Thomas Ash

Hi all at the 'Bible Criticism Forum' !

I'm going to Ghana to teach English for 3 months in January, and I thought one of the books I'd take would be the Bible, as I've always wanted to read it. Don't worry - I'm not thinking of converting to Christianity! I just want to get a good understanding of what Christianity's orginal content is, what most Christians believe (though of course they tend to be good at ignoring the parts they don't like, be they camels and needles or slavery and Jesus... )

So what's a good, accurate (preferrably portable, though that's less of an issue) translation of the Bible? I want one which really captures the original text, preferably with a few annotations. Most important is that it doesn't have a 'liberal' translation, which doesn't translate what it doesn't like, substituting 'servant' for 'slave' and missing out contradictions altogether.

Any ideas?

Thanks

semyaza

I like the New Jerusalem Bible. It's a fairly accurate translation, and it doesn't shrink from the usual problematic textual conundrums that plague the more conseravtive publications. For example, Genesis 1:6 reads '...let there be a vault through the middle of the waters to divide the waters in two', instead of the usual translation of 'firmament' in the hopes that the reader won't figure out what the passage is actually saying. (If you get the study Bible, the notes specifically state that the vault was thought to be a solid structure, i.e. the domed sky placed over the earth). Isaiah 7:14 reads '...the young woman is with child and will give birth to a son', a translation that would have any true Fundamentalist turning purple with rage.

Also, the New Jersulem Bible contains the Catholic Apocrypha, so you can see what the Protestants have been trying to hide all this time

I strongly recommend the New Jerusalem Study Bible. It's a little more expensive, but the notes and essays are really good.

[ November 30, 2002: Message edited by: semyaza ]</p>

katlynnhow

Well, I like Queen Jane's Version but I'm not sure that's what you're looking for. Not to mention it's not exactly portable. LOL

Tercel

There's a page about some of the different translations here:
<a href="http://www.firstpresb.org/translations.htm" target="_blank">http://www.firstpresb.org/translations.htm</a>

Personally I suggest you get the NRSV Common bible.
See:
<a href="http://www.ncccusa.org/newbtu/aboutnrs.html" target="_blank">http://www.ncccusa.org/newbtu/aboutnrs.html</a>

The NRSV was produced by a scholars with a wide variety of different backgrounds, so hopefully it lacks any of the biases that might be present in some of the Conservative-Protestant translations. The "Common" version will also give you all the books in the Roman and Orthodox Catholic bibles as well as the standard Protestant ones.

WWSD

I really like the Oxford annotated NSRV with the apocrypha.

The annotations are useful as well as interesting and each book starts with a breif summary and explaination of the books central theme with respect to historical events and cultural relevance.

Egoinos

I like the RSV myself, though I've heard it is considered to be a liberal translation.

Otherwise I say go with the New Jerusalem, you can get nifty zippy-up editions slightly less than A5 size.

CX

I would suggest taking several. Most modern translations come in a "pocket format". At a minimum you should have KJV, NIV and NASB to get the different major spins on the greek text (my area of interest is the NT so I'm not terribly familiar with the different translations of the Hebrew Bible. RSV and NRSV are also good. It also probably wouldn't hurt to start out by reading a good intro text like "The History & Theology of the New Testament Writings" by Udo Schnelle.

Cretinist

I like my Harper Collins Study Bible (NRSV, very easy to read). The footnotes are very scholarly and useful. In Genesis, it points out that the Earth is depicted as flat with a dome over it, and it points out all the similarities between Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh. It points out when there is a difference between the Hebrew and Greek (Septuagint) in the OT, tells you the literal meaning when necessary (both OT and NT), points out that other manuscripts say have different readings, etc, etc. I highly recommend it.

I can't say whether or not it is better than the Oxford Annotated Bible, because I haven't seen that one.

Jan Haugland

I would also recommend the NJB, which is the one I prefer to use myself. For the OT (xtian naming alert), the Jewish Publication Society's Tanakh is a very good translation.

Thomas Ash

Thanks everyone -

At the moment it looks like a dead heat between the New Jerusalem and the New Revised Standard (sorry katlynnhowe, the Queen Jane doesn't look to be in the running - whatever it is .) I'm interested in the notes (though I understand they come in different versions depending on the publisher.) <a href="http://www.firstpresb.org/translations.htm" target="_blank">This</a> says the New Jerusalem's notes reflect 'a modern, liberal' perspective. What does this mean - do they retranslate the bible literaly, or merely have notes which don't try to justify the most 'illiberal' passages? How does the NRSV compare?

PS: I am interested in the Apocrypha (not sure about the Orthodox books...)