in the other passage you brought up. Obviously there are qualifications, but this is poetry after all, and not meant to be taken so literally. It's not like God's going to let demons who fear him into heaven because of this verse, you know.

    The word can mean several things, one of which is being afraid, but another of which is having a profound sense of reverence for. I think the latter is meant in Luke 1:50. Guess what? In the English language "worship" generally means having reverence for.

    Sincerely,

    Jonathan C. Borland
     
  14. Batt4Christ

    Batt4Christ Member
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    I've done quite a bit of reading in the last few years - and own a copy of the CEV (not the TEV). What I can tell you about the CEV - it is written in a very readable form - I believe it is rated at about the 3rd Grade reading level. In doing that, much of it had to literally be "dumbed down" to the point as to lose meaning. Add to that the proclivity of the "translators" to neutralize gender, and that makes this one of the most readable, yet least reliable of the modern translations (I use the term very liberally - this is nearly a paraphrase).
     
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