From: Bruce Terry (terry@bible.acu.edu)
Date: Mon Nov 27 1995 - 19:36:10 EST
On Mon, 27 Nov 1995, Edward Hobbs wrote:
>Philip Graber asks about the Contemporary English Version, sobject of
>a newsrelease I sent to the List earlier today. No, it is not a revision
>of the TEV. It is a completely new translation, which had as its target
>audience: Teenagers, adults without high school education, English-as-a-
>second-language users, and so on. Hard to believe, but TEV ("Good News
>Bible") proved to be too difficult for large segments of the public!
I am coming out of my memory on this, so it may be faulty. I believe the TEV
was written on about a 6th or 7th grade level. It seems like I have read that
the CEV is on about a 3rd grade reading level. What puzzles me is why this
translation was produced, since the International Children's Version (at a 3rd
grade reading level) and its upgraded sister the New Century Version (at a 4th
grade reading level) have been out in the complete Bible since 1986. These
were originally published by Sweet, but I think Word publishes them now. Was
it that they were commercial translations, and ABS couldn't get the rights?
Or was there something in them that was objectionable? They seem like good
translations to me, considering adjustments for the reading level. I used the
ICV in missionary work on the Navajo Reservation. Surely the CEV was not
produced just to have a translation that was politically correct on a supposed
anti-Semitism in the New Testament?
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Bruce Terry E-MAIL: terry@bible.acu.edu
Box 8426, ACU Station Phone: 915/674-3759
Abilene, Texas 79699 Fax: 915/674-3769
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