My familiarity with the 66 books of the Protestant Canon are what keep me a bit “leery” of the Common English Bible. (Leery isn’t a good word, but there is something that keeps me from diving full into the CEB.)

The familiar phrases and cadences of the Bible are with me. I have grown up with the Word. I think I am probably called a “biblicist” now. (Labeling is such in vogue right now in the religious blogging world.)

So, the familiar mantra of using “Human One” for “Son of Man” goes along, I readily admit there are phrases I am just used to in other translations.

Not so the Apocrypha. THIS is the place where I understand the need for more “dynamic equivalence” when it comes to fresh territory. Reading the Apocrypha for me is like reading the Bible for the first few times as a new believer unfamiliar with the cadences and phrases of the Bible.

And this is where I enjoy the Common English Bible the most. Reading the Apocrypha I can understand the complaint about the Bible being too “stilted” in its language.

I was reading through the Daily Office today and one of the passages was out of Sirach. Since the online Daily Office was using a more established translation,I decided to take a look at the Common English Bible. It did not disappoint.

Sirach 51:21 (NRSV)

My heart was stirred to seek her;
therefore I have gained a prize possession.

The Daily Office translation used “inmost being.”

The CEB:

My guts were stirred to seek her;
   for this reason I gained
   a desired possession.

I can understand “heart” and probably “inmost being.” That’s familiar enough from the Psalms in other translations. But guts…

It takes guts to seek out wisdom. No guts. No glory.