(Guestpost from Drew)
I found this interesting Bible translation lately called the BBE. I always appreciated its translation of individual verses at Bible.org, and its acronym reminded me of the news service BBC. I figured it must be some fancy new, highly-researched edition of the Bible utilizing literal translation principles. I decided to look further into this version, thinking Maybe I can order one of those.
Here’s a sample:
What, then, may we say that Abraham, our father after the flesh, has got? For if Abraham got righteousness by works, he has reason for pride; but not before God. But what does it say in the holy Writings? And Abraham had faith in God, and it was put to his account as righteousness. Now, the reward is credited to him who does works, not as of grace but as a debt. But to him who without working has faith in him who gives righteousness to the evil-doer, his faith is put to his account as righteousness. Romans 4:1-5
I looked it up on Wikipedia and learned about its translation philosophy. It turns out BBE stands for “Bible in Basic English.” The BBE only uses 1000 different English words! They picked the 850 most common English words, then added 100 words for enhancing the poetic passages, and then added 50 “Bible words.” I thought it was hilarious. What a gimicky idea…a Bible with only 1000 words.
I guess they designed it to help young people or the uneducated understand the Bible better — which is a noble goal. But apparently my tastes in Bible translation are those of a little kid.
I still might order one.
