THE BIBLE in BASIC ENGLISH Cambridge University Press.
NOTE
The form in which the Bible is given here is not simply another example of the Bible story put into present-day English. The language used is Basic English.1
Basic English, produced by C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute in England, is a simple form of the English language which, with 850 words,2 is able to give the sense of anything which may be said in English.
Working with the Orthological Institute, a Committee under the direction of Professor S. H. Hooke, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament Studies in the University of London, was responsible for a new English form of the Bible made from the Hebrew and the Greek.
In this undertaking, the latest ideas and discoveries in connection with the work of putting the Bible into other languages were taken into account, and when the Basic form was complete it was gone over in detail by a Committee formed by the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press.
The Basic Bible, which in this way was watched over by two separate groups of experts through its different stages, is designed to be used wherever the English language has taken root.
Frequently, the narrow limits of the word-list made it hard to keep the Basic completely parallel with the Hebrew and the Greek ; but great trouble was taken with every verse and every line to make certain that there are no errors of sense and no loose wording. It is only natural that, from time to time, some of the more delicate shades of sense were not covered ; on the other hand, it is well to keep in mind that in the Authorised (King James) Version the power and music of the language sometimes take so much of the reader's attention that these more delicate shades are overlooked.
In fact, the Basic expert is forced, because of the limited material with which he is working, to give special care to the sense of the words before him. There is no question of the Basic work taking the place of the Authorised Version or coming into competition with it ; but it may be said of the Basic English Bible that it is in a marked degree straightforward and simple and that these qualities give it an independent value.
----- 1. The language of this Note. 2. By the addition of 50 Special Bible words and the use of 100 words listed as giving most help in the reading of English verse, this number has been increased to 1000 for the purpose of putting the Bible into Basic.
Our text is taken from a CD of many bible translations, Verse Master, authored by Optasia Electronics, Inc sold by GodRules.net that provides the translation by the University of Cambridge.
Text is reformated for readability by Basic English Institute.
The verse numbers follow the King James Version of the Bible. Paragraphing from the RSV Common Bible,, an ecumenical edition, Collins Sons & Co.
Non-Basic words as identified by The Bible in Basic English, Cambridge University Press.
Ask Augustine: The King James version of the Bible contains 1,189 chapters, 929 of which are in the Old Testament and 260 in the New Testament. Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible and is also the middle chapter using 594 followed by the same number. There are 23,214 verses in the Old Testament and 7,959 and in the New Testament for a total of 31,173 in the Bible. This online Basic English Bible contains 191 web pages of 5.3 MegaBytes.
ReviewsSigns used in this book.
. . . are used where it is no longer possible to be certain of the true sense of the Hebrew words, and for this reason no attempt has been made to put them into Basic.
* * * are used as a sign that one or more Hebrew words, necessary to the sense have been taken out at some time or other.
[ ] are used for marking additions made by later writers.
< > have been put round the numbers of verses which have been moved to a
different position from that which they have in the Authorised and Revised versions.
Sloping print : When words are used which are not in the Basic list, they are
printed in sloping print the first time they are used in any division of any book.
Small caps : Sloping small capital letters are used in the online version.
The numbers used for divisions of books and for verses are the same as in the Authorized and the Revised Versions of the English Bible.
Glossary These words are commonly found in the Bible that are not Basic English.
baryl - beryllium gemstone
camel - large animal used to carry loads in sand waste lands. Genus Camelus)
cedar - an evergreen tree that grows straight and tall.
cubit - unit of length measure, about 18" or 428 mm.
cypress - an evergreen tree that is known for its longevity. Redwood Family Cupressaceae. electrum - gold with silver mixed, sometimes with a bit of copper
ephah - unit of dry measure, a little over a bushel.
ephod - priestly apron
fig - editable fruit of genus Ficus. frankincense - fragrant gum from a small tree. Genus Boswellia. gopher - an animal that lives under-earth. Rodent family Geomyidae. gopher-wood - a sort of tree, probably cypress. gerah - 1/20 shekel
hin - unit of liquids, about 1.5 gallons, 5.7 liters.
hyssop - plant used to purify
jackal - wild dog-like animal, genus canis aureus lily - tall white flower, genus Lilium. manna - food from God. Likely honeydew.
myrrh - aromatic gum from a small, thorny tree. Genus Commiphora. oak - large hardwood tree of genus Quercus. olive - sort of small fruit most used for oil. Family Oleaceae. omer - unit of dry measure, 1/10 ephah or about a gallon.
ostrich - large, flightless bird of genus Struthio palm - trees famous for growing in warm lands with one trunk ending in fan leaves.
pigeon - a sort of town bird. Family Columbidae.
roe - deer, animal with thin legs noted for running. Family Cervidae shekel - a unit of weight, probably about half ounce or 17 grams ; a sort of coin.
talent - unit of weight, about 67 pounds, 30 kilograms. About one cubic foot of water
