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The New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE) 2011
New American Bible - 1970
Bible translations
New English Translation - 2005
21st Century King James Version - 1994
New King James Version - 1982
New International Version - 1978
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United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
# The New American Bible, Revised Edition
Released on March 9, 2011, the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE) is the culmination of nearly 20 years of work by a group of nearly 100 scholars and theologians, including bishops, revisers and editors. The NABRE includes a newly revised translation of the entire Old Testament (including the Book of Psalms) along with the 1986 edition of the New Testament.
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/index.shtml
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New American Bible changes some words such as "holocaust"
Reuters - 2 March 2011
A new edition of one the most popular English-language Bibles will offer substitutes for words such as "booty" and "holocaust" to better reflect modern understanding, a Catholic group said on Wednesday.
Nearly 50 scholars from all faiths and a committee of Roman Catholic bishops have labored since 1994 over the first fresh edition of the New American Bible since 1970, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said.
The annual best-seller to be issued by a dozen publishers beginning next week on Ash Wednesday "is a beautiful translation -- it's a new way to look at an old love," said Mary Sperry, who oversees Bible licensing for the bishops.
The changes go beyond a few words being altered, and include freshly-written notes that should help readers better understand the Catholic church's interpretation of biblical concepts, Sperry said. The Book of Psalms contains over 70,000 words, both text and notes, she said.
The revisions more accurately reflect translations of ancient Hebrew and Greek versions of the Old Testament and the constant evolution of modern-day language, Sperry said.
For example, the word "holocaust," which for most people refers to the World War Two genocide of Jews, was changed to "burnt offerings," which clarifies the original, positive idea of making offerings to God.
"Booty," which has come to have a sexual connotation, was changed to "spoils of war;" and "cereal," which many think of as breakfast food, became "grain" to reference loads of wheat.
In a change in a passage in Isaiah 7:14 that foretells the coming of Jesus and his birth to a virgin mother, the 1970 edition's reference to "the virgin" will become "the young woman," to better translate the Hebrew word "almah."
"The bishops and the Bible are not signaling any sort of change in the doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus. None whatsoever," Sperry added.
The new edition will revert to more poetic versions of Psalm 23 to have it read, "I walk through the valley of the shadow of death," instead of "dark valley." And "I will dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come" was changed to "for endless days," which Sperry said carried a more profound and hopeful meaning.
The current edition of the New American Bible sold more than one million copies last year, mostly in the United States, the Philippines, India, and Africa. The new version could spark a pickup in sales, Sperry predicted.
The edition will be available in many formats: as a family hardback, a basic paperback, as an "e-book," as an "app" for cell phones, and in a Braille version.
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# New American Bible 1970
The New American Bible is a Roman Catholic translation.
On September 30, 1943, His Holiness Pope Pius XII issued his now famous encyclical on scripture studies, Divino afflante Spiritu. He wrote: "We ought to explain the original text which was written by the inspired author himself and has more authority and greater weight than any, even the very best, translation whether ancient or modern. This can be done all the more easily and fruitfully if to the knowledge of languages be joined a real skill in literary criticism of the same text."
Early in 1944, in conformity with the spirit of the encyclical, and with the encouragement of Archbishop Cicognani, Apostolic Delegate to the United States, the Bishops' Committee of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine requested members of The Catholic Biblical Association of America to translate the sacred scriptures from the original languages or from the oldest extant form of the text, and to present the sense of the biblical text in as correct a form as possible.
The first English Catholic version of the Bible, the Douay-Rheims (1582-1609/10), and its revision by Bishop Challoner (1750) were based on the Latin Vulgate. In view of the relative certainties more recently attained by textual and higher criticism, it has become increasingly desirable that contemporary translations of the sacred books into English be prepared in which due reverence for the text and strict observance of the rules of criticism would be combined.
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# Koine Greek
The New Testament is written in Koine Greek, "Hellenistic common [language]".
This is "the common dialect", also simply called koine "common [language]". Its the popular form of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity (c.300 BC – AD 300),
Koine, Greek for "common". It refer to any vernacular form of Greek speech which differed from the literary language.
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# Bible translations
Doctrinal differences and translation policy
In addition to linguistic concerns, theological issues also drive Bible translations.
Several translations of the Bible, produced by single churches or groups of churches, may be seen as subject to a point of view by the translation committee. Among these the New World Translation, produced by Jehovah's Witnesses, is seen as controversial by some because of the renderings of key verses. Especially verses, that in other Bible translations support the deity of Christ, are rendered differently in the NWT. Also, the NWT often translates the New Testament Kyrios, "LORD," as "Jehovah." when referring to God. The publishers argue that this can be supported by the fact that the oldest copies of the Greek Septuagint found among the Dead Sea Scrolls have the original tetragrammaton (Hebrew letters representing God's name). At a later period this was translated as Lord. The NWT translators believe that when Jesus read from such earlier scrolls he would have used his father's name and not the title. (Luke 4:18, Jo 17:6, 26) The NWT translators did this despite the fact that the tetragrammaton does not appear in the Greek manuscript of the New Testament books. The Greek manuscripts use Kyrios to refer both to Jesus Christ and God the Father.
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# Modern English Bible translations
The Authorized King James Version of 1611 was sporadically altered until 1769, but was not thoroughly updated until the creation of the Revised Version in 1885. These formal equivalence or literal translations have been continued with further modifications to the King James and Revised Versions, including the Revised Standard Version (1952), the New Revised Standard Version (1989), and the English Standard Version (2001).
In the late twentieth century, Bibles increasingly appeared that were much less literal in their style. In 1946, the New English Bible was initiated in the United Kingdom, intended to enable readers to better understand the King James Bible. In 1958, J. B. Phillips (1906–1982) produced an edition of the New Testament letters in paraphrase, the Letters to Young Churches, so that members of his youth group could understand what the New Testament authors had written. Others followed suit. The Living Bible, released in 1971, was published by its author Kenneth N. Taylor, based on the literal American Standard Version of 1901. Taylor had begun because of the trouble his children had in understanding the literal (and sometimes archaic) text of the King James Bible. His work was at first intended for children, but was later positioned for adults wishing to better understand the Bible. Like Phillips' version, the Living Bible was a dramatic departure from the King James version.
Despite widespread criticism, the popularity of The Living Bible, itself a paraphrase rather than a translation, created a demand for a new approach to translating the Bible into contemporary English called dynamic equivalence, which attempts to preserve the meaning of the original text in a readable way. Realizing the immense benefits of a Bible that was more easily accessible to the average reader, and responding to the criticisms of the Living Bible, the American Bible Society produced the Good News Bible (1976), a new English Bible translation in this more readable style. This translation has gone on to become one of the best selling in history. In 1996, a new revision of Taylor's Living Bible was published. This New Living Translation is a full translation from the original languages rather than a paraphrase of the Bible.
Another project aimed to create something in between the very literal translation of the King James Bible and the more informal Good News Bible. The goal of this was to create a Bible that would be scholarly yet not overly formal. The result of this project was the New International Version (1978).
The debate between the formal equivalence and dynamic (or 'functional') equivalence translation styles has increased with the introduction of inclusive language versions. Various terms are employed to defend or attack this development, such as feminist, gender neutral, or gender accurate. New editions of some previous translations have been updated to take this change in language into account, including the New Revised Standard Version (1989), the Revised English Bible (1989), and Today's New International Version (2005). Some translations have approached the issue more cautiously, such as the English Standard Version (2001).
A further process that has assisted in increasing the number of English Bible versions exponentially, is the use of the Internet in producing virtual bibles, of which a growing number are beginning to appear in print – especially given the development of "print on demand".
Today, there is a range of translations ranging from the most literal, such as the Young's Literal Translation to the most free such as The Message and The Word on the Street.
King James Versions and derivatives
The King James Version of 1611 still has an immense following, and as such there have been a number of different attempts to update or improve upon it. The Revised Version and its derivatives also stem from the King James Version.
Abbreviation - Name - Date
CKJV Children's King James Version Jay P. Green 1960
KJ II King James II Version of the Bible Jay P. Green 1971
KJV20 King James Version—Twentieth Century Edition Jay P. Green
NKJV New King James Version 1982
KJ21 21st Century King James Version 1991
MKJV Modern King James Version 1999
AKJV American King James Version 1999
KJV2000 King James 2000 Version 2000
UKJV Updated King James Version 2000
KJVER King James Version Easy Reading 2001
HSV Holy Scriptures Version 2001
CKJV Comfort-able King James Version 2003
NCPB New Cambridge Paragraph Bible 2005
AV7 AV7 (New Authorized Version) 2006
AVU Authorized Version Update 2006
Revised Version and derivatives
The English Revised Version was the first official attempt to update the Authorized (King James) Version. This was adapted in the United States as the American Standard Version. The translations and versions that stem from them are shown in date order:
Abbreviation - Name - Date
RV (British) Revised Version 1881–5
ASV American Standard Version 1901
RSV Revised Standard Version 1952
NASB New American Standard Bible 1971, 1995
NRSV New Revised Standard Version 1989
ESV English Standard Version 2001
WEB World English Bible In progress
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# English translations of the Bible
The Christian Booksellers Association list the most popular versions of the Bible sold by their members (in the US). In 2007 the New International Version was the most popular, followed by the New King James Version and the King James Version[8] More current data can be found in the External links section, which typically reflects the above rankings.
Amazon lists the top ten in current sales in the USA (as of 8/17/2009) to be the NAB, NRSV, NIV, KJV, Message, NASB, NLT, RSV, Amplified, and the Orthodox Study Bible.
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# New English Translation 2005
The New English Translation (NET Bible) is a free, "completely new" on-line English translation of the Bible, " with 60,932 translators’ notes" sponsored by the Biblical Studies Foundation and published by Biblical Studies Press.
The New English Translation, like the NIV, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not an update or revision of an older one (such as the ESV). The translation and extensive notes were undertaken by more than twenty biblical scholars who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts.] The NET Bible was initially conceived at an annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in November 1995 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The translation project originally started as an attempt to provide a digital version of a modern English translation over the Internet and on CD-ROM without cost for the user: "The NET Bible project was commissioned to create a faithful Bible translation that could be placed on the Internet, downloaded for free, and used around the world for ministry."] Many of those involved in the project's initial discussions eventually became part of the translation team. The translation itself claims to be non-sectarian, "inter-denominational" and evangelical.
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# 21st Century King James Version 1994
The 21st Century King James Version is a minor update of the King James Version. However, unlike the New King James Version, it does not alter the language significantly from the 1611 version, retaining Jacobean grammar (including "thee" and "thou"), but it does attempt to replace some of the vocabulary which no longer would make sense to a modern reader.
The 21st Century King James Version is also known for its formatting. Passages considered "more familiar" are in bold print, while "less familiar" passages are placed in a sans-serif print. Passages from the Revised Common Lectionary are marked with diamonds, and the translations of names are sometimes included with brackets.
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# New King James Version 1982
The aim of its translators was to update the vocabulary and grammar of the King James Version, while preserving the classic style and literary beauty of the original 1611 KJV version. The 130 translators believed in unyielding faithfulness to the original Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew texts including the Dead Sea Scrolls. Also agreed upon for most New King James Bibles was, easier event descriptions, history of each book, and added dictionary and updated concordance.
The task of updating the English of the KJV involved significant changes in word order, grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. One of the most significant features of the NKJV was its abandonment of the historic second person pronouns “thou”, "thee", “ye”, “thy”, and “thine”. Verb forms were also modernized in the NKJV (for example, "speaks" rather than "speaketh").
Gideons International, an organization that places Bibles in hotels and hospitals, uses the NKJV translation.
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# New International Version 1978
The New International Version project was started after a meeting in 1965 at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois between the Christian Reformed Church, National Association of Evangelicals, and a group of international scholars. The New York Bible Society (now Biblica) was selected to do the translation. The New Testament was released in 1973 and the full Bible in 1978. There are a couple of very rare 1973 editions which are signed by a few of the translating committee members which were released before the other 1973 editions. It underwent a minor revision in 1984 and another revision in 2010.
The core translation group consisted of fifteen Biblical scholars. The translation took ten years and involved a team of up to 100 scholars from the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The range of those participating included many different denominations such as Anglicans, Assemblies of God, Baptist, Christian Reformed, Lutheran, Presbyterian, etc.
The translation is a balance between word-for-word and thought-for-thought. Recent archaeological and linguistic discoveries helped in understanding traditionally difficult passages to translate. Familiar spellings of traditional translations were generally retained.
According to Zondervan, publisher of the NIV, the translation has become the most popular modern English translation of the Bible, having sold more than 215 million copies worldwide. It continues to be one of the top ten selling Bibles.
There are numerous study Bibles available with extensive notes on the text and background information to make the Biblical stories more comprehensible. Among these are the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible, the Zondervan published NIV Study Bible, the Wesleyan revision, Reflecting God Study Bible, as well as the Life Application Study Bible.
Bruce M. Metzger criticizes the addition of "just" into Jeremiah 7:22, so the verse becomes "For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices", an apparent attempt to harmonize with Exodus 20:24.
Metzger also criticizes the addition of "your" into Matthew 13:32, so it becomes "Though it [the mustard seed] is the smallest of all your seeds", avoiding any impression of Jesus speaking a botanical untruth. The your has been removed in the 2010 NIV revision.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greek
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_translations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_King_James_Version
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_English_Translation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_International_Version
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st_Century_King_James_Version
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_English_Bible_translations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_Bible_translations
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