Bible translator Dr. Barclay Moon Newman, Jr., 89, died December 7, 2020 in his hometown of Springfield, Missouri.

While employed by American Bible Society (ABS), Dr. Newman was chair and chief translator of the Contemporary English Version (CEV) of the Bible, first published in 1995. He was also a member of the Old Testament Committee for the Good News Bible (Today’s English Version) published in 1976, and he went on to chair the revision that was published in 1992 as the Good News Translation (GNT).

According to ABS, Dr. Newman said of the CEV translation,

“We are trying to set God’s Word free from traditional translations that don’t speak in down-to-earth language—that don’t use everyday colloquial English to express the meaning of the eternal Word of God. Symbolically, it is what the apostle John means when he states … [the] Word becomes a human being, comes down to earth and becomes one of us. Looking into the life of Jesus here on earth to see what God is like—this is what the Word is all about.”

Dr. Newman was fond of quoting Martin Luther, who, when he translated the Scriptures into German, tried to make Jesus sound “so German” that no one would ever believe he was not a native German speaker. Also like Martin Luther, Dr. Newman embodied a wit and humor that belied his incredible academic prowess. His command of the language enabled him to inspire, inform, enlighten and delight all who knew him.

[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, History of the American Bible Society: An Interview with John Fea]

In 1992, Dr. Newman received the Outstanding Achievement Award from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee and in 1996 he received that same award from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

[Read other obituaries on Bible Gateway Blog]

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