What is the Revised English Bible (REB)?

The Revised English Bible (REB) is not a translation, but a 1989 update of the New English Bible of 1970. As with its predecessor, it is published by the publishing houses of both Oxford University and Cambridge University. The REB is the result of both advances in scholarship and translation made since the 1960s and also a desire to correct some of what was seen by some as the NEB’s errors. Like the NEB, it is primarily aimed at the British and British-educated public, although it has some American users and admirers.
Revised English Bible – Translation method
The general translation method of the Revised English Bible is that of dynamic equivalence (thought for thought). The translation is intended to be gender-inclusive, to the extent that this is justified by the original language, although it does not take this to the same extent as the New Revised Standard Version or the Today’s New International Version. Like its predecessor, the REB includes the Apocrypha.
Revised English Bible – Pros and Cons
Like its predecessor the NEB, the Revised English Bible never gained wide acceptance, either in the United Kingdom or the United States. While the REB is an adequate translation, there is nothing “special” about it that attracts people to use it as their primary Bible. The gender-inclusiveness of the REB is troubling, but not to the same degree as other gender-inclusive Bible translations, such as the NRSV or the TNIV.
Revised English Bible – Sample Verses
John 1:1, 14 – “When all things began, the Word already was. The Word dwelt with God, and what God was, the Word was. So the Word became flesh; he came to dwell among us, and we saw his glory, such glory as befits the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.”
John 3:16 – “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, that everyone who has faith in him may not die but have eternal life.”
John 8:58 – “Jesus said, ‘In very truth I tell you, before Abraham was born, I am.’”
Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For it is by his grace you are saved, through trusting him; it is not your own doing. It is God’s gift, not a reward for work done. There is nothing for anyone to boast of.”
Titus 2:13 – “looking forward to the happy fulfilment of our hopes when the splendour of our great God and Saviour Christ Jesus will appear.”