Preferred Bible Translation

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NeilPatrick

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I was reading Pope Benedict’s “Jesus of Nazareth” (which is very good BTW) and noticed that he uses the Revised Standard Version for citation.

When I first started exploring Catholicism I bought a New American Bible from my parish. Now I have three of these: a small St. Joseph one for work (which gets the most use and is wore out), a fireside study one, and a family Bible. In addition to this translation I have also heard of the Good News Bible. I’ve read some stuff about how there’s preference for certain translations and that some people feel certain ones that are more modern are distorted, to which I have no clue. I can’t effectively translate Hebrew, Greek, Latin, etc.

So, which version of the Bible (with all books that Catholics have in their Bible) do you all prefer and why?

Also, if anyone knows of good Bible versions and/or specific printings that are good for beginners let me know. I would like to get my wife some sort of study bible that will encourage her to learn it. I take my Bible straight with some footnotes but I don’t think her learning style is conductive to that; she would do better with a Bible version that helps explain meaning and Catholic theology as well as relevance to her religion. I’ve seen people with study Bibles loaded with bookmarks, notes, etc. and I think something like this would be good for her.
 
I use many translations for different purposes. I use the NAB for bible study and RCIA, because it is the translation used in the mass and most people already have a copy. My favorite bible (and if I could only have one) is the RSV-2CE (Second Catholic Edition). I think it is accurate and for me is the clearest translation. It does not use inclusive language and has removed the ‘thees and thous’ of the RSV-CE (which many others like). I have many other translations which I use for translation comparison (D-R, Jerusalem, REB, NRSV, CCB, NJB).
 
I would try to find her a copy of the 1966 Jerusalem bible on ebay or from a used bookstore. It is a decent translation with extensive notes and cross-references…it is a dynamic translation, so it is not as literal as some but it does a good job of getting the point across with no inclusive language. Plus it has faithful notes unlike some other translations…JMO
 
I have a NAB from years ago when I was taken first communion classes. For the moment it’s the bible I use at home.

I have a New Jerusalem Bible which I keep at work. I really like it. Easy to read and understand. Good footnotes.

I have a NRSV which is also at work and I rarely use it. I realized I prefer bibles with good footnotes and this one has no footnotes. I might put it in the car to replace the NIV bible I have in the car (from before I came back to the Church).
 
NeilPatrick said:
I was reading Pope Benedict’s “Jesus of Nazareth” (which is very good BTW) and noticed that he uses the Revised Standard Version for citation.

When I first started exploring Catholicism I bought a New American Bible from my parish. Now I have three of these: a small St. Joseph one for work (which gets the most use and is wore out), a fireside study one, and a family Bible. In addition to this translation I have also heard of the Good News Bible. I’ve read some stuff about how there’s preference for certain translations and that some people feel certain ones that are more modern are distorted, to which I have no clue. I can’t effectively translate Hebrew, Greek, Latin, etc.

So, which version of the Bible (with all books that Catholics have in their Bible) do you all prefer and why?

Also, if anyone knows of good Bible versions and/or specific printings that are good for beginners let me know.
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RSV. Navarre Bible hands down. More information than you can shake a stick at. You have to love a Bible that’s sold like an encyclopedia set… it’s got more background information on every single passage than you could ever possibly imagine.

I LOVE mine.
 
Hello,
I love my RSV-CE (it might actually be a second edition as there is no thee, thy/ thou). My fiancé’s favorite edition is the NAB. I also have my mom’s Douey-Rhimes which I sometimes like for meditation.

sulkow82 SFO
 
I am torn, as far as favorites for daily reading, between the DR and the RSV-CE. I prefer the RSV-CE primarily due to the text layout, paragraphs to help break up the different points in the reading, as opposed to the DR’s verse by verse separation. I guess you could say that I prefer neither, and generally read from both on a regular basis. At times, I’ll read a passage\chapter from the DR, and re-read it in the RSV-CE. I find I learn\understand quite a bit more by doing this.

I also own a cop of the NAB, a Fireside version that is physically beautiful, soft cover, fantastic feel, but I just don’t care for the translation all that much. I use it primarily for group study, or RCIA type stuff, as it is the preferred for those occasions, and usually everyone has one.
 
The Preference is based on many factors
  • For Liturgy
  • For Study (Lots of footnotes, references )
  • For Devotional use etc
English Translations/Versions of the Bible

The abbreviation of each Bible will be used to identify it. The parentheses contain whether
the translation is Protestant (P) or Catholic (C). The date the translation was made appears
alongside.

ASV American Standard Version P. 1901 More Literal t.
DR Douay Rhiems C 1899\ More Literal t.
JB Jerusalem Bible C 1966 Moderate t
KJV King James Bible P 1611/1769 More Literal t.
KNX Knox Bible C 1970 Twd Paraphrase
LB Living Bible P 1971 Paraphrase
NAB New American Bible C 1987 More Literal t.
NASB New American Standard Bible P 1971 More Literal t.
NEB New English Bible P 1976 Moderate t
NIV New International Version P 1984 Moderate t
NJB New Jerusalem Bible C 1987 Moderate t
NLT New Living TranslationP 1997 Twd Paraphrase
NRS New Revised Standard BibleP 1986 More Literal t.
RSV Revised Standard VersionP/C 1946 Literal t.
TEV Today’s English VersionP/C 1966 Twd Paraphrase

The translations below are given in their order of literalness to the Greek text. Translations differ from one another, since the various translators have differing philosophies.

• Some believe that translations should be word for word, that is, a corresponding English word is chosen for each Greek word.
• Others believe translations should be phrase for phrase.
• Still others believe translations should be thought for thought.

Sometimes, a translator will use combinations of these three approaches.

The more literal the translation the closer one is to the actual Greek text, but not always to the exact Greek meaning, since one Greek word cannot always be translated with one English word.

Often the Greek will have a grammatical nuance that is not found in English,
and therefore the English translation must add or subtract a few words to convey the same meaning.
  1. Douay Rheims-Challoner (very literal)
  2. Haydock Douay Rheims (Troy-Challoner) (very literal)
  3. Original Douay Rheims (ridiculously literal) – fm Latin (Vulgate) -English
  4. Confraternity Bible (NT only) (literal) – frm Latin (Vulgate) DR - English
  5. Mgr Knox Bible (literal) – fm Latin (Vulgate - English
  6. Ignatius Study Bibles (by book) (1966 RSVCE) (literal)
  7. Navarre Bible (1966 RSVCE) (literal)
  8. Ignatius 2nd Catholic Ed RSVCE (Rev of the 1966) (literal)
  9. Oxford RSVCE Readers Ed ('71 RSV + the '66 CE verses) (literal) – fm H4b/Gk - English
  10. 1966 Jerusalem Bible (dynamic equivalence) - fm Heb/Gk-French-English
  11. Christian Community Bible (1st-3rd Edtns) (dynamic eq) – fm Heb/Gk – English (Philippines)
  12. New American Bible 1970 (dynamic equivalence) – fm Heb/Gk to English
  13. New American Bible 1986 (in-between formal and dynamic eq)
  14. New Revised Standard Version (“literal” w/ inclusive lang)
  15. Christian Community Bible (Later Edts) (dynamic eq)
  16. 1985 New Jerusalem Bible (dynamic equivalence)
  17. Catholic Living Bible (dynamic equivalence)
  18. Good New Bible (dynamic equivalence)
1-12 are free from inclusive language
13-18 contain varying amounts of inclusive language
 
NeilPatrick said:
So, which version of the Bible (with all books that Catholics have in their Bible) do you all prefer and why?
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In my case, oftentimes I just struggle through the original Hebrew or Greek - I’ll admit that most of the time, I’ve grown distrustful of many translations. But when I do use them, here’s what I usually read from (I’ll admit that two are Protestant versions):
  • Young’s Literal Translation. Many people might not prefer this one due to Robert Young’s extremely strict, ultra-literal approach (he believed that the “Word of God is made void by the traditions of men” even if just one translation gives a past tense when the original gives a present tense), but I like it precisely because of that: his method gives one a pretty good picture of what the Hebrew and Greek reads like.
  • New English Translation. As Wikipedia advertises it, it is ‘a free, “completely new” on-line English translation of the Bible, " with 60,932 translators’ notes" sponsored by the Biblical Studies Foundation and published by Biblical Studies Press.’ I’m admittedly not too much a fan of the translation itself in some places (it sometimes leans on dynamic equivalence), but the very extensive and oft-lengthy and concise notes are just great (though some may obviously lean towards a Protestant POV), and there is a feature showing the original Hebrew and Greek, albeit in a transliterated form; it takes a while to get used to it and is rather confusing (e.g. the Hebrew transliteration is without vowels and is preserved in its right-to-left order; the Greek transliteration employs h for eta, w for omega, v for the final sigma, c for chi, f for phi, q for psi, and y for theta).
  • NAB, 1970 Edition. I’ll admit that I like the 1970 NAB less than I used to; compared to the present edition, certain parts of it - especially in the NT - are rendered rather loosely and some phrasings might be ‘untraditional’ (one of the good points of the present edition is IMHO it brings back many of the traditional renderings originally eschewed by the 1970 edition): some of the unconventional renderings are good, but others are not.
One plus point though are some of the notes and the appendices which my edition carries: while the prefaces and notes already show some of the problems present in today’s NAB, but I find a good number of the 1970 notes still palatable enough. And the appendices of my edition is just superb, consisting articles such as The Bible in Life of the Church by Augustin Cardinal Bea, The Pagan World in NT Times, or even The English Versions of the Bible (sure dispels the notion that the Bible was only translated in English during Wycliff’s time!)
 
NeilPatrick said:
Also, if anyone knows of good Bible versions and/or specific printings that are good for beginners let me know. I would like to get my wife some sort of study bible that will encourage her to learn it. I take my Bible straight with some footnotes but I don’t think her learning style is conductive to that; she would do better with a Bible version that helps explain meaning and Catholic theology as well as relevance to her religion. I’ve seen people with study Bibles loaded with bookmarks, notes, etc. and I think something like this would be good for her.
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You might want to consider getting your wife The Catholic Women’s Devotional Bible. This version has garned high praise among women who use it, the biggest gripes seeming to be about the translation used, which is the NRSV which tends to be too gender inclusive for some folk’s taste. If she can get around that (and the best way is to have a more literal translation such as the RSV-CE around for cross-reference) this Bible has many, many helps that are an aid to understanding and living the Scriptures. If your wife is like most women, she is looking for primarily practical application rather than hard-core study. This is what this version excells at.

I suggest you read the review and maybe check one out from your library to try it out. I once wrote Zondervan to see if they have a men’s version of this, but they wrote me back and said (at that time) they had no plans to do so.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
NeilPatrick said:
I was reading Pope Benedict’s “Jesus of Nazareth” (which is very good BTW) and noticed that he uses the Revised Standard Version for citation.
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Ummm…I have the utmost respect for the Holy Father’s intellect, but I doubt that he cited the English RSV–that’s the work of the translator, no doubt.

Why the RSV? Published by Ignatius Press, which also publishes…the Pope’s books.

Scott
 
srlucado said:
Ummm…I have the utmost respect for the Holy Father’s intellect, but I doubt that he cited the English RSV–that’s the work of the translator, no doubt.

Why the RSV? Published by Ignatius Press, which also publishes…the Pope’s books.

Scott
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Some of the texts were translated by the Pope him self from the original language… But regardless, beleive it or not Scott the RSV is typically used by the vatican when referencing scripture in English, it can be found for instance in the CCC. Probably because it’s a good, easy to understand, moderen translation which remains very literal (where the NAB for instance isn’t quite as literal).

Face it, the RSV is just a very popular bible translation these days, this is likely not a conspiricy theory.
 
I recently completed RCIA at the Easter Vigil when I first joined RCIA the parish gave me a red paper back NAB that is printed on newsprint. It has become my highlighted and underlined Bible. Next I got a Fireside NAB with the soft cover and pray along Rosary on the back. When I got this I didn’t know about the different translations that much and when I started reading it I found it to be bit clunky. I read the New King James Version when I was protestant which has a very graceful style. Then I started hearing about the Ignatius RSV Bible. I got the leather cover 2nd edition which was extremely beatiful cover and design. It has a gold leaflet rendering of the four evangelists on the cover along with an icon of Jesus. The translation probably exceeded the New King James in literary elegance and has become my favorite translation even above the Protestant versions which I had a tough time leaving when all I had was the NAB I found myself still going back to them. I have now found an appreciation for the NAB and a lot of times I refer to it when I have trouble with the meaning of a passage and have found that a lot of times it is helpful. Anyway, the only problem I had with the Ignatius Bible was that the gold leaflet on the cover kept rubbing off onto my fingers when I was reading the Bible. Jesus face was almost completely gone after about a week since it was in the center of the cover. I got a 10 dollar refund from Ignatius but they didn’t let me exchange it for the hardcover like I wanted. Which is probably a good thing because most of the artwork has remained and I think the leather version is still much nicer than the hardback.
 
krylark5 said:
I recently completed RCIA at the Easter Vigil when I first joined RCIA the parish gave me a red paper back NAB that is printed on newsprint. It has become my highlighted and underlined Bible. Next I got a Fireside NAB with the soft cover and pray along Rosary on the back. When I got this I didn’t know about the different translations that much and when I started reading it I found it to be bit clunky. I read the New King James Version when I was protestant which has a very graceful style. Then I started hearing about the Ignatius RSV Bible. I got the leather cover 2nd edition which was extremely beatiful cover and design. It has a gold leaflet rendering of the four evangelists on the cover along with an icon of Jesus. The translation probably exceeded the New King James in literary elegance and has become my favorite translation even above the Protestant versions which I had a tough time leaving when all I had was the NAB I found myself still going back to them. I have now found an appreciation for the NAB and a lot of times I refer to it when I have trouble with the meaning of a passage and have found that a lot of times it is helpful. Anyway, the only problem I had with the Ignatius Bible was that the gold leaflet on the cover kept rubbing off onto my fingers when I was reading the Bible. Jesus face was almost completely gone after about a week since it was in the center of the cover. I got a 10 dollar refund from Ignatius but they didn’t let me exchange it for the hardcover like I wanted. Which is probably a good thing because most of the artwork has remained and I think the leather version is still much nicer than the hardback.
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I’ve heard a couple complaints online about the flaking, but I have three copies of the RSV-2CE, the leather one I have used every day for the past four years, and two hardbacks and I haven’t had a problem with either one. I even have the RSV-2CE Lectionary (2- volumes) and it has the same cover and I have had no flaking on those either. I guess every so often they have a bad batch.
 
krylark5 said:
I recently completed RCIA at the Easter Vigil when I first joined RCIA the parish gave me a red paper back NAB that is printed on newsprint. It has become my highlighted and underlined Bible. Next I got a Fireside NAB with the soft cover and pray along Rosary on the back. When I got this I didn’t know about the different translations that much and when I started reading it I found it to be bit clunky. I read the New King James Version when I was protestant which has a very graceful style. Then I started hearing about the Ignatius RSV Bible. I got the leather cover 2nd edition which was extremely beatiful cover and design. It has a gold leaflet rendering of the four evangelists on the cover along with an icon of Jesus. The translation probably exceeded the New King James in literary elegance and has become my favorite translation even above the Protestant versions which I had a tough time leaving when all I had was the NAB I found myself still going back to them. I have now found an appreciation for the NAB and a lot of times I refer to it when I have trouble with the meaning of a passage and have found that a lot of times it is helpful. Anyway, the only problem I had with the Ignatius Bible was that the gold leaflet on the cover kept rubbing off onto my fingers when I was reading the Bible. Jesus face was almost completely gone after about a week since it was in the center of the cover. I got a 10 dollar refund from Ignatius but they didn’t let me exchange it for the hardcover like I wanted. Which is probably a good thing because most of the artwork has remained and I think the leather version is still much nicer than the hardback.
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I had a similar experience as Krylark in that my first bible was a free one while I was recovering from bad shin splints while at Parris Island. It was a NKJV and I think it is a great and underrated translation. I had some protestant tendancies back then but I never denounced my Catholicism (although I was at odds with some stuff I thought was contradictory to the Bible). I had this bible for 14 years and I decided finally to get a new one (which ended up being a LOT of bibles!). I eventually purchased an RSV-CE Ignatgius and read about the RSV being heretical and obscuring and deleting texts. I didnt like the blue hardback Ignatius format. Very hard on the eyes. I eventually decided to try the RSV again with the Oxford readers edition in Genuine leather. This translation I think is outstanding and even better than the ESV or the NKJV. Its the best Catholic translation (though essentially done by Protestants 😦 ) there is I believe. I do like the DR version, and I am liking the ODR version a lot, but when it comes to literalness and beauty of literacy, The RSV-CE is the best to me.
I do like the CTS bible, which is a Jerusalem Bible for the most part, but when I read it, I can just tell its not literal, and something about that doesnt sit well with me.
I do read the KJV, the ESV, and the NASB on occasion and all of these, while not Catholic translations, are very well done. The reason I read the KJV more than the DR is not really because of the translation itself, but on the execution of the bible itself . I have an Allan 53R Longprimer and it is so beautiful and so incredibly easy to read because of the font and layout. Quality in Catholic bibles, as has been noted on this site many a times is sadly lacking.

For a literal yet beautiful in a literary sense while maintaining ease of reading translation, I would recommend the RSV-CE above all others. Id suggest the DR version later.
 
The Catholic Public Domain Version of the Bible, translated from the Clementine Vulgate (Latin) using the Challoner Douay Version as a guide, is available online and as a free download (PDF format, kindle book format).

Also available are several different editions of the Bible in Latin.

sacredbible.org/

I use my own translation (CPDV), the Douay Rheims, the Latin, and the RSV2, as well as numerous other editions. It is useful to compare different translations. Also, there are a number of interlinears available online that can be helpful at times.
 
I use many different translations, but my top choice is the ESV, followed closely by the HCSB and the TNIV.

I particularly like the NEB and the Phillips NT for devotional purposes.

If we limit it to those with the 73 book canon, as in Catholic bibles, I’ll go with the NRSV, which would suit me well enough for all purposes if need be.

I’ll give an honorable mention to the Douay-Rheims/Challoner, which I’ve only just recently acquired. It’s a little archaic, but not nearly as bad in that respect as the KJV. I’m enjoying it so far. Overall, it seems pretty likable.
 
I recently got the Confraternity NT. I am really enjoying it. I am RC but have been reading mostly the NLT-Catholic reference edtion. I know it’s not a RC Bible but, does include all the books. The Confraternity NT does seem to be readable and understandable.
 
Any Bible which you feel comfortable with iss ok for reading.

My personal comment is that “what seems understandable”, IDoes it convey the correct meaning of the author ?
i.e. The Literal interpretation as well as the Spiritual Dimensions.

It would be good to refer to what the Early Church Fathers have to say as well as from reliable Catholic Bibles (I mean from their footnotes and interpretations of the various passages).

Blessings
 
I use the Revised Standard Version 2nd Catholic Edition, but I do occasionally compare and contrast it with the NAB, KJV, and the Douay-Rheims.
 
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