The New Common English Bible Happened Only Because of 21st Century Technology

International Translation Day is Sept. 30, 2011 (promoted by the International Federation of Translators)

By the time early church scholar St. Jerome died more than 1500 years ago, he had laboriously translated the Bible into Latin, taking more than 20 years working within the confined technology of the late 4th century. Considered the patron saint of all translators, today the Feast of St. Jerome is celebrated Sept. 30 as International Translation Day to highlight the degree of difficulty in translating from one language to another.

Electricity, the Internet, and instant global communication have allowed immense strides in communicating across languages, including new Bible translations like the Common English Bible, (CommonEnglishBible.com), in which 120 academic scholars and editors, 77 reading group leaders, and more than 500 average readers from around the world joined together to clearly translate, in record time, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages from thousands of centuries ago into the English of today. See an interactive Google Map showing the locations of the translators (http://j.mp/p5aiO0).

"Even the usual Bible translation schedule is not for the timid," says Paul Franklyn, PhD, associate publisher for the Common English Bible. "Accomplishing it in less than four years requires extra stamina -- and modern technology." Less than four years is phenomenal when compared with other recent modern English Bible translations that took 10-17 years to complete. To read more, click here.

Related article: Battle for the Bible Translation