Looking for a Confraternity Douay Rheims

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Hello. I have been looking for a Catholic study Bible with commentaries, book introductions, great footnotes, no inclusive language, and strict literal translations (trying not to veer from the Vulgate and original manuscripts). I am still wondering which Bible I should get without breaking the bank ($40 and below), but I have two in consideration right now: the Didache Bible (RSV-2CE edition) or the Douay-Challoner version.

With the Douay, I am wondering which version of the Douay has what I am looking for in a study Bible as mentioned above, as well as more understandable English. I have heard of a Confraternity Douay Rheims, but I am not sure which version is best because I have heard that a few are forerunners to the NAB, and I do not like the NAB. Any thoughts on finding a Confraternity Douay Rheims, such as websites to buy them from? Also, are there other versions of the Confraternity Douay I could look into? Thank you.
 
Get the RSV-2CE.

I often attend a FSSP parish and the FSSP priest uses the RSV-2CE for his Bible Studies.

Many like the Confraternity version (and some don’t) but there are not many of them around. RSV-2CE is most likely the easier for studying.
 
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I’d also suggest an RSV-2CE. You can find online versions of the Douay-Rheims and Haydock’s Commentary. You can’t find, for example, Scott Hahn’s New Testament study Bible commentary online. I got his for that reason, and I didn’t pay ~$100 like I would for a DR with Haydock’s Commentary. The only downside is that his OT and NT Bibles are going to be separate, and his OT Bible Mary be in a couple volumes, but the OT is his specialty, so I’m sure it will be chock full of great details. Plus if it’s like the NT, the text will be nice and big!
 
Hi!

I don’t know if you can find a study version of the Douay, but I bought a copy from an Amazon Storefront dealer fo less than $15 in very good condition. And, if you don’t mind just the NT, there’s a Douay NT with Haydock’s Commentary. It’s a reproduction of an 1859 printing.

Good hunting!
 
As good as the RSV-2CE is, it leaves me rather flat. Just something about the prose, I don’t know. I have had one for years, reading it occasionally. If you can find a Knox, that is excellent. The Douay-Confraternity is a prime example of the pinnacle of American Catholic bibles. Always a work in progress, excellent copies may be had for $10-$20 on eBay, for example. in particular, the intros and footnotes are 100% Catholic with no modernist relativism as we see in a certain American bible.

But, for what you want to spend, look into thrift stores, eBay, Amazon and ThriftBooks. You can amass a fair collection for $100 or so, given time and perseverance.
 
porthos11 said:
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phil19034:
I often attend a FSSP parish and the FSSP priest uses the RSV-2CE for his Bible Studies.
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Really? I’m fairly surprised to hear that.
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Yeap. He sometimes uses the RSV-CE too.

That’s because the RSV-CE and RSV-2CE are often considered the best for STUDY Bibles. Not necessarily devotional reading, but for studying.

Sometimes when the translation is questionable or greatly differs, he will ask someone in the class to read what the DR and/or Knox translations of a verse are.

Otherwise, he only allows people to read outloud from the RSV-CE or RSV-2CE

as FYI - for the Mass readings, he reads from the Confraternity translation during his homily and prints the readings in the bulletin using the DR translation.

So our FSSP parishes uses DR, Confraternity, RSV-CE, & RSV-2CE translations
 
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I was looking into the Knox, and I saw that it wasn’t strict with the Vulgate and its manuscripts. I also read that it was composed single-handedly. How much concern should I have from a Bible composed by one person (yes, St. Jerome worked on the Latin Vulgate by himself, from what I understand)?
 
Does the Knox Bible contain commentaries, footnotes, and book introductions?
 
No, I don’t have a Knox. Everything I’ve ever heard about it is that it is great for devotional reading & Lectio Divina. However, I’ve haven’t heard much positive about it in regards to academic study. Again, the RSV-CE and RSV-2CE so far, are still the leaders in that category.

If it helps, some books from the Knox are used by the British version of the Divine Office.

While the Knox is not approved for Mass, some readings from the Knox are used in their Divine Office:

http://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Resources/Scripture/Versions.shtml
 
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@AHelpingHand

Here’s a review of the Knox I found.
A beautifully bound volume, I find myself responding with fresh eyes to the layout, which is formatted like prose, and the minimal distraction of footnotes. This is not a study bible; it’s a reading bible, and Knox’s language pulls us into the scriptural stories and images we know so very well and then elevates us with its staggering beauty. … Yes, I read it and I wept. Not in fear, not in despair, but in consolation at the reminder, rendered so beautifully by Knox, that the world has resided in the madness of sin and shadow since Eden, but we are never abandoned, and need never be afraid.
- Gratefully weeping through the Knox Bible - Elizabeth Scalia in First Things, 2012
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Also, here is a thread on the Knox Bible as FYI: I bought the Knox Bible - #18 by BartholomewB
 
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Ok, thank you. Back to the Didache or Douay (and what Douay I should get 😛)
 
AHelpingHand said:
Ok, thank you. Back to the Didache or Douay (and what Douay I should get 😛)
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Get the Didache Bible (RSV-2CE edition).

You can read the Douay for free online. Currently, the good copies of the Douay you can buy are all expensive “keepsake” Bibles.

The Didache Bible was meant for study and lots of tough use.
 
Ok, thank you! (One last question though…do you know if it has footnotes, book introductions, etc.? Sorry if I keep asking).
 
The Knox is Clementine Vulgate based, with reference to the Hebrew and Greek in areas that were not clear. Some say it is idiosyncratic. Well, for that matter, Christ was rather idiosyncratic! I find the translation, as with Saint Jerome’s, to be warmer and more human that committee-based translations.
 
phil19034 said:
RSV-2CE is most likely the easier for studying
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I’ve been using the Douay-Rheims lately, but I second this. As an aside, I was at a Ruthenian Byzantine Church in Pennsylvania, and I was so happy the Bibles they had in the pews were this version.
 
If you decide to go with a Confraternity Bible, try to find one from the Catholic Book Publishing Company. At the time of their publication, I found these version to be the best. They have several study aides in the back of the books, including a reading plan, Topical Study guide, table of references, historical indexes and more. Some of them even have a Harmony of the Four Gospels.

I say some because, I have a few of their versions which are dated prior to 1953, meaning they contain the Douay OT, but not all of them have that Harmony of the Four Gospels. Another difference I noticed is that in some later printings, the table of references are more in depth too.
 
The Didache Bible uses the CCC as its primary source for commentary. I really like it.
 
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