Tuesday, August 24, 2010

On a Certain "Contemporary Translation"

As most readers know, your rambling host prefers Biblical translations that follow (in the Old Testament) the Septuagint (New English Translation of the Septuagint, Brenton, Orthodox Study Bible - and the long awaited translation that will come from Holy Transfiguration Monastery). That said, I have a fondness for the Revised Standard Version, the very good English Standard Version and the classics - the Douay Rheims and the King James Versions.

A particular translation that captured my fancy centuries ago - long before I knew anything about translation principles and the original texts - was the New American Bible. As one might expect, the more I learnt about the Scriptures in the Greek (and Hebrew) the less favorable the NAB came to be in my estimation. Consequently, I must agree with Cistercian Brother Stephen of Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank in Wisconsin, whose Sub Tuum entry Isn't It Time to Retire the "New" American Bible? makes me want to strike up a chorus of "If I Had A Hammer".

Give it a read.

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