At some point in my life, I plan on reading the Bible. I’d like to have a good copy to do that with, one that will make reading it 1) fun 2) worthwhile. I’m trying to think of the version I used in college (NSRV? Purple cover with gold foil writing if that helps) and that one was OK, but we didn’t use it for too terribly long.
What I was looking for was something like a good translation of the Iliad: Something that was comprehensible to a 21st century guy like myself, but didn’t try to homogenize the writing to the point where it felt like I was reading meeting minutes from the Peer of the Realm meeting (although in the Profundo case, it was funny as hell). Something that captures the ancient qualities while not necessarily obfuscating the meaning of the text or glossing over it in an effort to be policitally correct (I’m almost positive that I saw a PC bible somewhere). It also wouldn’t hurt to have some kick-ass typesetting, if that’s possible in a Bible (again, I saw one that was aimed at teens that was had some pretty sweet graphic design, but I couldn’t imagine reading it for more than a few minutes at a time).
Concordances, maps, dozens of footnotes, commentary are nice, but I don’t necessarily need them.
I was going to go with the good ol’ KJ version, but I’ve heard that it’s only for masochists and goths.
Any suggestions? Should I just stick with the Cliffs Notes and read some Jewish, Christian and Muslim commentary [on the Bible] to broaden my horizons instead?
Some commentary really can help. I would recommented the Oxford Study Edition of the New Revised Standard Version. It has study material, both Testaments, and the Apocrypha.
For a eminently readable edition of the Hebrew Scriptures I like The Tanakh, that is, the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings, from the Jewish Publication Society. Modern English, very clear, with footnotes when some terms are unclear, or may have alternate meanings.
The Reader’s Digest published a book title The Bible Through the Ages. It is a remarkably non-sectarian look at how the oral traditions of illiterate nomads eventually evolved into the Bible as we have it today. It’s well illustrated and very readable, without dumbing things down. I think it’s out of print, not sure, but www.abebooks.com may have it, or eBay.
I was interested in knowing the basic bible stories since they play such an important role in western culture but I wasn’t interested in the religion. Someone recommended The Story Bible by Pearl S. Buck. It’s an extremely readable version of the bible and I found it fascinating. I see it’s currently out of print but it looks like it’s not hard to find used copies.
The *NIV * (New International Version) is a favorite with many of my fellow Christains. *The Message * is a fairly new version that is ver contemporary. I own 5 or 6 Bibles of different translations and use the NIV for personal reading and The Message for a different perspective or whan I’m working with our Youth group.
I just finished writing a paper on an adaptation called The Heliand. Written about the 9th century, somewhere in Germany, it basically takes the main events from the 4 gospels, puts them together in one book, and recasts it in a Germanic Atmosphere. The Last Supper takes place in a Mead all, the 12 apostles become Jesus’s loyal band of warriors, Peter becomes a Berserker at one point and there’s a lot of blending with Germanic(also known as Norse) Myth(Jesus takes on a lot of attributes of Wodan/Odin).
Nothing really different from the 4 biblical gospels on the surface, but a version with good footnotes makes it much more interesting when you see all of the subtle things the Author did to appeal to the Saxons.
If you want beautiful language, go with the New Jerusalem Bible. It’s a Catholic translation, so it’s canon is a bit larger than what we consider a “standard” Bible here in America, but it reads like poetry. Gloriously well-translated prose. Very artful.
I agree with spectrum the New Jerusalem Bible makes a nice compromise between majestic language and readability. Plus, you’ll get the Apocrypha. Second to that, NRSV.
The KJV has just lovely language - really, really lovely. But if you had issues with Shakespeare, you’ll have the same problems with it. The NIV (IMHO) sacrifices poetry for contemporary language. I find it blah. As if a Vulcan had translated it.
Finally, if you can find it, there is a guy named Everett Fox who has done translations of the first five books and of I & II Samuel (Called “Give us a King”) which are awesome. Hopefully, someday, he’ll decide to translate the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures…
Now that I think about it, I think the NRSV was the one we used in college. The New Jerusalem one sounds intriguing, but the reviews I’ve read (which admittedly are the sort that say I should learn Greek) argue that it’s too politically correct and dilutes the meaning.
You know, I always figured that there was a fine line between alternate versions of the Bible and fanfic, but the Heiland sounds pretty interesting.
I’ll add my vote to the New Revised Standard Version, and especially the Oxford Annotated Edition, if you don’t mind spending a few bucks. This is the version that was recommended by my professors when I was studying Bible in college- they all claimed that it was the most accurate English translation they knew of. I find it very readable as well, and the notes are helpful without being overly assertive. I hate aggressive, opinionated footnotes, don’t you?
I tried, and failed, to read the Bible many times. I always got bogged down in unfamiliar language.
The first time I succeeded in finishing it was when I got two versions, one King James Version, and one New International Version, and read them side-by-side, one chapter at a time.
I would read the chapter in the KJV and admire the poetry. Then I would read the same chapter in the NIV to figure out what the heck it was talking about.
If you can find an annotated edition, with lots of footnotes to explain unfamiliar vocabulary, it helps immensely.
I could not find a NIV that contained the apocrypha. I got a copy of the Oxford RSV for that.
Readers Digest put out a book, Great People of the Bible and How They Lived, which gives a lot of historical and archaeological background for the stories. Made it much easier to understand the cultural differences which confuse modern readers.
The NAB used to be good, but Catholic politics produced a revised NAB that sucks.
The Jerusalem Bible is OK.
The NIV is OK.
The KJV, as beautiful as its 17th century English is and as historically important it is in the English language is a translation that sucks in every sense of what a translation should be.
Avoid bibles that don’t translate but rather paraphrase. They’re great for children, but horrid translations for adults.
========
WRT reading the bible: Remember, Biblia means books. The Bible is an anthology. Some books are more relevant and readable than others. If you’re Christian, start with Luke and Acts, then read Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Then, if you’re ambitious, read Matthew and John.
If you want to get into the Jewish Scriptures (aka the Old Testament), then…
read Gen 1 & 2; skim the rest of Gen.
read Exodus (skim where needed)
read Samuel 1 & 2, just skimming the story of David.
skim Kings 1 & 2 (focusing on Elijah and just how bad the kingship was)
read Jeremiah (bonus, read Lamentations)
skim Isaiah
read Hosea
read Jonah
read Job (skim over the argument among the ‘friends’ of Job)
read Psalms
Trying to slog your way through from cover to cover will most likely result in you not reading anything of interest except Genesis and Exodus, because Numbers, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy will fry your brain.
I figured that I’d blow through it straight through as a means of…I dunno. Not particuarly religious, but I recall the subtext of the stories that we read in college was phenomenal and tho’ we probably cherry-picked the most controversial/easily contemplated stories, I figured I’d give it a shot. This way I can hit up both Judaism and Christianity with one go-round and possibly hit up Islam and Hinduism some time in the future.
I suppose I’d be interested in reading them as historical documents more than anything else (even if they’re historical documents as in “this is a work that influenced…everything, whether or not it was true”) and seeking some insight into the human condition.
I’ll see if my copy of the NRSV is still around, but if not, I’ll likely pick up the Oxford copy. Of course, my reading backlog is inexcusably high, so I won’t get around to this for quite some time.
