The New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition Preface (1985)
NIHIL OBSTAT: John Deehan, M.A., S.T.B., L.S.S.
Censor
IMPRIMATUR: ✠ Cardinal George Basil Hume, O.S.B.
Archbishop of Westminster
June 18, 1985
The Nihil obstat and Imprimatur are a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free from doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil obstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions or statements expressed.
The introductions and notes of this Bible are, with some variations and revisions, a translation of those which appear in La Bible de Jérusalem, published by Les Editions du Cerf, Paris (revised edition 1973). The English text of the Bible itself, though translated from the ancient texts, owes a large debt to the work of the many scholars who collaborated to produce La Bible de Jérusalem, a debt which the publishers of this English Bible gratefully acknowledge.
GENERAL EDITOR’S FOREWORD
Since its publication in 1966 the Jerusalem Bible has become widely used for liturgical purposes, for study and for private reading. Credit both for the idea of the translation of the French Bible de Jérusalem and for the great labours involved in its execution belongs to Alexander Jones; it is sad that he did not live to see the full impact of his work. Both as an intelligible modern translation and as a well laid-out and easily manageable book, the Jerusalem Bible set a new standard for versions of the Bible. However, in 1973 a new edition of the Bible de Jérusalem was published, which incorporated progress in scholarship over the two decades since the preparation of its first edition. The introductions and notes were often widely changed to take account of linguistic, archaeological and theological advances, and the text itself in some instances reflected new understanding of the originals.
This 1973 revision was important enough to warrant a completely new edition of the English-language Jerusalem Bible. In this new edition the introductions and notes are drawn from that revision, with some additional changes especially in the introductions and notes to the New Testament to take into account further recent advances in scholarship. The biblical text of the first edition was occasionally criticised for following the French translation more closely than the originals. In this edition the translation has been made directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic. Only where the text admits of more than one interpretation has the option chosen by the Bible de Jérusalem been followed, unless permission to adopt another view was granted by the editors of that work. The character of the Jerusalem Bible as primarily a study Bible has been kept constantly in mind, and for that reason accuracy of translation has been a prime consideration. Paraphrase has been avoided more rigorously than in the first edition; care has been taken that in parallel passages (for example in the first three gospels) the similarities and differences should be mirrored exactly in the translation. Key terms in’ the originals, especially those theological key concepts on which there is a major theological note, have been rendered throughout (with very few exceptions) by the same English word, instead of by the variety of words used in the first edition. At the same time the widespread liturgical use of this version has been taken into account; while it is hoped that the translation is fresh and lively, care has been taken to reproduce the dignity of the originals by a certain measured phrasing and avoidance of the colloquial. Considerable efforts have also been made, though not at all costs, to soften or avoid the inbuilt preference of the English language, a preference now found so offensive by some people, for the masculine; the word of the Lord concerns women and men equally.
It has seemed wise to retain the spelling of the proper names traditional in English-speaking lands. Many names in biblical Hebrew have a meaning: for instance ‘Adonijah’ means ‘My Lord is Yah’ (Yahweh). Others are given a meaning by a more or less forced pun. Many of these meanings are given in the footnotes. In the rendering of Hebrew words in the footnotes, etc., a more modern system of transliteration is, however, used, thus enabling the reader to come closer to the original sounds. This is often important for onomatopoeia and to understand how textual corruption has occurred.
One acute difficulty was the choice of system when modern equivalents for weights and measures were required. In some English-speaking countries the metric system is rapidly gaining ground, while others, notably the United States, stick firmly to the imperial. Finally it seemed that both systems were needed.
For this edition the alphabetical table of major footnotes has been entirely remade in a way which will, it is hoped, make it more serviceable. Two indexes of proper names have been added, personal and geographical, giving the principal biblical passages in which they occur, as well as important footnotes. The maps have also been completely redesigned.
A list of the original collaborators in the 1966 edition may be found on page 2109. In many instances this translation has used their work widely, but they cannot be considered responsible for the resultant version. The initial draft of almost the whole of the Old Testament was prepared by Mr Alan Neame, and credit for the skilful translation must go to him. The publisher’s editors, at first Mr W. H. Saumarez-Smith, and for the major part of the. work the Revd Cecil Hargreaves, have done far more than their job; especially the latter has been an exciting partner to work with, whose patience, inventiveness and tact have alike been a joy. The linchpin at the publisher’s office, who has co-ordinated all our efforts, has been Mr H..P. Jolowicz; his untiring and painstaking accuracy has ensured the consistency and regularity of this volume. The marginal references throughout the Bible have been reviewed by the Revd David Pope, working under difficult circumstances with impressive patience. A number of consultants who read drafts at an early stage of the work have asked that their names should not, be mentioned; to them and even more to the consultants in all five continents who criticised the final drafts, and suggested many improvements, I am most grateful. The names of Professor Kenneth Grayston and Canon Douglas Webster, who worked through the whole Bible, must not go unmentioned. During the whole work my monastic brethren and my students of all ages have provided a constant check and incentive; their criticisms and suggestions have done much to improve both the dignity and the intelligibility of the work. The impatience of the young with obscurity or technicality has been a constant incentive to clarity of thought, while the love and reverence of seniors for the sacred text has helped to keep at bay anything outrageous or slipshod. Over the five years since he asked me to undertake the work, consultation with Pére Benoit of the Ecole biblique in Jerusalem, whether in our series of letters or in our meetings at Ampleforth, Rome or Jerusalem, has been one of the pleasures of the project; while we have not always agreed, his openness and still youthful enthusiasm have invariably been a stimulus, and his concern to make this volume worthy of the Bible de Jérusalem an inspiration to the highest standards.
Ampleforth Abbey
York
November 1984
Henry Wansbrough
PREFACE
The Hebrew and Greek Bibles
The canon of the Hebrew Bible was fixed by the Palestinian Jews at the beginning of the Christian era and is still maintained by modern Jews. It contains only the Hebrew books, and therefore excludes the books written in Greek and the Greek supplements of Esther and Daniel. It is divided into three parts:
- The Law (the Pentateuch): Genesis; Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
- The Prophets:
a) the ‘earlier Prophets’: Joshua, Judges, Samuel (1 and 2), Kings (1 and 2)
b) the ‘later Prophets’: Isaiah; Jeremiah, Ezekiel; the ‘Twelve Minor Prophets’: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
- The Writings (Hagiographa): Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Songs, Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes); Lamentations, Esther (the last five, read on Jewish feast days, are known as the ‘five scrolls’), Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles
The Hebrew Bible contains twenty-four books, the ‘Twelve Minor Prophets’ being regarded as one book.
The Greek Bible, the ‘Septuagint’, or ‘LXX’, so called because it was supposedly translated by seventy people, was for the use of Jews of the Diaspora. It includes in addition to the text of the Hebrew Bible:
- Judith, Tobit, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sira (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch (Baruch Chapter 6 is printed under the separate heading of the ‘Letter to Jeremiah’). In Daniel the following parts exist only in Greek: Dn 3:24-90; Dn 13 (Susanna); Dn 14 (‘Bel and the Dragon’). These books, commonly referred to as: deutero-canonical, are generally regarded as part of the Christian canon.
- Books which, although sometimes. used by the Fathers and ancient ecclesiastical writers, have not been accepted into: the Christian’ Canon.
These ‘apocryphal’ works are:
Esdras I (in the LXX the canonical Ezra-Nehemiah is entitled Esdras II)
3 and 4 Maccabees
Odes
Psalms of Solomon
In the LXX; 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings are entitled ‘The Four Books of Kingdoms’.
The translation
The translation follows the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts. For the Old Testament the Massoretic Text is used, that is the text established in the eighth/ninth centuries AD by Jewish scholars who fixed its letters and vowel signs, the text reproduced by most manuscripts. Only when this text presents insuperable difficulties have emendations or the versions of other Hebrew manuscripts or the ancient versions (notably the LXX and Syriac) been used. In such cases the correction made to the Hebrew text, and if possible the sense of the Hebrew, have been: given in the notes: For the deutero-canonical books and the New Testament the Greek text established in modern times by critical work on the principal manuscript witnesses to the tradition (also with the help of ancient versions) has been used. When the tradition offers several alternatives, important variants not used in this translation have been indicated in the notes.
Passages considered to be glosses have been put in brackets in the text. In the biblical text this is the only way in which brackets are used.
In this edition an attempt has been made to avoid translating a single term or expression of the original by a variety of renderings. Sometimes it has proved impossible to find a single English equivalent to render all the breadth of meaning and the overtones of a Hebrew or Greek original. Sometimes, also, too literal a translation would, in context, have meant a serious impoverishment of the sense of a phrase or expression. When it has been necessary to make a choice, fidelity to the text has been given preference over a literary quality which the original did not possess.
Verse-numbering
In the Old Testament the division into verses follows the Hebrew except in the few passages where the text is found only in the Septuagint; then the Septuagint numbering is given. Where the numbering of the Vulgate differs from this main verse-numbering, it is given in smaller type. A dot « indicates a verse beginning other than at the start of a line. Occasionally to a verse number is suffixed a letter (e.g. 8:2a; 8:3b; 8:4c) to distinguish earlier or later parts of a verse. In the notes these become 8:2a; 8:3b etc.
Italics
Italics are used for two purposes: normally they indicate a quotation from another book of the Bible; in Esther and Daniel, however, they indicate passages of the Septuagint which do not exist in the Hebrew Bible. In some of the New Testament verses shown in italics (as being quotations from the Old Testament) the New Testament writers have given the Old Testament quotations in a wording different from that of the current text of the Old Testament. They were presumably using a different version, current in their own day.
Footnotes and Indexes
The footnotes of the previous edition of the Jerusalem Bible’ have been revised and brought up to date in the light of recent research.
The footnotes assume that the reader has already read the Introduction to the book (or group of books) concerned. Frequently the notes are interconnected, in which case the reader is referred ‘to other passages where the note provides supplementary explanations or where a series of marginal references is given. In the case’ of parallel passages, footnotes are normally given only on the first occurrence of a passage (e.g. in the Synoptic Gospels footnotes explanatory of Mark and Luke are often to be found under the parallel passage in Matthew). A dot • is used in the footnotes to divide separate subjects within the same note. An alphabetical table of the major topics treated in the footnotes is given at the end of the volume. There is also a separate index of personal names, giving the principal biblical references, and, after the maps, a similar index of geographical names.
Marginal references
Where a group of cross-references occurs, the source (if any) of an italicised quotation in the text is always given first. References within the same book are given before those in other books of the Bible. The first reference of a group is set against the line to which the whole group applies. A small space separates references to different words in the same line; a larger space words in different lines. Where there is no room for, a space a dot • is used to distinguish two groups.
Transcription of Hebrew
The usual conventions are followed, with these possible exceptions:
| he and het | are represented by | h |
| zain | ,, | z |
| tet and taw | ,, | t |
| kaph | ,, | k |
| samek and sin | ,, | s |
| samek and zade | ,, | tz* |
*at beginning of a word represented by z alone except if doubled — then tzz
The presence of dagesh lene in the begadkephat letters is shown only in the case of pe
More abbreviations, together with symbols and terms used in the notes
| OT | Old Testament |
| NT | New Testament |
| MT | Massoretic text (‘massorah’ = ‘tradition’ in Hebrew); the Massoretic text established in the eighth/ninth centuries AD by Jewish scholars who fixed its letters and vowel signs |
| LXX | the Greek ‘Septuagint’, the earliest translation into Greek of the Hebrew Old Testament, dating from the last two centuries before Christ |
| Al. | Codex Alexandrinus, a manuscript of the fifth century AD |
| Alex. | Alexandrian text, i.e. the type of Greek text of the New Testament that: circulated in the Church of Alexandria and in Egypt in early church times |
| Aq. | Aquila of Pontus, and the Greek text of the Old Testament according to his recension, early second century AD |
| Arab. | early versions of the Bible in Arabic |
| Arm. | Armenian |
| Gk-Luc. | the Greek text of the Old Testament according to the recension or revision of Lucian of Antioch, early fourth century AD |
| Hebr. | Hebrew |
| Lat. | Latin |
| Q | Qumran: this-abbreviation is found in various combinations: e.g. ‘1 Q’ = ‘material found’ in Qumran Cave 1’: ‘1 Q p Hab’ = ‘the commentary (pesher) on Habakkuk found in Qumran Cave I’: ‘1 Q Isa’ = ‘the first (a) copy of Isaiah in Qumran Cave I’ |
| Rec. Luc. | Recension of Lucian (see under ‘Gk-Luc.’) |
| Sam. | Samaritan Pentateuch |
| Sin. | Codex Sinaiticus, a manuscript of the mid-fourth century AD, written in the. Alexandrian area but discovered on Mount Sinai |
| Symm. | Symmachus, and the Greek text of the Old Testament according to his translation or recension, late second century AD |
| Syr. | Syriac, i.e. the text or rendering of the Syriac versions |
| Syr. hex. | the Syro-hexaplar version of the Old Testament, from Egypt, early seventh century AD |
| Targ. | Targum, targums: the ancient Jewish translations into Aramaic of Hebrew writings: they are in fact a combination of text, paraphrase and brief commentary |
| Text. rec. | Textus receptus: or Received text: i.e. the traditional biblical text commonly in use in recent centuries |
| Theod. | Theodotion, and the Greek text of the Old Testament according to his revision or recension, which transmits first-century material, though Theodotion’s date is probably late second century |
| Vat. | Codex Vaticanus: a manuscript of the mid-fourth century AD, from the Alexandrian area |
| Vet. Lat. | Vetus Latina, or Old Latin version(s): i.e. Latin version(s) of the’ biblical text earlier than the Vulgate |
| Vulg. | the Latin Vulgate (‘popular’ version): the revised Latin version of biblical books, made by St Jerome in the late fourth century AD |
| West. | Western text: a type of Greek text of the New Testament that circulated mainly in the churches of the western Mediterranean and North Africa in early church times |
| add. | additional words included by some authorities |
| ch. | chapter |
| conj. | conjecture or conjectural reading: this may be given in the notes where the original text is uncertain, and especially in the Old Testament where suggested reconstructions of what vowels should be supplied in a Hebrew word may prove helpful |
| corr. | correction: i.e. a correction of the original text, following an editor or edition of later centuries |
| dittography | where a copyist has written twice what should have been written once |
| gloss | an addition to or elaboration of the original text |
| haplography | where a copyist has written once what should have been written twice |
| ketib | the Hebrew text as written, and fixed by the consonants |
| MS, MSS | manuscript(s) |
| om. | words omitted by some authorities |
| par. | signifies ‘parallel’ and points to a passage where other parallels are also indicated |
| peshitta | ‘the simple’: a fifth-century Syriac version of the Bible, a revision of earlier Syriac versions |
| qere | the Hebrew text as read, with vowel-provision made by the Massoretes |
| seq. | and following verse(s) |
| var. | variant reading |
| versions | ancient translations of the original biblical language into another language: e.g. into Latin, Coptic |
| + | this sign against a marginal reference guides the reader to a further marginal reference at the verse indicated |
| = | parallel passage within the same book |
| ‖ | parallel passage in another book |
| ⬈ | passage later used or quoted at the given reference |
| ► | a triangle is occasionally used alongside a marginal reference: this signifies that the marginal reference relates not to the lines of text against which it appears, but to the lines at the foot of the preceding page where there was insufficient space for all references |