Many of our Original Bible Project long-term associates and supporters have seen national ads or recently received mailings about a new Bible on the market: The Holy Bible in Its Original Order (York Publishing), see http://originalbiblerestored.com/

I though it might be important to make clear that neither I nor the Original Bible Project itself have any connection with that particular Bible. It was produced by Fred R. Coulter, a minister and author who became enamored with the work of the late Dr. Ernest L. Martin on the subject of the canonization of the Bible, and in particular the “original” order of books in both the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) and the New Testament. Dr. Martin’s position on these matters was expressed most fully in his book, The Original Bible Restored.You can find that book (both one-line and in print) and lots of related research at Dr. Martin’s Web site, now faithfully maintained by David Sielaff (see: http://askelm.com). Mr. Sielaff has offers his own in-depth positive assessment of this Bible in his January, 2009 newsletter, also available on-line: http://askelm.com/doctrine/d090101.htm

Dr. Martin, who was instrumental in the founding of the Original Bible Project back in 1993, had as his primary focus the production of a Bible that would put the books into their original order, as expounded in his book. As he and I discussed the project, he agreed with me that another key component, the one in which I was most involved, would be the production of a unique translation, one we came to call the Transparent English Bible, which would not only have the books of the Bible reordered, but adhere to a whole new set of translation principles, see http://originalbible.com/2005/04/30/original-bible-project-overview.htm for a full overview.

Putting a Bible, really any Bible, into the “manuscript order” as Dr. Martin called it, is a relatively simple task involving editing and production, not necessarily an extensive new translation. In fact, in the early stages of our discussion Dr. Martin had entertained doing just that. He had considered getting permission to take the Rotherham translation and simply reissue it with introductory materials and the books reordered, and perhaps some adjustments to the translation through notes. He could have surely done that without me, or the team of scholars who have been involved in the Original Bible Project. As things worked out the OBP took as its major charge, not just the production of a Bible with the books in their manuscript order, but an entirely new and unprecedented translation, based on the principles developed over the next decade.

However, for many who have been interested in the Original Bible Project through the years this matter of the order of the books was of primary interest, much more than waiting for a new translation. For others, especially the many new people who have been attracted over the past decade, the translation itself became the attraction due to its unique features. Because of this double interest, rooted in the founding of the OBP itself, I was pleased to encourage Bob Ellsworth, one of the original members of the Original Bible Project board of directors, to let our mailing list know of Coulter’s Bible and what it offers. Bob is president of CenturyOne Books, the primary distributor of this work.

These first twelve chapters of Genesis are not only foundational to the biblical story, they well illustrate the essential methods, style, and approach of the Transparent English Bible. This version is numbered and revised from time to time, so check back to get the latest version:

GENESIS SAMPLE v1.0

Over the years we have received hundreds of helpful comments and insightful input from our many interested and dedicated readers. Gradually the translation has been shaped and honed by this process, just as much as we have benefited from the more formal expertise of our academic experts and consultants.

Please continue to offer your comments and ideas. Every message we get is carefully read and saved. In order to get the full benefit of this Translation Sample you will want to also download our Readers Guide, Abbreviation Key and Transliteration Chart.

Many have written to ask when the Transparent English Bible will be available in print and for purchase. Although we have not yet contracted with a trade publisher, the same agent I have used for my own publishing is very interested in taking on the TEB. When we reach that stage I have no doubt we will be able to secure a major mass market trade publisher that will offer us the kind of wide distribution and publicity that we would want. However, I don’t think we will see finished copies of the TEB in bookstores until 2012-2014, first the Hebrew Bible and then the Greek New Testament. We are still in the translation and editorial stages of the Project and its final preparation for publication, even when we are ready, will take up to two years, judging from my experience with trade publishers. In order to finish this project I will have to be at a place in my own professional life where I have completed my own administrative duties that have taken up 60% of my time the past four years, which will not be the case until May, 2010 at the earliest.

One possibility we are considering is the publication of the book of Genesis alone, with a major trade publisher, as early as 2009. This is a pattern that has been followed by a number of major translators in the past, including Everett Fox and Robert Alter, each of whom now have their versions of the Five Books of Moses on the market. I might just note here that each of these marvelous translations share much in common with the Transparent English Bible, so much so that I encourage readers to obtain these works but I am not consulting them in my own translation process in order to preserve independence. I might note here that Fox’s version of Genesis and Exodus was published in 1987, while his Five Books of Moses came out 1997, ten years later. Robert Alter published Genesis in 1996 and his Five Books of Moses in 2004. Both Fox and Alter have since published their versions of 1 & 2 Samuel as separate volumes and Alter has the book of Psalms out as well. I mention this just to illustrate that translations of this type, done by individual scholars, are going to be a minimum of two decades in the making, despite my earlier youthful optimism when I began in 1992 on the TEB.

What we are ready to do immediately though is begin to release what we have called Preliminary Translation Samples on the Web in PDF format here through this new Web site. These “Beta” versions are the same as the ones we are giving to our roster of academic experts for their professional feedback and evaluation. However, we are very much committed to also hearing fron non-specialist readers of the Bible who want to offer their suggestions and comments. Over the years I have found that thousands of such folk collectively, with or without the technical knowledge of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, come up with highly valuable insights and feedback. At one point I was concerned about making our translation available in this form all over the world for anyone to download and print out–free of charge! I have since decided that should not be a worry on our part. The material is copyrighted and I do not think its wide distribution will harm in any way our ultimate sales of the printed full version. In fact, if anything, I think the serial release of the TEB during 2007 and 2008, if anything, will only serve to whet the interest and appetites of our readers for more.

So, beginning in September, 2007 we began to put up a series of these Preliminary Translation Samples. As we continue to receive feedback from readers, both academic and non-specialist, I will be discussing some of the issues that have been raised here in this Web site. I am really looking forward to this process and welcome all of our hundreds of new readers to the OBP.

Several have written asking about the abbreviations used in the TEB. Below are links to two PDF documents that can be downloaded and printed out to assist readers in making full use of the Translation Samples. One shows a table of abbreviations, the other shows how Hebrew and Greek characters have been transliterated into English.

abbreviations.pdf

alphabets.pdf

I wanted to share this interesting comment from a new reader of the Transparent English Bible translation samples:

In reference the feeling that it will be awkward to read the TEB out loud: I am just enthralled at how beautiful the wording is and excited to read it aloud to the children especially! Talk about a fascinating story! It reminds me of a play being read. I can imagine someone like Mark Twain doing a reading with such life and beauty and meaning that you feel like you are there. It makes me stand up and move around and use body language as I read because I can visualize the whole scene. Believe me, my grandchildren are going to LOVE the bible now! Like the word soil-man, how much more explanatory can a word get? And boy, when God says, “To dust you will return because dust you were and dust you will return” it really causes you to see just exactly what he means, after- all, he is called soil-man! Thank you for ALL your work.

I hope this response can serve to reinforce what I wrote in my previous post on Reading the TEB Aloud.

We plan to release another segment of Genesis this weekend. Please continue to send in your comments and feedback. All are read carefully and saved.