Oxford Catholic Comparative New Testament

[Bible_Reader]

For all you collectors out there:

Let me recommend the Oxford Catholic Comparative New Testament, which is currently on sale (60% off) as a “bargain price book” at Amazon for $14. It has the Rheims (Challoner), RSV-CE, NSRV-CE, NAB, JB, NJB, Good News, and Christian Community Bible – all with imprimatur. It is laid out in a eight-fold pattern so you can see parallel translations on single page spreads. I like it and find it useful to see how different translations approach a given text. The print is not especially large, but the book is a well-constructed hard-cover.

It was on sale last week, and I bought five copies for friends. As a result, it was temporarily “sold out” at the 60% price of $14. (It was only available at the regular Amazon price of $23.09.) After a few days, it was back in stock again. If you want this book, but find that it is “sold out” at this price, check back in a few days – perhaps it will be back in stock.

 

[Bible_Reader]

I should mention that in this version the NAB footnotes have been modified. Here are the full details:

The Rheims-Challoner has no notes (but some editions of Challoner I have seen have footnotes.)

The NAB has been modified to have textual notes only (I know some readers out there will prefer it in this version!)

The RSV comes with full notes (textual notes are on the same page, but “Explanatory Notes” and “List of Changes in the RSV for the Catholic Edition” are in appendices).

The NRSV comes with standard textual notes.

The JB comes with the same footnotes as in the “Reader’s Edition”.

The NJB comes with the same footnotes as in the “Standard Edition”.

The Good News Translation comes with the standard footnotes.

The Christian Community Bible does not appear to have footnotes, although it has cross-references in the gospels integrated into the text.

The acknowledgments to the text mentions that “the Publisher wishes to thank … the translation owners, who have allowed numerous minor adjustments so that all four !!!] translations can fit into the parallel format.” It seems this text is from an earlier Oxford parallel Bible, The Complete Parallel Bible which also removed most of the NAB footnotes.