The Bible in translation : ancient and English versions / Bruce M. Metzger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Metzger, Bruce M. (Bruce Manning), 1914-2007.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bible--Versions--History.

Bible.

Bible--English--Versions--History.

History.

Physical Description:

200 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Grand Rapids, Mich. : Baker Academic, 2001.

Summary:

The Bible has been translated more than any other piece of literature and is currently available in over two thousand languages, with several languages having numerous versions. Outlined here is the development of biblical translation, including a careful analysis of more than fifty versions of the Bible.One of the most respected living biblical scholars, Bruce Metzger begins this engaging survey with the earliest translations of the Old and New Testaments before proceeding to English versions dating from the eleventh century to the present. Metzger explores the circumstances under which each translation was produced and offers insight into its underlying objectives, characteristics, and strengths. Having served on a number of modern translation committees, his insights into the evolution of Bible translation flow not only from careful research, but also from personal experience. Students, pastors, and interested readers will discover the history of the written Word and gain useful insight into which modern translations best serve their own needs.

Contents:

Part 1 Ancient Versions

1. Ancient Versions of the Old Testmament Made for the Use of Jews 13

The Septuagint 13

The Jewish Targums 20

2. Ancient Versions Intended Chiefly for Christians 25

The Syriac Versions 25

The Latin Versions 29

The Coptic Versions 35

The Gothic Version 38

The Armenian Version 40

The Georgian Version 43

The Ethiopic Version 44

The Arabic Versions 46

The Sogdian Version 47

The Old Church Slavonic Version 47

The Nubian Version 50

Part 2 English Versions

3. English Bibles before the King James Version 55

The Beginnings of the English Bible 55

The Wycliffite Bible (1382; 1388) 56

Tyndale and the First Printed English New Testament (1526) 58

Coverdale and the First Complete Printed Bible in English (1535) 60

Matthew's Bible (1537) 61

Taverner's Bible (1539) 62

The Great Bible (1539) 62

Edmund Becke's Bibles (1549; 1551) 63

The Geneva Bible (1560) 64

The Bishops' Bible (1568) 66

The Rheims-Douay Bible (1582-1610) 67

4. The King James Bible (1611) 70

5. Between the King James Bible and the Revised Version 81

Edward Harwood's New Testament (1768) 81

Charles Thomson's Bible (1808) 83

Noah Webster's Bible (1833) 90

Julia E. Smith's Bible (1876) 92

6. The British Revised Version (1881-85) and the American Standard Version (1901) 99

7. Early Modern-Speech Versions 105

The Twentieth Century New Testament (1901; 1904) 106

Weymouth's New Testament in Modern Speech (1903) 110

Moffatt's Translation of the Bible (1913; 1924-25) 112

Smith and Goodspeed's American Translation (1923; 1927) 113

8. The Revised Standard Version (1952) 117

9. The Jerusalem Bible (1966) 123

10. The New American Bible (1970) 127

11. The New English Bible (1970) 132

12. The New International Version (1978) 138

13. Jewish Translations 142

Translations Sponsored by the Jewish Publication Society (1917; 1985) 142

Heinz W. Cassirer's New Testament (1989) 144

David H. Stern's Complete Jewish Bible (1998) 146

14. Revision after Revision 149

The New American Standard Bible (1971; updated ed. 1995) 149

The New Jerusalem Bible (1985) 151

Revised New Testament, New American Bible (1986) 152

The Revised English Bible (1989) 153

The New Revised Standard Version (1990) 155

15. Simplified, Easy-to-Read Versions 163

The Basic English Bible (1949) 163

J. B. Phillips's Version (1958; rev. ed. 1972) 164

The Good News Bible (Today's English Version) (1976) 167

The Reader's Digest Bible (1982) 168

The Contemporary English Version (1995) 170

New International Reader's Version (1996) 171

16. Paraphrases of the English Bible 175

Henry Hammond's Paraphrase and Annotations (1653) 175

Philip Doddridge's Family Expositor (1739-56) 176

F. F. Bruce's Expanded Paraphrase of the Epistles of Paul (1965) 177

Kenneth Taylor's Living Bible, Paraphrased (NT 1967; entire Bible 1971) 179

Eugene Peterson's The Message (NT 1993; OT Wisdom books 1997; OT Prophets 2000) 182.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

0801022827

OCLC:

47100891