MM of Theology of the Body has tagged me as part of a meme on Bibles, so here goes:
1. How many Bibles are in your home?
Hmmm. I’m not sure. Depending on what you count as a "Bible" (e.g., both OT and NT with deuteros, OT and NT without deuteros, just OT, just NT, just Torah) between thirty and fifty probably.
2. What rooms are they in?
Well, most of them are in the kind of large, living area where I have most of my bookshelves. I’ve also got some (espeically original language ones) in my bedroom, where I keep most of my biblical languages books, and there’s probably some in the unused second bedroom, too.
Except for the original language ones, though, I tend not to use paper Bibles that much. Instead, I use electronic ones online. They’re much more convenient for the kind of stuff I’m looking up or when I’m writing.
3. What translations do you have?
Gak! There’s no way I can answer that.
Suffice it to say that I have all of the major Catholic and Protestant translations, as well as a bunch of specialty ones.
4. Do you have a preference?
When writing I normally use the RSV (esp. the RSV:CE) since it’s the standard one that the publishers I work with use (as well as being a good one itself).
If I’m needing to get a feel for other translations, I generally go to the NASB and the NKJV for more literal ones and the NIV for a dynamic one.
If I need to really nail something down I go to the original language versions.
5. Nominate an interesting verse:
Hmmm. I nominate all the verses in Ecclesiastes, because that book is so hard to interpret, which makes it interesting.
MEME REPLICATION: I hereby tag any other bloggers out there who wish to be tagged with this meme. Commenters who also wish to be memed are hereby tagged as well.
I nominate all the verses in Ecclesiastes, because that book is so hard to interpret, which makes it interesting.
(Hopefully this won’t be too long)
Thematic Arrangement of Ecclesiastes
PRELIMINARY PROBLEM: All is Vanity
Ecc. 1:1-7, 9-18
Ecc. 2:18-23
Ecc. 4:1-6
Vanity of Work
Ecc. 6:1-9
Vanity of Words
Ecc. 1:8
Ecc. 5:1-6
Ecc. 6:10-11
Ecc. 10:12-15
Vanity of Riches & Pleasure
Ecc. 2:1-11
Vanity of Life: Death Comes to All
Ecc. 2:12-17
Vanity of Life: All Die, but to a Different Place
Ecc. 3:16-22
Vanity of Isolation
Ecc. 4:7-12
Vanity of Power
Ecc. 4:13-16
Women
Ecc. 7:26-29
Keep Commandments/Time for Everything/Death Comes Unexpectedly/Ruling Over Others
Ecc. 8:1-9
Inequities of Retribution/Man can’t find Wisdom by just Searching for it
Ecc. 8:10-17
Retribution Befalls all Equally
Ecc. 9:1-12
Wisdom is Better Than Strength/The Wise are not Remembered
Ecc. 9:13 – 10:11
ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM:We are Nothing Apart from God
Vanity of Work Apart from God
Ecc. 3:9-15
Vanity of Labor/Riches/Power Apart from God
Ecc. 5:7-19
Vanity of Material Goods without Spiritual
Ecc. 2:24-26
Prescription Against Wordly Vanities: All Things come from God
Ecc. 7:1-14
All Things come from God/Moderation in all Things
Ecc. 7:15-25
A Time for Everything
Ecc. 3:1-8
Blessing of Good Leaders/Do not Detract from them
Ecc. 10:16-20
Exhortation to Works of Mercy/Charity
Ecc. 11:1-2
God’s Ways are Unknowable
Ecc. 11:3-6
Youth, Old Age, and Death
Ecc. 11:7 – 12:7
Epilogue: Fear the Lord, and Keep His Commandments
Ecc. 4:17
Ecc. 12:9-14
Closing Statement
Ecc. 12:8
Out of curiosity, what would some of those “specialty translations” be?
Klingon?
+J.M.J+
Can I nominate this verse from Ecclesiastes?
“Of making many books there is no end: and much study is an affliction of the flesh.” (12:12)
I feel this way about Scripture translations: there is no end to making them….
In Jesu et Maria,
“Of making many books there is no end: and much study is an affliction of the flesh.”
Wow, that sums up my graduate student experience precisely!
I’m sure that verse also had a special place in the heart of every medieval scribe.
Is anyone familiar with Everett Fox and Robert Alter’s respective “specialty” translations of the the Pentateuch? Thoughts? I’ve long been curious about those.
I’ve been reading a GREAT specialty translation of the Bible recently — something of a classic. It’s the tranlation by Monsignor Ronald Knox. I wholeheartedly recommend it for devotional reading/prayer purposes.
5. Nominate an interesting verse:
How about the book of Genesis, the most Kafkaesque book of the Bible? Warning: this is coming from an evangelical Protestant perspective.
Re: being memed, let me start with a quote from Calvin & Hobbes: “Verbing weirds language.”
1. How many Bibles are in your home?
3. Keep in mind that I am defining my “home” as the single bedroom I rent in a family’s basement.
2. What rooms are they in?
Mine. It’s the only one.
3. What translations do you have?
Two copies of the NKJV that I got from the Gideons and my NAB study bible.
4. Do you have a preference?
I use(d to use) the NAB for study. I read the Psalms and Proverbs in the NKJV while I am on the subway.
However, like Jimmy, I mostly use an electronic Bible. I have the Douay-Rheims, Latin Vulgate, and Greek New Testament on my computer. I really want the RSV:CE for E-Sword but it is not available (because the programmer would have to pay for the rights).
5. Nominate an interesting verse:
Psalm 101 is a pretty good personal code for a paladin in D&D.
One bible.
An interesting verse? Ok, ok, I’ll pick one. Ezekiel
Thus says the Lord GOD: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people!
(Ask me another day, get another verse.)
[b]1. How many Bibles are in your home?[/b]
Two. One is the Protestant bible I received from my parents while I was a Baptist. The other is the two volume Douay-Rheims Victorian set published by Catholic Treasures, and which features much commentary by the Fathers and some medieval exegetes, and a few Victorian theologians (and even Milton in a few places!)
[b]2. What rooms are they in?[/b]
Well, since I live in an apartment, I guess the main room.
[b]3. What translations do you have?[/b]
The Douay-Rheims and the NIV.
[b]Do you have a preference?[/b]
The Douay-Rheims (because of the commentaries mentioned earlier. How cool is it to have a Bible that cites Augustine along with Milton’s “Paradise Lost” and “Samson Agonistes” in Genesis and Judges? (I’m an English major, so sue me 😛 ).
[b]Interesting verse?[/b]
Well there’s this verse I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17…
No seriously, I’d have to say the verse “Jesus wept.” It’s the shortest verse in some translations, and a beautiful image of Our Lord before Lazarus’s tomb. Other standouts for me are Luke 12:44 – “And his sweat became as drops of blood trickling on the ground,” as well as verse 36: “Then said he to them: “But now he hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise a scrip: and he that hath not, let hom sell his coat and buy a sword…But they said, “Lord, behold here are two swords. And he said to them: “It is enough.” These verses are wonderfully explained by Bede.
FYI here is a link to several classic Greek, Hebrew, and Latin Translations online:
http://www.unboundbible.org/index.cfm?method=downloads.showDownloadMain
Jimmy or anyone,
Can someone recommend a Bible? I have a New Jerusalem (so-so), New American (terrible), Douay Rheims (study bible, big and floppy)…
I’m looking for a solid, well translated CATHOLIC Bible.
Any help would be appreciated!
Michael Hugo, many people highly recommend (myself included) the Ignatius Bible, which is the RSV-CE translation.
‘thann
My meme responses:
1. How many Bibles are in your home?
Nine, including my husband’s and son’s. Oh, make that 10 — my son has two. PLUS one in my car. Although I have “The Complete Parallel Bible,” which I suppose could count as four in itself.
2. What rooms are they in?
Most are in the living room, one is where I work (kitchen), two are in my son’s room (one’s in his backpack, wherever that is), and one is in my car.
3. What translations do you have?
Hebrew, Greek, NAB, RSV-CE, Douay Rheims, Navarre, whatever the ones are in “The Complete Parallel Bible,” New Jerusalem.
4. Do you have a preference?
The one I carry is the Ignatius RSV-CE (so does my son — he has two copies). For reflection I prefer the Navarre. I don’t care for the NAB but refer to it when planning music for liturgies (since it’s the translation used at Mass).
5. Nominate an interesting verse:
The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, He will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals. [Zephaniah 3:17-18a]
‘thann
+J.M.J+
Hmmm, maybe I’ll answer all the questions, too.
1. How many Bibles are in your home?
A lot. Haven’t counted lately, but it must be around fifty. Some are duplicates (we have two Knox Bibles, for instance)
2. What rooms are they in?
Every room except the kids’ room and the bathrooms. Many are in a bookcase in the corner of the kitchen.
3. What translations do you have?
Catholic: Latin Vulgate, original 1609 Douay-Rheims (not very easy to find), the later Challoner revision of the Douay-Rheims (the most common one), Haydock Bible (the NT isn’t Challoner) 1965 RSV-CE, RSV-2CE (just released), Knox Bible, Confraternity version, Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, 1970 NAB, later NAB with revised NT and Psalms, Christian Community Bible, Catholic Living Bible, Navarre Bible set with the Nova Vulgata.
Protestant: KJV, NKJV, NIV, NASB, American Standard Version and the Complete Jewish Bible (a Messianic Jewish translation). We also have a copy of the NT in Hebrew.
Jewish: Jewish Publication Society translation (non-Messianic Jewish – just the OT).
Other translations: The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible, Lamsa, Hugh J. Schonfield’s Authentic New Testament and Original New Testament, the Aramaic New Covenant, the Murdock translation of the Syriac Peshitto, and the Orthodox Jewish Brit Chadasha (a Messianic Jewish translation). The first contains portions of the OT, the second has OT/NT, the rest are NT only.
I used to have the Good News Bible, new Tanakh translation, New English Bible and Revised English Bible, but decided I didn’t want them and sold them on Half.com.
4. Do you have a preference?
Confraternity or RSV-2CE for reading, but I prefer to quote from the Challoner-Douay.
5. Nominate an interesting verse:
did that already above.
Michael Hugo asks:
>>>Can someone recommend a Bible?
I second the RSV-CE suggestion. Also the Confraternity version, if you can find a used copy (it’s out of print).
In Jesu et Maria,
+J.M.J+
Oh yeah, almost forgot the JW’s New World Mutilation…er, Translation of the Holy Scriptures. We have that one put away somewhere, too.
In Jesu et Maria,
Wait..Jimmy aint KJV Only?…The Bible peter and Paul used?…Just kidding!…I use a RSV-CE now but I still have my NASB. I also have a Douay-Rheims which weighs a ton and I can use it for curls.
1. A baker’s dozen and a year A and year B lectionary;
2. Most in the study, three in the basement – largely because they’re old family Bibles better preserved in that environment (I too use online Bibles more);
3. RSV-CE; Douai-Reims; NAB; NASB; NIV; KJV; RSV; Martin Luther (in German);
4. Prefer Douai and KJV for most everything;
5. Luke 1:50: “And His mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear Him.”
1. A lot; around 40. Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish. A good number are NT editions.
2. Mostly on the bookshelf in my bedroom, although there are a few on the living room and dining room bookshelves.
3. Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition (RSV-SCE), Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (RSV-CE), Revised Standard Version (RSV), Jerusalem Bible (JB), Douay-Rheims Version (DRV), Douay-Confraternity Version (DCV), New American Bible (NAB), New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (NRSV-CE), Knox Bible (KB), King James Version (KJV), New King James Version (NKJV), New American Standard Bible (NASB), English Standard Version (ESV), Jewish Publication Society Tanakh (JPS), Grail Psalter (GP), Dead Sea Scrolls Bible (DSSB), a couple others I can’t remember. I like a variety. 😉
4. For serious study, I go for modern literal translations like the RSV-SCE/CE, NRSV-CE, NKJV, ESV, and JPS. For devitional reading/prayer, I prefer dynamic translations (of all ages) like the JB, KB, NAB, and GP.
5. The introduction to the Gospel According to St. John. Breathtaking.
Most of mine are electronic at this point just because it is so easy to do comparative translations which of course means most of my Bibles are in my den in my computer. Or wherever I have my laptop.
Wherever I am at I have a hard copy of the NASB just because I feel that it is a sound translation that just about anyone will agree upon if I have to cite something. The RSV-CE is very good of course.
I actually own a Living Bible – that’s kind of funny to read from time to time.
I don’t have what people call a “Life Verse” but I join these two together for my morning prayer.
Be still and now that I am God
Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,”
It helps me know whatever the day throws at me I am in good hands.
Thanks, Ruthann!
What’s a “Life Verse”?
I get this definition from a web page
A life-verse is a verse or passage in the Bible that is significant to you. It may define your life, give you inspiration or direction, be something that you hang onto as you face difficult circumstances, or it could even be the passage of scripture that brought you to a belief in Jesus Christ.
Rosemarie,
You said you’ve got an original Douay-Rheims version. Where did you get it? I have been looking for the original version in its original typeset and with original spellings. I know it is available on-line (in IV. volumes) with (mostly) modernised spellings and modern typeset, but I’d really like to have the original. If there’s any advice you could recommend, I would greatly appreciate it. If you wouldn’t mind, my e-mail address is mmarkich@gmail.com. Thank you. God bless.
In jubilatione Domini,
Matthew
AMDG
Jimmy, have you looked at the ESV? Any opinions? I’ve seen recently that Fr. Neuhaus is a fan. (Unfortunately, they don’t publish the deuteros.)