Rating: 
Summary: The Best Translation for Reading There Is
Review: I have neen using this edition of the REB for a month now and I have havn't been this excited about reading the Bible in years. This translation is the best written I have come across.(The JB,NJB,and NEB come close)The words flow for reading silently and for reading outloud. I would wish all my evangelical friends out there who think the NIV is a well written Bible to read the REB for one month. You will be a amazed at the difference between the Bible being alive in the joy of God's words as it reads in the REB and the NIV, where God's words are functional means to get one to read the large amount of notes at the bottom of the page i.e NIV Study, Life Application, or any other gimmick Bible Zondervan, Tyndale, or Nelson can come up with this month.It's the differance between a well-written paperback and work of fine literature. REB is great literature, and beyond all dogma and duty, shouldn't we read the Bible at least once in the most beautiful English available? This translation is it. (2nd choice-NJB-but that is another review)
Rating:
Summary: An excellent study bible and a wonderful translation
Review: I have read and compared three translations of the Bible in English: the New International Version, the New Revised Standard Version, and the Revised English Bible. My favorite is the REB. The NRSV is the most literal (except for the gender neutral changes), and it is also the most difficult to read. The NIV is often too informal for my tastes. Although the REB is a scholarly translation, it is the least literal of the three in its phrasings, but less gender-neutral than the NRSV. Because the REB is so well-written, I find that I get more out of reading it than either of the other two, and I tend to use the others primarily for comparison of specific passages. Reading a study bible with its commentary, study aids, and maps is essential for most of us, especially the beginner. This study bible is one of the best for the layman. It strikes a good balance between what I consider to be too much information (Harper NRSV Study Bible) and too little (Oxford Annotated NRSV Bible). My only complaint is that this study bible does not come in a nice leather edition. The only leather REB is the superb edition published by Cambridge, but it contains only text with no study aids or maps.
Rating:
Summary: First-rate
Review: I recommend this Bible very highly. The translation is excellent and very readable, and the essays and annotations are terse and informative, providing much needed background and scholarship without ever overshadowing the text itself.
Rating: 
Summary: An REB Translation Oddity
Review: I wanted to point out a peculiar translation issue that I ran into recently while reading from the Revised English Bible. Consider the following passage from the Gospel of Mark, Chapter One, verse 41 - "Jesus was moved to anger: he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, 'I will: be clean.'" Now for the KJV version - "And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean." Let's also consider the RSV version - "Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I will; be clean." (RSV) The Greek word (splagchnizomai) that is translated as 'compassion' in KJV and 'pity' in RSV is translated as 'anger' in REB. From Thayer's Lexicon, we learn that splagchnizomai means - "to be moved as to one's bowels, hence to be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity)".
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent
Review: The 200 pages of prefatory articles form a really good introduction to contemporary Biblical scholarship. Twenty scholars offer such titles as "The Social World of the New Testament," "Torah and Covenant," "The Contributions of Archaeology," "The Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Jewish Literature." Each book from Genesis to Revelation has a compact introduction and the chapters are usefully annotated. The translation is perhaps the clearest rendering of the Bible into English ever accomplished. There are 14 wonderful maps (based on the Oxford Bible Atlas) with an index to all place names in the Bible. There is a condensed concordance of people, places and themes. This is a marvelous rendering of faith into words that deserves a place in every library. I notice many of the reviews refer to its "liberal bias" which misrepresents the triumph that is this work. To denounce "liberalism" in this way defends ignorance. To read the Oxford Study Bible is like studying the Bible at a great seminary with brilliant professors offering great lectures employing state-of-the-art scholarship.
Rating:
Summary: A smooth reading translation with sound study notes.
Review: The Revised English Bible is a joy to read; the text is clear, fluid, and does not read at all like a translation. The various study helps in the Oxford Study Bible put the text into context. The study articles are particularly good, and the foonotes give good basic information without being too overwhelming. On occasion words are used that Americans may not be familiar with, such as calumny, obdurate, and betide, and the text does read at a literary level, but is still clear. The text is not as gender-inclusive as the New Revised Standard Version, but more so than the New International Version; the English is also not as "British" as the New Jerusalem Bible. For sheer reading pleasure this translation is the best.
Rating:
Summary: Most underrated translation and study bible on the market
Review: The Revised English Bible is surely the most underrated and under appreciated version of the bible today. It is a thorough revision of the New English Bible, which was a bold and daring completely new translation from the original languages, published in 1961 and 1970. The REB is an accurate, literary, intelligent version of the Holy Scriptures, with dignified language. It is a somewhat free translation, but transparent to the original languages, as theologian Harvey Cox comments. It is not a paraphrase, but a reliable translation for devotions or study, for layperson or scholar. I found that by reading the REB along side my NRSV New Oxford Annotated Bible, 3rd edition, that the REB actually adopts renderings suggested in the NOAB commentary notes (e.g., Genesis 15). Furthermore, the Oxford Study Bible is one of the very finest study bibles available. True, there are only minor revisions from the 1976 edition, and those mostly for inclusive language and to fit the REB rather than the NEB text. But the notes hold up remarkably well, and I do not see that any of the newer study bibles have much over the Oxford Study Bible. The scholarly articles are also very helpful, and completely brand new. My only complaint is that the print is smaller than the original 1976 edition, but it is still very readable. The Revised English Bible, Oxford Study edition is an excellent study bible. If I was starting all over again, and could only own one edition of the Holy Scriptures, the REB in the Oxford Study Edition would be my choice. It is my new "stranded on a desert island" translation!
Rating: 
Summary: A great Bible for study purposes
Review: This Bible is used in many college courses on the Bible as literature because it is based on very fine non-denominational scholarship of a highly respectable sort (this is what the other reviewers on this site mean when they refer to "liberal bias"). It is in fact an excellent scholarly source for people with no particular religious bias who want to study the Bible as a historical and cultural document. Its notes are extremely useful and informative, and carefully based on recognized modern authorities.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book For The New Student of Christianity
Review: This book has been a great help to me in familiarizing myself with the actual teachings of Jesus. The best part for me is the notes at the bottom of the pages which refer you to those parts of the Old Testament that he quotes or refers to. It's great for giving context to those scenes where he's giving the Pharisees what-for, and many of the things he quotes are powerful and moving. Many others are outrageously inflammatory; I can see why the Pharisees got so mad at him.
I am also quite pleased with all the context commentary the authors give at the beginning of each book of the bible, indicating the "current events" going on when the various books were written. There are a set of full-color maps in the back which are excellent for "following along" when the narrative describes Jesus or another Biblical character's travels.
To any person new to Christianity, I would heartily recommend that you get this book, start at the Book of Matthew and work your way through the four Gospels first, then go back to the Old Testament. The way this bible is laid out makes it easy and an excellent education.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Bible
Review: This is a nice Bible overall. The translation is very clear (especially in the NT) and is beautiful in its wording. The liberal bias of the translators shows through (see Acts 20:28, see the note there) at times, but it does not detract. The notes are few and for the most part not very helpful, but are still worth reading, though another Bible like the NRSV New Oxford would be much more helpful. I value this in my Bible collection and get it out at times, but I would never make it my main Bible, whether for worship or scholarly work.
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