New Jerusalem Bible

''The New Jerusalem Bible'' (NJB) is an English-language translation of the Bible published in 1985 by Darton, Longman and Todd and Les Editions du Cerf, edited by Benedictine biblical scholar Henry Wansbrough, and approved for use in study and personal devotion by members of the Catholic Church.

Contents

The New Jerusalem Bible includes the deuterocanonical books and sections. The text of these is included where they occur in the context of the complete Septuagint, rather than being grouped together in an appendix. Deuterocanonical sections of books in the Hebrew canon are identified by the use of italics.

Sources

This version of scripture is translated directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic. The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jérusalem, is followed only where the text admits to more than one interpretation. The introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jérusalem. The NJB's New Testament is translated from the '' Novum Testamentum Graece'' 25th ed., with occasional parallels to Codex Bezae. Its Old Testament is drawn from the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia with Septuagint, and the Deuterocanon from the Septuagint with Vulgate influence.

Overview

The New Jerusalem Bible is an update to the Jerusalem Bible, an English version of the French Bible de Jérusalem. It is commonly held that the Jerusalem Bible was not a translation from the French; rather, it was an original translation heavily influenced by the French. This view is not shared by Henry Wansbrough, editor of the New Jerusalem Bible, who writes, "Despite claims to the contrary, it is clear that the Jerusalem Bible was translated from the French, possibly with occasional glances at the Hebrew or Greek, rather than vice versa."

When the French version was updated in 1973, the changes were used to revise the Jerusalem Bible, creating the New Jerusalem Bible. The revisions were substantial. The revised version is said to be less literary but, for the most part, more literal. The introductions and footnotes, translated almost entirely from the French, have also been thoroughly revised and expanded, making it one of the most scholarly editions of the Bible.

The translation uses some inclusive language, as in Exodus 20:17: "You shall not set your heart on your neighbor's spouse", rather than "neighbor's wife" or "neighbor's woman". For the most part, however, the inclusive language is limited to avoiding a "preference" for the masculine, as the translators write in the foreword. The New Jerusalem Bible uses more gender inclusive language than the Jerusalem Bible, but far less than many modern translations such as the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition, which changes "brothers" to "brothers and sisters", throughout the New Testament. For the inclusive language that it does contain, it has been rejected by many conservative American Catholics in favor of the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition or the Douay–Rheims Bible. Outside of America it has become the most widely used Catholic translation in English-speaking countries.

Like the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible makes the uncommon decision to render God's name, the Tetragrammaton in the Jewish scriptures

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases