Deuterocanon translations

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Hi all,
I’m not Catholic (I lean more towards the anabaptists) but I’ve recently come to appreciate the deutercanonical books after starting to learn about and read the ante-nicene church writings. I have a copy of the NRSV with the deutercanonical books. I’ve almost finished reading through them for the first time.

I’ve recently been trying to read some of the books from the RSV to my older children but the language is just to advanced for them. This brings me to my question, can somebody point me to a website that goes into in detail or perhaps just tell me here what English translations of the Bible include the deutercanon and where they fall on the literal to paraphrase spectrum. As I’m not Catholic I don’t particularly care about the lectionary notes or whether or not they are officially sanctioned by the Catholic church. If I can get a complete enough understanding and list created I may make a website to share my findings. It seems to me that for every thousand pro-traditional protestant doctrine sites on the internet there is online one Catholic site. I understand that that’s a bit of a church culture difference but it’s frustrating when I want to find information from “the other side”.

Also, does anybody know if any of these versions, besides the Douay-Rheims, are available for free download?

Here’s my start:

Douay-Rheims–officially sanctioned–literal, and more challenging to read–available online or for download

World English Bible–non-Catholic versions–literal, moderately challenging–available for online for download in text or audio

New Revised Standard–non-Catholic versions–literal, moderately challenging–available for online only

Jerusalem Bible–officially sanctioned–?–?

New Jerusalem Bible–officially sanctioned–?–?

Good New Bible (aka. Today’s English Version)----non-Catholic versions–paraphrase, easy to read–available to read online but not to download

New American Bible–officially sanctioned–?–?
 
Hello from another Anabaptist!

I have a copy of the KJV with the “Apocrypha”. It’s organized differently from a Catholic bible (All the deuterocanonical books are in a separate section that is clearly and unambigously marked “APOCRYPHA” on every page, and has a few extra books that I understand are apocryphal to Catholics as well. The KJV is considered to be a pretty literal translation, more so than the NIV, but less so than the NASB. It’s certainly not approved by the Catholic Church, as far as I’m aware, but the books should all be there. And since it’s the KJV, it’s probably at least as hard to understand as the Douay version, but it was a Protestant effort, if you’d prefer to read that. The KJV is out of copyright virtually everywhere and should be available online. Any of the other English translations from that era should also have the deuterocanonical books - for example the Geneva and Bishops’ Bible also have it, and they are online.

I’ve read from the Jerusalem Bible, and it’s pretty reasonable reading, somewhat similar to the NIV. I think it’s still in copyright.
 
This website may be of help:

usccb.org/nab/bible/index.shtml

The NAB is available online at USCCB with “hot bottons” to footnotes and to related Testament Scripture passages.

Later in the year, the USCCB website will have the revised NAB online.

Daily liturgical readings and their mediations are also available on the website.
 
There’s a bible called the “21st Century King James Version of the Holy Bible”. It includes the deuterocanonical books, I think. Also, there’s the affiliated “Third Millennium Bible” which includes the deuterocanonical books. I haven’t an idea as to whether they are approved by the Church, but that doesn’t matter to you, you said 🙂

Hope I’ve helped!
God Bless! :signofcross::byzsoc:
 
“…what English translations of the Bible include the deutercanon and where they fall on the literal to paraphrase spectrum.”
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuterocanonical_books
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"Sirach, whose Hebrew text was already known from the Cairo Geniza, has been found in two scrolls (2QSir or 2Q18, 11QPs_a or 11Q5) in Hebrew. Another Hebrew scroll of Sirach has been found in Masada (MasSir).[7]:597
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The **Book of Tobit **has been found in Qumran in four scrolls written in Aramaic and in one written in Hebrew.[7]:636
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The Letter of Jeremiah (or Baruch chapter 6) has been found in cave 7 (7Q5) in Greek.[7]:628
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It has been theorized by recent scholars that the Qumran library was not entirely produced at Qumran, but may have included part of the library of the Jerusalem Temple, that may have been hidden in the caves for safekeeping at the time it was destroyed by Romans in 70 AD.
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The Catholic deuterocanonical scriptural texts are:
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Tobit
Judith
Additions to Esther (Vulgate Esther 10:4-16:24)[18]
Wisdom
Sirach, also called Ben Sira or Ecclesiasticus
Baruch, including the Letter of Jeremiah (Additions to Jeremiah in the Septuagint)[19]
Additions to Daniel:
Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children (Vulgate Daniel 3:24-90)
Susanna (Vulgate Daniel 13, Septuagint prologue)
Bel and the Dragon (Vulgate Daniel 14, Septuagint epilogue)
1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees"
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Books of Maccabees 1 & 2 - Relate Jewish history concerning Hanukkah - Festival of Lights.

Judith - This biblical archeological website talks a bit about Judith and Holofernes at cojs.org/pdf/exile_return.pdf

At the USCCB website, each of the Books have an introduction - helping to explain the text.

For example 1 Maccabees: usccb.org/nab/bible/1maccabees/intro.htm
2 Maccabees: usccb.org/nab/bible/2maccabees/intro.htm
 
Here also is the New Jerusalem Bible translation. When you ask if a Bible is “officially sanctioned” I’m not sure exactly in what sense you ask. The NAB is what is typically used in the U.S. for mass in the vernacular. The Latin Vulgate is what is cited by the Magisterium in encyclicals and whatnot. But you will find many sound Catholic theologians, professors, apologists, etc… who readily read many different translations, including “Protestant” translations. So whichever of the Bibles in your list your kids would understand best, I’d say go with that one! :o
 
Here’s a list of approved Catholic Bible versions from EWTN. I should note that this list leaves off the Knox Bible, which was out of print for a while, but has been recently published again, and the revised New American Bible, which just came out literally this month. There is also the RSV-CE 2nd Edition, which replaces the “thees and thous” with modern word usage. The list contains the information you’re looking for with regard to inclusive language and literal vs. dynamic translation.

Bible Versions and Commentaries
Liturgical Use in United States
There is only one English text currently approved by the Church for use in the United States. This text is the one contained in the Lectionaries approved for Sundays & Feasts and for Weekdays by the USCCB and recognized by the Holy See. These Lectionaries have their American and Roman approval documents in the front. The text is that of the New American Bible with revised Psalms and New Testament (1988, 1991), with some changes mandated by the Holy See where the NAB text used so-called vertical inclusive language (e.g. avoiding male pronouns for God). Since these Lectionaries have been fully promulgated, the permission to use the Jerusalem Bible and the RSV-Catholic at Mass has been withdrawn. [See note on inclusive language]

Devotional Reading
A bewildering array of Catholic Bibles are available for personal use. They all have imprimaturs, but not all avoid the use of inclusive language. That use is indicated in the summary. The order is generally chronological.

1. Douai-Rheims. The original Catholic Bible in English, pre-dating the King James Version (1611). It was translated from the Latin Vulgate, the Church’s official Scripture text, by English Catholics in exile on the continent. The NT was completed and published in 1582 when the English College (the seminary for English Catholics) was located at Rheims. The Old Testament was published in 1610 when the College was located at Douai. Bishop Challoner’s 1750 edition, and subsequent revisions by others up to the 20th century, is the most common edition. Retains some archaic English. The 1899 edition is available from TAN Books. The text is widely available on line, including EWTN’s library.

**2. Confraternity Edition. **Begun in 1936 by the American bishops’ Confraternity for Christian Doctrine as a translation from the Clementine Vulgate. The publication of Pius XII’s encyclical Divino afflante spiritu (1943) caused the translation committee to switch to the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts. Not all books were completed by the time of Vatican II (1962-1965). Those that were finished were used in the liturgy in the 1950s and 60s. Published in a dignified American idiom. Though hard to find, this edition of the Scriptures is worth possessing.

3. Revised Standard Version (RSV) - Catholic Edition. Translated for an American audience from the original languages in the 1940s and 1950s by the National Council of the Churches of Christ, and adapted for Catholic use by the Catholic Biblical Association (1966). Considered the best combination of literal (formal equivalence translation) and literary by many orthodox Catholic scholars. Published today by Ignatius Press (Ignatius Bible) and Scepter Press, and available through EWTN’s Religious Catalogue.
 
4.1 New American Bible or NAB (1970). Translated from the original languages by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine according to the principles of Vatican II for use in the liturgy. It was the basis of the American Lectionary from the 1970s until 2002. A good translation, but it was criticized for its changing of some traditional and familiar expressions, such as “full of grace”.

4.2 NAB with Revised New Testament (1986). A restoration of some traditional familiar phraseology. Unfortunately, it also included some mild inclusive language. No longer widely available, owing to the publication of the revised Psalms (see next entry).

4.3 NAB with Revised Psalms and Revised New Testament (1991). It was due to the use of vertical inclusive language (re: God and Christ) and some uses of horizontal inclusive language (re: human beings), that the Holy See rejected this text as the basis of a revised Lectionary for the United States. This is the version of the NAB currently on sale in the United States.

4.4 Modified NAB with Revised Psalms and Revised New Testament (2000-2002). This title is of my own invention. It does not refer to any currently available Bible, but to the NAB with Revised Psalms and Revised NT, as modified by a committee of the Holy See and the Bishops for use in the liturgy. It is the text found in all current Lectionaries in the U.S… The Holy See accepted some use of inclusive language, where the speaker/author intended a mixed audience (e.g. “brothers and sisters”, instead of the older “brethren”), but rejected it in references to God or Christ, and man, where the word has anthropological and theological significance (e.g. Psalm 1:1, with reference to Adam and Christ). Whether a Bible will be made available having these modified NAB texts is not known at this time. Since they do not extend to the entire Bible, it is possible that none will be, as that would require further editing of the underlying NAB text.

5. Jerusalem Bible (1966). A translation based on the French edition of the Dominicans of the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem, who translated it from the original languages. This Bible is the one used by Mother Angelica on the air. The full version has copious footnotes but is hard to find, as it has not been recently republished. A Reader’s Edition, without the full footnoting, is available through EWTN’s Religious Catalogue.

6. New Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition (1989). An adaptation for Catholic use of the NRSV of the National Council of the Churches of Christ. Although used in the American edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it was rejected for liturgical use by the Holy See owing to inclusive language in some unacceptable places. With this exception, like the predecessor RSV, it is a good formal equivalent translation (i.e. literal, but literary).

7. New Jerusalem Bible (1990). A revision of the Jerusalem Bible directly from the original languages. It contains inclusive language, similar to that rejected in the revised NAB by the Holy See for use in the liturgy, but is considered a very literary text, and comparable in quality to the NRSV in scholarship.

8. Today’s’ English Version - Catholic (1992). This is the Catholic edition of the popular Good News Bible by the American Bible Society. Translated according to the principle of dynamic equivalence for readability. The same principle was used by ICEL to translate the Mass texts. Would be better to call a paraphrase than a translation.
 
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