Bible translations (comic + need suggestions)

[GRA]

Here's a comic that I found about certain translations - http://adam4d.com/translations/.

I'm also looking for a Bible to purchase. My mom has the New American Bible, so I was wondering if that would be adequate as I read and become more familiar with the Bible (in general). What supplement reading do you package the Bible with? I read that the Douay–Rheims translation often gets positive marks.

[austenbosten]

I really tend to stay away from the NAB.  Any Bible translation that goes through as many revisions as the NAB, is not a Bible a Catholic should take seriously.  It's wording is dynamic, instead of literal...but what makes it bad for Catholics, are the heterodox footnotes.

I recommend either the Douay-Rheims, RSV-CE, Jerusalem.

For study, I tend to use a lot of the Haydock Commentary, St Thomas Aquinas's Catena Aurea (for Gospels only), and AgapeBibleStudy.com...though I do not care for their reliance on Jewish bibles.


If you can afford it, I heard that the Navarre Bible is a good study bible.

[Confiteor Deo]

I would recommend the Douay-Rheims Bible since it is solidly Catholic. I don't have any supplements to my Bible besides Bishop Challoner's notes on the bottom.

[Sequentia]

Here's a comic that I found about certain translations - http://adam4d.com/translations/.

I'm also looking for a Bible to purchase. My mom has the New American Bible, so I was wondering if that would be adequate as I read and become more familiar with the Bible (in general). What supplement reading do you package the Bible with? I read that the Douay–Rheims translation often gets positive marks.

Douay-Rheims if you're looking for an orthodox, traditionally-worded Catholic Bible; DR utilizes the Latin Vulgate.

If you want to use the translation of the Byzantine/Eastern Catholic Churches that also uses traditional language, the KJV with Deuterocanonical books or the NKJV is an option. Obviously these are not Catholic translations but many Eastern churches use them as their English translations in the liturgy.

If you're looking for a more modern translation that uses the name of God (YHWH) and is full of copious footnotes, the 1966 Jerusalem Bible is a good choice.

Perhaps if you're looking for a translation that is more modern but utilizes traditional language, the RSV: Catholic Edition and RSV: Second Catholic Edition are great choices. There's also the Navarre Bible, which uses the RSV: CE as its main text but gives Catholic commentary from a variety of different sources.

Lastly, you can't go wrong with the Knox Bible, which is translated from the Latin Vulgate but was translated in the mid-20th century. It also uses traditional-sounding language but I believe Knox took into consideration Greek sources as well.

Honestly, I wouldn't bother with any other translations from the ones listed above. The NAB/NAB: RE are used liturgies in the U.S.A; while the translation itself is not bad, I would not recommend it due to the modernist footnotes. I often wonder why our church hierarchy and the USCCB is so obsessed with historical-critical method when it comes to translating scripture. Not to mention the fact that they use translators who are not even remotely Catholic.

[formerbuddhist]

The Knox is my favorite for the Pauline Epistles....I like the KJV for an elegant style in English...I use the HTM pocket psalter ( which is a somewhat stilted but still hieratic translation of the LXX psalter) . I also actually like the ESV believe it or not. I found a beautiful leather pocket edition laying around and took it. It's not the best Bible, and certainly not Catholic, but it's not horrible either. It's much better than the NAB.  RSVCE is pretty good...I've got the little Ignatius press pocket one...

Overall it's nice to have a few different bibles so you can get a feel for certain books you like. For me, it wasn't till I started reading Knox's version of the Epistles that St. Paul's more obscure passages became more comprehensible to me.

I too lament that the trend in bibles seems to be almost exclusively based on the Masoretic text with notes that come from the most damning and skeptical wings of historical critical scholarship and philology.

Catena Aurea is a nice commentary. It's always nice to read what the Fathers say. I also reccommend St. Bernard's sermons. There's a reason he's called " the last of the Fathers" , as his sermons are filled with scriptural imagery and a sacramental imagination in ways that I've never seen from moderns.

[Sequentia]

I also actually like the ESV believe it or not. I found a beautiful leather pocket edition laying around and took it. It's not the best Bible, and certainly not Catholic, but it's not horrible either. It's much better than the NAB.  RSVCE is pretty good...I've got the little Ignatius press pocket one...

I have to admit I like the ESV as well. I think the ESV would do well to become a "Catholic Edition," in the way Ignatius does with the RSV. Crossway will never publish a "Catholic Edition" of the ESV though; I definitely don't see that happening since they are staunchly Protestant/Reformed. I think Oxford University Press (?) printed their own ESV with Deuterocanonical books from either the KJV or RSV, but read reviews about it stating the thin pages and placement of the Deuterocanonical books were not favorable.

I suppose one could dream, of course for an ESV: Catholic Edition.

[olorin12]

Being a member of the Ordinariate, I'd like to have a Catholic edition of the KJV.

[austenbosten]

Being a member of the Ordinariate, I'd like to have a Catholic edition of the KJV.

The RSV-CE will probably  be the closest you get to a Catholic Bible based on the KJV.

Me, I'd prefer the Douay-Rheims.  Written around the same time as the KJV and Catholic approved.  If you want a poetic translation, the Knox Bible would be good. 

[GRA]

Thank you for the suggestions. With some thought and the voices shared here, it seems like I'll be hunting down the D-R and Knox translation, and maybe the KJV.

[GangGreen]

D-R and Knox are probably the best way to go. D-R can be a bit tough because of the language. It can easily turn you off. I'd suggest reading maybe a few chapters here and there in each and deciding which you like better.

Here's John with D-R
http://www.drbo.org/chapter/50001.htm

and

Here's Knox
http://newadvent.org/bible/joh001.htm