Bible question

  • Thread starter Thread starter ClearWater
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

ClearWater

Guest
As many already know, I live in Mexico, and my Bible’s in Spanish. It’s what is commonly sold here at Catholic stores. The version is the Latin American one. That’s what it’s called.

Now, I see they also sell a Jerusalem edition, and one priest recommended that over the Latin American one.

Further, I have been told on the forum that there is the NAB, but I haven’t even seen that here, translated or not.

I am wondering if the differences would be significant.

Do you think I should get the Jerusalem Bible then as it might be a better translation, more accurate, say?
 
For a literal translation I’ll stick with Douay–Rheims; for a dynamic translation I’d look at something like the New English or Revised English Bibles.
 
To directly answer your question, the NAB is a version prepared by the US bishops and primarily used in the United States. A variation of it is used for the lectionary used at Mass here. It’s an “OK” translation, but truth be told, I probably wouldn’t use it if it wasn’t for the reasons above. It isn’t a particularly beautiful translation, and in some cases the word choices are questionable and even cringe-worthy. The footnotes are problematic for a lot of people even though, to be fair, there is a lot of helpful information there too. There are lots of threads in these forums about this, so I won’t elaborate.

The JB is a nice translation to read for meditation and devotions. It’s easy to read, but I think it lacks accuracy overall. Probably not as good for serious study as say, the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Version, 2nd Edition, the Douay or even the NAB.

I’d be interested in knowing your priest’s reasons for specifically recommending the JB.
 
ClearWater said:
As many already know, I live in Mexico, and my Bible’s in Spanish. It’s what is commonly sold here at Catholic stores. The version is the Latin American one. That’s what it’s called.

Now, I see they also sell a Jerusalem edition, and one priest recommended that over the Latin American one.

Further, I have been told on the forum that there is the NAB, but I haven’t even seen that here, translated or not.

I am wondering if the differences would be significant.

Do you think I should get the Jerusalem Bible then as it might be a better translation, more accurate, say?
Click to expand...
The Jerusalem Bible is quite a “scholarly” translation.

On the positive side, it’s a translation that reads well, is magnificently formatted (prose vs. poetry), doesn’t use inclusive language, and is approved by the Catholic Church. Its New Testament notes are moderate-to-conservative.

On the downside, it uses the personal name “Yahweh” (a transliteration of YHWH) for God in the Old Testament, has a few “liberal” notes (see the introduction to Daniel) and has a few unfortunate translations (check out 1 Corinthians 7:2 and try not to cringe).

Personally, I like it. It’s the best of the “post-Vatican II” translations, and I’ve been reading it ever since my father lent me his old copy. If you prefer something more thoroughly orthodox, the Revised Standard Version (2nd Catholic Edition) is a better option. 🙂
 
I’ve heard good things about the Jerusalem Bible, I’ve heard bad
things about the NAB (Psalm issues and so forth), I don’t know
much, but Jerusalem sounds better than NAB.
 
It is better than the NAB, and miles ahead of the NAB-RE. (Even the New Jerusalem is better than the NAB / NAB-RE, but that’s a different topic.) 😃
 
I guess probably none of you would know anything about the Latin American version of the Bible, which is the one I have. Well, it seems to be accepted by the Catholic Church here, which is the main thing.

Anyway, I guess if I go to another kind, the easier one to find, at least here, would be the Jerusalem Bible.

Thanks for the info!
 
Unless you are a scholar, any version approved by the church is suitable, beyond that it’s personal taste. It’s not the translation of the verbiage that is important, but the message from the Holy Spirit…the very best version is the one you are reading at any given moment!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top