Monday, January 27, 2014

Getting to Know Your Bible

Spotted this at Adam4D.com. How about our Catholic translations?  How would you describe them?  I might suggest one or two in the comment section. 

16 comments:

Tom said...

Some parallels with our versions, i.e. KJV = Douay ("if it was good enough for Jerome..."), NASB = RSV, ESV = maybe Ignatius Catholic Study Bible (RSV-CE2), NIV = NJB. I don't think we have anything as loose/dynamic as NLT, unless Contemporary English Version.

NABre maybe the ex-pro athlete (NAB) trying out a broadcasting career (NABre) and getting renewed fame.

Knox is maybe the erudite scholar who made a scientific breakthrough in a niche field and thus is famous only within a small circle of acolytes.

Biblical Catholic said...

The font is too small I can't read it, and there doesn't seem to be any way to make the font bigger

stitchinrose said...

Biblical Catholic - press ctrl and then tap the "plus" button it is on top of the equal size this should enlarge your whole page. works for me everytime.

Jay said...

No, I think NIV = GNB/TEV.

JB could be the old British hippie that nobody cares about any more and NJB could be the middle-aged British superannuated New Romantic that no one gets any more.

Javier said...

Biblical Catholic,

here is the original page. Quite large:

Translations

Javier

Anonymous said...

IMO:

KJV = Douay
NASB ~ RSV
ESV = RSV-CE2
NIV ~ NAB
NLT = GNB/TEV or CCB

If they were on the list:
NEB/REB = JB/NJB


Verum Laicus said...

Douay: "KJV was my colleague."
Knox: "I was the hippie of my time."
Confraternity: "I am the grandchild of Douay but suddenly I got amnesia."
NAB 1970: "My acquaintances say that I was Confraternity before."
RSVCE: "Though my great grandpa was very honored, I don't know why they hate me. Thanks to many circle of friends in which I am much appreciated."
JB: "I was born from England and they say that I have a relative from France."
NJB: "I am the stepbrother of JB. My mother was very politically correct then."
NAB1986: "I am now adolescent and had let gone of my loose speaking."
NRSVCE: "I know RSVCE very well, but I was raised also by a politically correct family."
NAB1991: "I was influenced by the parents of NRSV and NJB, but they hate the way I sing Psalms."
GNB-CE: "I used to be very appealing to children, but they say I am clumsy when I do not know how to arrange books."
CCB: "I came from the Philippines and I wonder why my fashion and getup seems to be very weird."
NABRE: "Now I am an adult and many have changed, though I knew parents of NRSV for a little while."
ESV-CE: "My parents told me that they came from granny KJV, and they liked me better than my uncle RSV-CE, though they don't want me to be friendly and stay commited to my granny."
NAB Vatican Version: "I am blinded what they might wear for me. I hope they can love me."

Timothy said...

Well done Verum!

Unknown said...

The approved Catholic Bible family & neighbors....

Douay- Grandpa Pete. The old guy sitting on his porch watching the kids run around the neighborhood, who's always saying, "Back in the old days..."

Confraternity-Roger. The middle-aged son of Grandpa Pete who feels kind of left out because everyone wants to hear the old man's stories, but not his. Very straight-laced as a lad, as he's gotten older, he's loosened up.

Knox-Dr. Anderson. The eccentric old college professor that lives next door. Some of the things that fall out of his mouth are quite profound.

Westminster-Cousin Danny. We don't hear from him much, but once in awhile we see him at family functions. He's related to Grandpa Pete somehow.

Jerusalem- Good old Uncle Carl. He's not really related to Grandpa Pete, but most of the rest of the family like him, even though some think he inhaled during the 60's and still does.

New American (various versions)-The triplets Larry, Daryl, and Daryl. Larry got into Uncle Carl's stash. Daryl #1 drank some in high school. Daryl #2 was a straight-A nerd, but likes to brag about how much smarter he is than Larry.

New Jerusalem-Cousin Vern. He likes hanging out with the triplets. Sometimes he seems to be influenced by the oldest; sometimes the youngest.

Revised Standard Version-Cousin Frank. He's the Black Sheep of the family; some people like him, some people don't trust him.

NRSV-Frank's oldest son Jim. He's no-nonsense, but also a bit eccentric. He doesn't like to recognize differences between the sexes.

RSV-2CE-Frank's younger son Ron. He thinks his older brother Jim is a bit goofy and tries to be sensible.

Christian Community Bible-Another cousin from across the other pond that we don't see too often. He married into the family.

The Living Bible-Phil from across the street. Did too much LDS in the 60's and 70's. Keep it simple and Phil get's it.

Good News Bible-Phil's cousin Dave. He has a better head on his shoulders than Phil, but also needs things explained to him in simpler terms to understand what you're talking about.

Verum Laicus said...

Thanks Tim!

I was an avid reader of your blog since then. For the record, I am a 20 year old guy, but I do have a collection of Catholic Bibles.

Just like you, I had already made NRSV-CE my daily companion. But I guess now, you already replaced it with RSV-2CE.

BTW, I also used the alias "Servus Dei" who alerted you for the New Community Bible before.

Anyways, do you have any recent "spoiler" on when the NAB Vatican version will be released?

You can also feature Benedict XVI on his thesis on Hebrews 11:1, on his reaction to official German translation of the Bible, which more or less is similar to Luther's rendering (much similar to KJV's rendering in English). I am sure that this can heaten up original Greek interpretations!! ;)

And a hypothetical question for other readers here:

What would happen to the Protestant canon if our Jewish brethren officially include Sirach to their Torah?

As far I as I had read, Sirach was the only book in the Deuterocanon (I don't want to call it Apocrypha because I'm Catholic) that was very honored in Jewish liturgy, I can't remember the name of that Jewish book, but I am sure that it is the expalanatory book for the Torah.

Timothy said...

Nice Eric!

Timothy said...

Verum (Servus Dei),

I can't say too much about the revision of the NAB that us going on, other than it is in its beginning stages. It will be a good few years, since they will not only be translating the NT and redoing the notes, but also seeking Vatican approval for use in liturgical books as well. It would say some time around 2020, which may be a while, but should be worth the wait.

ThisVivian said...

"What would happen to the Protestant canon if our Jewish brethren officially include Sirach to their Torah?"

Nothing. The canon is closed, and can not be re-opened. The Jews lost their stewardship of the old revelation around the time the NT canon was completed (if not recognized as closed) -- to use an infamous saying of Justin the Martyr's, speaking to Trypho, his Jewish interlocutor: "Not your scriptures, but our scriptures." The fact that the Jews /did/ have stewardship of the OT canon ("to them is entrusted the oracles of God") is why there is a good argument against the Apocrypha -- the early Christian church had no competence to decide what was and wasn't OT revelation, and most Jews which have left a witness to history, either documentary or archaeological, did not accept the apocrypha. As the early Christian church had no competence to define (for lack of a better word -- the canon is not defined, it is recognized: and it was left to the Jews to recognize the OT canon) the OT canon, the Jews had no competence to affect the NT canon. And so on.

See "Canon Revisited" by Kruger, or, for the standard academic treatment, which contains so many viewpoints it can't really be summarized, "The Canon Debate", McDonald and Sanders (eds.). Most Christian scholars that I have read agree the canon can not be re-opened under any circumstances -- those that would believe it could be re-opened, such as Aland, Borg, etc. are generally on the apostate fringe.

Enough electronic ink has been spilt here to possibly catalyze a conversation: and spilling one hundred times more would not enable me to treat the subject thoroughly. (Some of the above has been introduced, without being concluded, in awaiting to see if anyone finds it of use, or of interest: things have also been implied in the model of canon development I have so very briefly sketched, that have not been elucidated.)

Biblical Catholic said...

The point of the question is that many Protestants claim that the Jews have 'been entrusted with the oracles' and therefore Christians should use the same canon as the Jews. So for people who make that claim, the question of what happens if the Jews change their canon is a good question indeed.

ThisVivian said...

The Jews can't change their canon now, not in a way that affects Christians, because the OT canon was transferred to the care of the "New Israel" after the close of NT revelation. That's the answer, in a nutshell. It's no more evasive or seemingly evocative of special-pleading than many Roman Catholic answers on Church authority or many traditions (which all ultimately rest on Church authority in any case, as demonstrated by the Protestant controversialist Salmon in "The Infallibility of the Church", and implicitly allowed by Newman in his "On the Development of Doctrine"), and, indeed, has testimony back to some of the earliest Fathers, at least indirectly (the Apologists, cf. Justin Martyr's comment in the Dialogue with Trypho 29:93).

Anonymous said...

Hahaha, those days when I still use Latin aliases...

Verum Laicus = "true layman"
Servus Dei = "servant of God"