[1] The REB is the result of both advances in scholarship and translation made since the 1960s and also a desire to correct what have been seen as some of the NEB's more egregious errors (for examples of changes, see the references).

In Psalm 1, the REB avoids using a male noun ("man") while also retaining the masculine singular pronouns ("his"): "Happy is the one who does not take the counsel of the wicked for a guide... His delight is in the law of the Lord."

The REB's general accuracy and literary flavour have led Stephen Mitchell and others to praise it as one of the best English language renderings.

[2] According to the American Bible Society, the NEB had a "considerable British flavor" but the REB "removed much of this distinctiveness and aimed to be more accessible to an international audience".

Macintosh; W. McKane; I. H. Marshall; R. A. Mason; I. Moir; R. Murray; E. W. Nicholson; C. H. Roberts; R. B. Salters; P. C. H. Wernberg-Moller; M. F. Wiles Literary advisers: M. H. Black; M. Caird; J. K. Cordy, Baroness de Ward; I.