Fourth Sunday of Easter: Liturgy of the Word Comparison (w/ Fr. Neil)

First reading

Original Jerusalem Bible 1966 as found in the Current JB edition of the Lectionary

Acts 4:8-12 (additions to Biblical text in Lectionary are underlined)

⁸ Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter said: ‘Rulers of the people, and elders! ⁹ If you are questioning us today about an act of kindness to a cripple, and asking us how he was healed, ¹⁰ then I am glad to tell you all, and would indeed be glad to tell the whole people of Israel, that it was by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the one you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name and by no other that this man is able to stand up perfectly healthy, here in your presence, today. ¹¹ This is the stone rejected by you the builders, but which has proved to be the keystone. ¹² For of all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we can be saved.’

Revised New Jerusalem Bible 2018

Acts 4:8-12 (additions to Biblical text to match the original JB Lectionary are underlined)

8 Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter said, ‘Rulers of the people, and elders! 9 If you are questioning us today about an act of kindness to a sick man and asking us how he was healed, 10 you must know, all of you, and the whole people of Israel, that it is by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified and God raised from the dead, by this name this man stands before you cured. 11 This is the stone which you, the builders, rejected but which has become the cornerstone. In no one else is there salvation; 12 for there is no other name under heaven given to human beings by which we must be saved.’

Once again, the translations are quite similar and the RNJB is clearly an updating of the original JB. In V.9 “cripple” is now translated as “sick man.” This is a more correct translation of the Greek which says that he is an asthenēs (meaning “sick”) man, without specifying his infirmity. The phrase “I am glad to tell..” in V. 10 is not really justified by the Greek. It is worth noting that the moderate “inclusive” language used by the RNJB updates “Men” to “human beings” in V. 12, but retains the use of “man” in V. 10, as it refers to a specific individual. In V. 11 “keystone” is changed to “cornerstone,” the Greek actually says “head of the corner.” I am not sure which is a better rendering of “head of the corner.” According to my limited architectural knowledge I think a cornerstone is at the bottom of a corner and a keystone is at the top centre of an arch. But I think that “cornerstone” is more common in everyday language on this side of the Pond. Although having spent half my life in Ireland and half in the US my linguistic purity is thoroughly confused!

Second reading

Original Jerusalem Bible 1966 as found in the Current JB edition of the Lectionary

1 John 3:1-2 (no changes to Biblical text in Lectionary)

¹ Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us,

by letting us be called God’s children;

and that is what we are.

Because the world refused to acknowledge him,

therefore it does not acknowledge us.

² My dear people, we are already the children of God

but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed;

all we know is, that when it is revealed

we shall be like him

because we shall see him as he really is.

Revised New Jerusalem Bible 2018

1 John 3:1-2

¹ See what great love the Father has lavished on us

by letting us be called God’s children,

and that is what we are!

The reason why the world does not know us

is that it did not know him.

² My dear friends, we are already God’s children,

but what we shall be has not yet been revealed.

We know that when he appears

we shall be like him,

for we shall see him as he is.

In V.1 “see” is a more accurate translation than “think of.” In V. 2 agapētoi is derived from the Greek agape (love) and would be “beloved people.” I suppose both “dear people” and “dear friends” are good translations. Again, note that the RNJB continues its moderate use of “inclusive language” and refers to Christ as “he.”

Gospel

Original Jerusalem Bible 1966 as found in the Current JB edition of the Lectionary

John 10:11-18 (additions to Biblical text in Lectionary are underlined)

Jesus said:

¹¹ ‘I am the good shepherd:

the good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep.

¹² The hired man, since he is not the shepherd

and the sheep do not belong to him,

abandons the sheep and runs away

as soon as he sees a wolf coming,

and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep;

¹³ this is because he is only a hired man

and has no concern for the sheep.

¹⁴ ‘I am the good shepherd;

I know my own

and my own know me,

¹⁵ just as the Father knows me

and I know the Father;

and I lay down my life for my sheep.

¹⁶ And there are other sheep I have

that are not of this fold,

and these I have to lead as well.

They too will listen to my voice,

and there will be only one flock,

and one shepherd.

¹⁷ ‘The Father loves me,

because I lay down my life

in order to take it up again.

¹⁸ No one takes it from me;

I lay it down of my own free will,

and as it is in my power to lay it down,

so it is in my power to take it up again;

and this is the command I have been given by my Father.’

Revised New Jerusalem Bible 2018

John 10:11-18 (additions to Biblical text to match the original JB Lectionary are underlined)

Jesus said:

11 I am the good shepherd;

the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

12 The hired man, since he is not the shepherd

and the sheep do not belong to him,

as soon as he sees a wolf coming,

abandons the sheep

and runs away,

and the wolf despoils and scatters the sheep;

13 because he is only a hired man

and has no concern for the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd;

I know my own

and my own know me,

15 just as the Father knows me

and I know the Father.

And I lay down my life for my sheep.

16 And I have other sheep

that are not of this fold,

and I must lead these too.

They too will listen to my voice,

and there will be one flock,

one shepherd.

17 For this reason the Father loves me,

because I lay down my life

in order to take it up again.

18 No one takes it from me.

I lay it down of my own free will,

and I have power to lay it down,

and power to take it up again.

This command I received from my Father.’

In V.12 the RNJB retains the translation “hired man” and doesn’t use “hired person” or something similar. Here the translation is dependent on common sense and not ideology as women were not hired as shepherds at the time of our Lord. In V. 12 I suppose that “despoils” gives more of the poetry of the Greek har-pad´-zei that the JB’s original translation of “attacks.”

In general, the more I compare the translations I am stuck how the RNJB is a “cleaning up” and updating of the original JB. Whereas the NJB somehow felt academic and not “proclaimable,” I think that this new edition is more of a successor of the original JB, even though it also takes much good from and builds on the work of the NJB. Before I found that the imprecisions in the JB more or less forced serious readers to use the NJB which lost something of the “music” of the original. Now I feel that the music has been restored and the new text is good balance of proclamation, prayer and scholarship.

I hope these reflections are not too emotional and would appreciate if readers can share their impressions.  In particular if there are any biblical scholars out there (who have a proper mastery of Greek, unlike my own amateur Greek) it would be good to hear their expert opinion.

Neil Xavier O'Donoghue is a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey. He currently ministers in the Archdiocese of Armagh, Ireland, where he serves as vice rector at Redemptoris Mater Seminary. He has studied at Seton Hall University, the University of Notre Dame, and St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. He holds a Doctorate in Theology from St Patrick’s College, Maynooth.