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The project was audacious. The Bible was translated by a team of 25 international scholars, mostly from Dallas Theological Seminary, but also from different colleges, countries and religious backgrounds — including a few Catholic and Jewish ones. These scholars had to produce a readable English Bible, with academic rigour, and as close to the original text as modern English would allow.
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For the first time on a project like this, the public was invited to join in. The initial round of translations were put on the web for “beta testing” and anyone could email in to say “I don't know any Hebrew, but this English doesn’t make sense to me,” or “I’m an expert on this passage and I’d like to point out...”. Knowing the world was looking over their shoulders must have concentrated the minds of the translation committee, because what emerged was a version that stood apart from any one particular denomination. They knew there would be immediate push back if they didn’t produce a text that a wide range of believers could accept.
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The Lumina interface at netbible.org/bible is a great way to view all the notes at a glance and even to search them. It also gives access to the large library of articles and answers to questions that have accumulated on the Bible.org site during several years of interaction over the internet.
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At STEPBible.org you can see all the notes, without them getting in the way of the text. Where there is a note about the translation this is indicated with a symbol at the correct point in the text. If you hover over the symbol, the corresponding note appears at the bottom of the screen. You also have access to all the other facilities of STEPBible, such as the verse vocabulary with instant lookup for all instances of the original word.S.
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STEPBible.org includes Bibles in all kinds of languages, with interfaces in all the major ones, so it is perfect for someone reading the Bible in a disadvantaged context. Unfortunately, other languages don’t have as many tools as English readers have, so using NET Bible alongside their own Bible helps those who use English as a second language.
So what about the reason Jesus was born in an animal shed? Imagine a girl about to give birth, turning up at a hotel. Who wouldn't give up their room for her? In a gregarious society like the one in ancient Israel, everyone would soon hear about it, so why didn't anyone help her? A note in the NET Bible at Luke 2:7 gives one possible explanation, where it points out that the word translated “inn” (kataluma) usually means a “guest room”. It tells us that various scholars conclude that Joseph went to his family home, and it was his parents who told them: “There’s no place for you in the guest room.”
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The Bible opens up when you use STEPBible and the NET Bible together. They form a great tool for Bible students, or for anyone who ever asks: “What’s behind that translation?”
David Instone-Brewer,
Tyndale House, Cambridge