Rating:

Advertised as a study tool and aid in reading the bible, I was very excited to obtain a copy of The Expanded Bible.    I eagerly opened it up and was dismayed to find my expectations were not fulfilled.   To be fair, my husband is in seminary and so we are exposed to deep material.   This bible might be okay if you are just trying to get a sense of what the text is trying to say but it is not really a fair translation; it is more of a paraphrase.   Imbedded in the text are examples of what the words could otherwise mean like the red [burgundy, rouge] flower [plant, leaf].   I found this to make the text more distracting and choppy.   Personally, I would rather sit with my bible open and a dictionary or commentary next to me.   One thing about translating original language into modern day language is that while words can have different meanings, they can’t have all the meanings within that context.  No translation will be perfect but scholars work very hard to find the BEST meaning within the given CONTEXT.   One can get themselves into all kinds of trouble when applying just any meaning of a word to the text.

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