What is the best catholic (version) Bible out there?

[EphelDuath]

Hardly anyone knows that uncovering nakedness means having sexual relations.

Is that so? It seems pretty obvious to me. Even if one doesn’t immediately know the idiom of “uncovering nakedness”, he can at least surmise that it has something to do with sexual modesty.

Really, in this instance, I think the RSV and D-R have expressed the meaning of the passage in a vivid and poetic form, whereas the NAB has chosen to express it like an office memorandum. This is a serious problem I have with many modern translations – albeit it’s not as alarming as the footnotes directly telling you that Catholicism is wrong (which is totally indefensible), I think the Holy Scriptures should be translated in a way that captures the reader by the power and beauty of the text. After all, the original authors were talking about the infinite and harrowing glory of the almighty God – so if that feeling has not been accurately conveyed, there is a sense of the Scriptures that are lost in translation.

There was a great article on First Things in 2011 that talked about how the NAB is a thoroughly insufficient translation, in this regard: firstthings.com/article/2011/05/a-bumping-boxcar-language

The bland, Scripture-muffling, colorless, odorless, gaseous paraphrase American Catholics have had for forty years often was not a translation at all, nor even a paraphrase into English. It was a paraphrase into Nabbish, the secret official language of the New American Bible.

…

What does one do to turn the word of God into Nabbish? Blunt it whenever possible; grind down the word of God into a dull-edged sword…

St. Paul is in prison, awaiting execution. He is writing to his beloved disciple, the bishop Timothy. He regards the many years of his life spent preaching the word of God; he thinks of the shipwrecks, the stonings, the narrow escapes, the joys and the sorrows. And he utters those bold words that ring in the heart of every true Christian. Here they are in the Revised Standard Version, an exact translation of the Greek into contemporary English (and quite close to the King James): I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

The first clause is simply stunning. Ton kalon agona egonismai, says Paul, giving us a new idea: that there is, in fact, a good fight to fight, the good fight, the beautiful fight to bring the good news to all mankind. The verb is simply the noun fight in a different grammatical form. We imagine the saint personally in the agon of life, literally the arena, fighting. Not in Nabbish, though. In Nabbish we take St. Paul from that good fight to, say, a spelling bee, or just to something or other with someone or other, with outcome unclear: I have competed well. Try to remember that as you await your own last hours. Just try.

 

[PeaceInChrist]

Is that so? It seems pretty obvious to me. Even if one doesn’t immediately know the idiom of “uncovering nakedness”, he can at least surmise that it has something to do with sexual modesty.

Really, in this instance, I think the RSV and D-R have expressed the meaning of the passage in a vivid and poetic form, whereas the NAB has chosen to express it like an office memorandum. This is a serious problem I have with many modern translations – albeit it’s not as alarming as the footnotes directly telling you that Catholicism is wrong (which is totally indefensible), I think the Holy Scriptures should be translated in a way that captures the reader by the power and beauty of the text. After all, the original authors were talking about the infinite and harrowing glory of the almighty God – so if that feeling has not been accurately conveyed, there is a sense of the Scriptures that are lost in translation.

There was a great article on First Things in 2011 that talked about how the NAB is a thoroughly insufficient translation, in this regard: firstthings.com/article/2011/05/a-bumping-boxcar-language

An interesting view, to be sure. It was not so clear to me, and I only found out through a bible study that this phrase meant incest.

I disagree with you, and I believe stating things plainly is fine at times. If the inclusive language was eliminated and some traditional changes made, the NAB would be excellent. I feel you may be a little harsh on it.

The notes, I agree, are terrible.

 

[TimothyH]

I have read the Bible cover to cover three times. I am about half way through reading it for the fourth time, now in the Psalms. I have read the Gospels dozens of times and prayed the Psalms in the Liturgy of the Hours for several years. I have hosted the Jeff Cavins/Great Adventure Bible studies in my home for five years. What I have learned from all of this is that there is no perfect Bible. I have also learned that what suited me at the beginning of my journey to God may not suit me now in the middle of my journey, and it may not suit me at the end of my journey.

Sacred Scripture is one of the greatest joys of my life. A true lover of God’s word will surround himself with it, immerse himself in it, interiorize it, pray it back to God, and live it to the best of his ability. A true lover of God’s word will, if he has the means, have several versions and not be afraid of any of them.

You guys might get a kick out of this Bible. It is a Douay Old Testament with “Confraternity” New Testament - Prince of Peace Catholic Edition from Union Labor Memorial Bibles Inc. in Lancaster, OH circa 1961. I rescued it several years ago from the back room of an antique store on Long Island for eight dollars. I just might read this one cover to cover next.









-Tim-

 

[JamesTheJust]

People get all freaked out and want to throw the baby out with the bath water. The RSV has issues too. Even the Douay-Rheims has issues.

There are circumstances where literal translations, though technically accurate, do not reflect the actual meaning of the passage. The author’s meaning often lies hidden in the modes of speech, idioms and common phrases of the day. Take, for example, Leviticus 18:6.
**None of you shall approach any one near of kin to him to uncover nakedness. I am the LORD. ***(RSV)

No man shall approach to her that is near of kin to him, to uncover her nakedness. I am the Lord. (D-R)

None of you shall approach a close relative to have sexual intercourse. I am the LORD. (NAB)

Hardly anyone knows that uncovering nakedness means having sexual relations. “Uncovering nakedness” was an idiom, a polite way of indicating incest. The NAB here is less accurate in terms of translating individual words but conveys the actual meaning better.

It says later that your mother’s nakedness is your father’s nakedness. Noah’s son uncovered his father’s nakedness - that means that he had sex with his father’s wife! But we would not know that from the RSV or the Douay-Rheims.

A student of Scripture will have several translations and version, and will not be afraid to cross-reference them. Scripture should always be supplemented with lots of prayer and read in the context of authentic Church teaching.

-Tim-

This is the dilemma one faces when picking between dynamic or formal equivalence. While formal equivalence fails to convey some idioms and puns from the original languages, the more dynamic a translation is, the more opportunity a translator has to, consciously or subconsciously, project his/her own views into the text. Considering how radical the NAB translators are, that can be dangerous.

 

[JamesTheJust]

I have read the Bible cover to cover three times. I am about half way through reading it for the fourth time, now in the Psalms. I have read the Gospels dozens of times and prayed the Psalms in the Liturgy of the Hours for several years. I have hosted the Jeff Cavins/Great Adventure Bible studies in my home for five years. What I have learned from all of this is that there is no perfect Bible. I have also learned that what suited me at the beginning of my journey to God may not suit me now in the middle of my journey, and it may not suit me at the end of my journey.

Sacred Scripture is one of the greatest joys of my life. A true lover of God’s word will surround himself with it, immerse himself in it, interiorize it, pray it back to God, and live it to the best of his ability. A true lover of God’s word will, if he has the means, have several versions and not be afraid of any of them.

You guys might get a kick out of this Bible. It is a Douay Old Testament with “Confraternity” New Testament. I rescued it several years ago from the back room of an antique store on Long Island for eight dollars. I just might read this one cover to cover next.

http://timhollingworth.webs.com/img/bible1.JPG

http://timhollingworth.webs.com/img/bible2.JPG

http://timhollingworth.webs.com/img/bible3.JPG

http://timhollingworth.webs.com/img/bible5.JPG

-Tim-

Wow! Looks like a cool Bible!

We can definitely agree that, in the end, there is no perfect translation. Only the original manuscripts of the original authors could be perfect.

 

[TimothyH]

I’m going to start a “show us your bible” thread.

I just realized that the Bible can’t be from 1961 because Pope Paul VI ascended to the Chair of Peter in 1963.

 

[Melrose88]

I’m a new member here and I had quite a few questions regarding scripture. A member recommended that I purchase the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible - New Testament. I received it a couple of days ago and I love it. While it is not a traditional Bible, but for a person like me with lots of questions and wanting to know the history behind the Gospels etc it is a fantastic resource. I’d highly recommend it.

 

[CalCatholic]

I’m a new member here and I had quite a few questions regarding scripture. A member recommended that I purchase the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible - New Testament. I received it a couple of days ago and I love it. While it is not a traditional Bible, but for a person like me with lots of questions and wanting to know the history behind the Gospels etc it is a fantastic resource. I’d highly recommend it.

Good choice! We are all still waiting for a complete one volume ‘Ignatius Catholic Study Bible’, but who knows when that will be???

 

[ready]

The Douay-Rheims Bible is by far the best Catholic version. God bless you.