The Word Made Fresh
Next month we begin a new season of neighborhood Bible studies and Sunday-school classes—time to check the fall fashions from publishers and see how they have repackaged Holy Writ for this year. There are some good resources available. The prices quoted are for hardcover, but most are available in flexible covers and leather editions at other prices.
Revised For A New Generation
Both the Revised Standard Version (1952) and the New English Bible (1970) have experienced a generation of use and evaluation. Now both have been updated. The results are the New Revised Standard Version (Oxford/Zondervan/Nelson/Holman/World, various prices; available with Apocrypha) and the Revised English Bible (Oxford/Cambridge, $19.95; $21.95 with Apocrypha). Both now have a more natural sound. They were tested for clarity and expression in public reading as well as private use.
The new translations manifest similar goals in the revising process: using modern standard English more consistently (archaic words have been changed to their modern equivalents; for instance, thou has become you throughout), changing terms that sound racist (in Song of Songs 1:5 the RSV reads, “dark, but comely,” which has become “black and beautiful” in the NRSV; “dark but lovely” in the NEB is “dark and lovely” in the REB), and using inclusive pronouns where the original text speaks of humans generally (Gen. 1:27 reads “So God created humankind in his image” in the NRSV and “God created human beings in his own image” in the REB); masculine pronouns for God were not changed.
Bruce Metzger, who chaired the NRSV committee, notes that the changes in pronouns were confined to “places where the original Greek and Hebrew do not necessarily imply masculine orientation, but where, in general, English translations have introduced masculine-biased language when it’s not required by the Hebrew and Greek.”
The Oxford NRSV has uniform pagination so that pocket and pulpit copies have each passage on the same page. The REB is, in some instances, more conservative than the NEB. There are still many bothersome text transpositions, but Zechariah 13:7–9 has been moved back to follow 13:6; the NEB had put it after 11:17.
An entirely new translation is found in God’s New Covenant: A New Testament Translation, by Heinz W. Cassirer (Eerdmans, $19.95), a project that began during Cassirer’s conversion from Judaism in his fifties. It has several interesting features. Old Testament quotations or paraphrases are printed in boldface type, with references. The translator was a classicist, interested in expressing the nuances of Greek words, syntax, and the variations of style from writer to writer. The English is somewhat expansive and musical compared to the crisp directness of the NIV or NRSV. Consequently, it is a pleasure to read several chapters at a time.
Mainly For Kids
The following Bibles treat specific reading levels the same way translators have treated target languages. The International Children’s Bible, New Century Version (Worthy, $16.99) is a fresh translation from Hebrew and Greek texts. Its reading clarity is based on the standard used by the World Book Encyclopedia to gauge third-grade vocabulary. Footnotes and a dictionary help with words that cannot be simplified.
With the help of the Flesch-Kinkaid readability test, The Bible for Children (Tyndale, $29.95) is set at a third-grade reading level. Using a simplified Living Bible text, this edition stimulates an attitude of discovery, using previews to draw the reader in, and closing with review and application questions for each chapter. (An identical Bible, except for a different cover, is available from the same publisher at the same price under the title The Bible for Students.)
Both children’s Bibles are ideal for that critical age when children begin to devour books on their own. Although both use illustrations throughout, neither seems very successful. The illustrations are too simplified to convey adequate information about the history being narrated. Though weak in expression, the colorful pictures make the books attractive, but this could be done better with pure decoration. This problem is common with many books produced for children, both secular and religious. Few achieve balanced excellence in text and illustration.
The Bible With Options
In the Life Application Bible (Tyndale, $34.95; available earlier in Living, KJV, and now in NRSV editions), the editors have provided both explanatory and application notes, a system of cross references, at least one map per biblical book (more where needed), timelines, character profiles, book introductions and outlines, a harmony of the Gospels (with each incident keyed to the chronology), and an index (keyed to all aspects of the system). This is an impressive tool that should be most useful with the NRSV and also effective in moving many Living Bible readers into serious study.
Zondervan’s latest study Bible, The NIV Topical Study Bible ($29.95), uses a simpler approach than the one used in their NIV Study Bible. This edition includes 750 topical notes, a “topical tie” chain system (indexed), along with introductions, reading guides, and theme charts to each book. A full topical index, a 153-page concordance, and 13 color maps complete the package.
The New Open Bible, Study Edition (Nelson, $34.95; available in KJV, NKJV, and NASB) provides several new features that improve this highly visual, user-friendly tool. It features book introductions, outlines, and an extensive topical index. In John’s gospel, for instance, you’ll find an illustrated “close-up” on Nazareth near 1:46; a chart comparing 22 titles of Christ near 6:35; a word study on paraclete at chapter 16; and an “after the resurrection” map at chapter 21.
When the Catholic translation effort, the New American Bible, was published in 1970, it came with an extensive set of footnotes, book introductions, and cross references. Now with the Catholic Study Bible (Oxford, $29.95) comes a study edition that adds more than 600 pages of helps written by leading Catholic scholars. The material often reads like a college textbook, using few charts. The treatment of biblical criticism seems to assume an advanced level of study. Each book is covered by a helpful and insightful “Reader’s Guide” that focuses on structure and meaning. At times the attention given to source criticism gets in the way of exploring the meaning of the text. A prominent feature of Catholic spiritual life is the three-year schedule of readings at services, which is included, along with an essay explaining the Bible’s role in the liturgy. Also, reasons for particular reading sequences and seasonal emphases are explained.
And finally we have The Word: The Bible from 26 Translations, edited by Curtis Vaughn with the assistance of 30 evangelical scholars (Mathis Publishers, $59.95). The base text is the KJV, with significant differences from 25 other versions printed after each verse. There are usually three to five variants inserted. This edition is useful for the student who learns by comparing translations, but finds juggling five other books hazardous. Several hard-to-get translations, some covering only one book or a small group of biblical books, are included.
Reviewed by Larry Sibley, who teaches practical theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and is the author of Matthew: People of the Kingdom (Harold Shaw).
