Tuesday, February 19, 2013

More RSV-CE vs.RSV-2CE

The RSV-CE vs. RSV-2CE series of posts come up from time to time when I notice something changed in the second edition from the original.  The changes that interest me are not so much the ones concerned with the removal of archaic language, but substantial alteration, like the change from "powers of death" to "hades" in Matthew 16:18.  Since Ignatius Press hasn't provided a list of these changes, I hope you find these posts helpful.  By the way, while on this occasion I noticed the difference while I was reading from the RSV-2CE, there is a source for looking up the changes and that is Emmaus Road's Catholic Bible Concordance RSV-CE.  If you use the RSV-CE or RSV-2CE you really need to own this concordance.

This new change I noticed when I was reading through the Pauline Epistles.  I found that the RSV-2CE translated the Greek word anthropos more literally as "man" and not as "nature" as found in the original RSV.  If you compare how this term is translated in most other translations, you will see that even literal ones, like the NASB, go with either "self" or "nature."  The Douay-Rheims and KJV went with "man" while Msgr. Knox rendered anthropos with "self."  

Below are the instances from the NT in the RSV-CE:

RSV-CE(2CE):
"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature (man) is wasting away, our inner nature (man) is being renewed every day." --2 Corinthians 4:16

"Put off your old nature (man) which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature (man), created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." --Ephesians 4:22-24

"Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature (man) with its practices and have put on the new nature (man), which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator." --Colossians 3: 9-10


9 comments:

Theophrastus said...

Note that these readings appear to be in greater concordance with Nova Vulgata -- perhaps in accordance with Liturgiam Authenticam 41(a):

it is advantageous to be guided by the Nova Vulgata wherever there is a need to choose, from among various possibilities [of translation], that one which is most suited for expressing the manner in which a text has traditionally been read and received within the Latin liturgical tradition

For example, 2 Corinthians 4:16 in Nova Vulgata reads (emphasis added):

Propter quod non deficimus, sed licet is, qui foris est, noster homo corrumpitur, tamen is, qui intus est, noster renovatur de die in diem.

Timothy said...

Theophrastus,

This conformity with the Nova Vulgata is also evident in the Deuterocanonicals as well, as we have noted on this blog.

rolf said...

Hi Timothy, I was at the Religious Ed. Congress in Anaheim, CA today and was talking to one of the representatives at the Ignatius Press booth. I asked her about the upcoming complete Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. I asked her if she heard whether it was going to come out as two separate volumes or as a single Catholic Study Bible, and she said both! I think this be the best outcome, it would be nice to have the two volume set at home (with the larger print) for study and it would be nice to have the single volume Bible for carrying out. I also asked about how long until it is complete, and she said about two years. When asked, she also said that there are no plans in the works right now for a large or giant print RSV-2CE, though she related that they receive E-mails from customers requesting one. I told her that a couple of those E-mails were mine!

Timothy said...

Rolf,

That is good news indeed? Did she happen to give a date?

rolf said...

Timothy, she said about two years. I think that is the standard answer.

Timothy said...

Anyone want to bet we will hear that same answer in two years time?

rolf said...

Timothy I wouldn't be surprised. Well the Religious Congress is over for another year, and I wound up with two more Bibles in my possession!?! Like I need anymore? I bought the World Catholic Press NABRE imitation leather Bible with a zipper enclosure (for travel) and the Little Rock Catholic Study Bible - Deluxe Edition. I was not planning on buying the Little Rock Bible at all (I already have the hardcover), but as I looked at it I really like the way that the synthetic cover of the Bible looked and felt in my hand. But the biggest difference was the slightly darker print. To me this makes a big difference in readability. The paper is a little less shiny and a little more off white. This combined with two ribbon markers and gold page edges and a congress price of $48.00 (instead of $59.95) and no shipping, I caved in!

Timothy said...

Rolf,

Those are good purchases. The Little Rock Deluxe is really a beautiful Bible. The print, layout, and cover are all wonderful, and I really like the additional material that they added to the NABRE notes. Of course, its biggest drawback is its massive size. Although I wonder what the ICSB will be like, in regards to size, when it is finally produced.

Neil Short said...

I looked up the verses you mentioned in an RSV 1952 (which, of course, is not the original). They all use other words than "man" in those passages.