The Jerusalem Bible, Reader's Edition Preface (1968)
THE JERUSALEM BIBLE
READER'S EDITION
La Bible de Jérusalem, originally published in France, was the culmination of decades of research and biblical scholarship. It was immediately recognized the world over as one of the greatest Bible achievements of our times. The publication of the English translation in 1 966 was equally enthusiastically received by scholars and readers of all faiths for its vigorous, contemporary literary style. It is truly the modern Bible for the modem reader seeking a greater understanding and appreciation of the scriptures in the language and imagery of today.
In response to popular demand, this Reader’s Edition has been designed to provide the general reader with an edition that is suited to his needs. It contains the complete text of THE JERUSALEM BIBLE in a translation that employs all the beauty and majesty of the English language — but always as a living language of the twentieth century. It includes many of the features of the Regular Edition: single-column pages for easy reading; verse numbers in the margin for ready and convenient reference; 8 pages of nine maps — four in color, five in black-and-white; a Chronological Table; and Tables of Measures and Money. The notes and introductions were carefully gone over by Alexander Jones, the General Editor, and abridged to relieve the average reader of burdensome detail while retaining necessary and helpful information for a fuller understanding and appreciation of the scriptures.
In preparing this translation, the translators made full use of the ancient Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew texts. How this was done while still retaining the interpretations and insights of the French edition is explained by Father Jones:
“The translation of the biblical text itself could clearly not be made from the French. In the case of a few books the initial draft was made from the French and then compared word for word with the Hebrew or Aramaic . . . and amended where necessary to ensure complete conformity with the ancient text. For the much greater part, the initial drafts were made from the Hebrew or Greek and simultaneously compared with the French when questions of, variant reading or interpretation arose. Whichever system was used, therefore, the same intended result was achieved, that is, an entirely faithful version of the ancient texts which, in doubtful points, preserves the text established and (for the most part) the interpretation adopted by the French scholars in the light of the most recent researches in the fields of history, archaeology and literary criticism.”
THE JERUSALEM BIBLE has been acclaimed by biblical scholars and readers of all denominations for its vigorous and vital translation, faithful in all respects to the original sources — a translation that captures for contemporary
General Editor
ALEXANDER JONES
L.S.S., S.T.L., I.C.B.
EDITOR'S FOREWORD
TO THE READER'S EDITION
When the Jerusalem Bible was first published in English in 1966, the Foreword to the complete Standard edition announced its objects: to serve two pressing needs facing the Church, the need to keep abreast of the times and the need to deepen theological thought. This double program was carried out by translating the ancient texts into the language we use today, and by providing notes to the texts which were neither sectarian nor superficial. In that Foreword also, the dependence of the translators on the original pioneer work of the School of Biblical Studies in Jerusalem was acknowledged, and the English version was offered as an entirely faithful rendering of the original texts which, in doubtful points, preserved the text established and (for the most part) the interpretation adopted by the School in the light of the most recent researches in the fields of history, archaeology and literary criticism. With the text, the Standard edition presents the full explanatory notes that would enable any student to confirm for himself the interpretations that were adopted, to appreciate the theological implications drawn from them, and to understand the complex relations between different parts of the Bible.
However the Bible is not only for students undergoing a formal course of study, and there has been an immediate demand for an edition of the Jerusalem Bible which would bring the modern clarity of the text before the ordinary reader, and open to him the results of modern researches without either justifying them at length in literary and historical notes or linking them with doctrinal studies. For this reason, the present Reader’s Edition has been prepared. The full Introductions of the Standard edition are here greatly abridged, to serve simply as brief explanations of the character of each book or group of books, their dates and their authorship; and the full Notes of the Standard edition have been greatly reduced in number and length, to restrict them to the minimum which are necessary for understanding the primary, literal meaning of the text; to explain terms, places, people and customs; to specify dates, and to identify the sources of quotations. In short, the brief Introductions and Notes are here only to help the ordinary reader to understand what he is reading and do not assume in him any wide literary, historical or theological knowledge or interests.
Alexander Jones
Christ’s College, Liverpool
March 1, 1968
*Some editions of the Bible have not admitted these deuterocanonical books (or parts of books: in the case of Esther the passages 1:1a–1r; 3:13a–13g; 4:17a–17z; 5:1a–lf,2a,2b; 8:12a–12v; 10:3a–31, which are here printed in italic type; and in Daniel the passages 3:24–90 and ch. 13–14); or have included them only as Apocrypha.
TYPOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Chapter numbers
The beginning of a chapter is usually marked by a large bold numeral. A smaller bold numeral is used when a chapter begins inside a paragraph.
Verse numbers
The beginning of each verse is indicated in the line by a dot • preceding the first word, except when a verse starts at the beginning of a line or begins a chapter. Where two verses begin in the same line, the verse numbers in the margin are placed one slightly above and the other slightly below the line. In a few places, the text adopted by the Editors differs from St. Jerome’s famous Latin version, from which the Vulgate and indirectly the A.V. are derived, but for ease of reference the verse numbering of the previous versions has wherever possible been retained. Occasionally, however, where a verse is omitted or displaced, its number will not appear in the usual sequence, and where a large or lengthy divergence is inevitable from the Vulgate and the A.V. numbering, this previous numbering is printed in italic in addition to the new numbering necessitated by the text. Italic verse numbers are also used (e.g. in Dn. 3) for passages incorporated from the Greek Septuagint version where the verse numbering duplicates that of neighboring Hebrew material. Occasionally verse numbers are given a suffix letter a, b or c. This is generally to mark a rearrangement of parts of the verse, or to relate a reference from elsewhere in the Bible to a specific part of the verse.
Italics in the text
Italic type is used in the text to distinguish words which are quotations from or close allusions to another book of the Bible. The origins of such quotations or allusions are given as references in the footnotes (except in cases in which the source is obvious to any Bible reader), and are not necessarily repeated when the same passage is quoted more than once in a single book.
Punctuation of biblical references
Chapter and verse are separated by a colon, e.g. Ex. 20: 17. In a succession of references, items are separated by a semicolon, e.g. Ex. 20:17; Lv. 9:15. The same practice is followed in a succession of references to different chapters of one book, e.g. Ex. 20:17; 21:3 or Ex. 15;17;20.
Brackets in the text
In the text, round brackets are used only to indicate that the words within them are considered to be a gloss.