Bibles

Among my addictions is...Bibles. There’s something about a Bible that fascinates me, I love their petal-light and silky-smooth paper, the blackness of the covers, the gilt edging. And, of course, the content has something to do with it too.

So, when I pass a bookseller I look out for Bibles and even make a special trip to religious shops to browse the selection on display. I would like to say that I have read all the Bibles in my possession from end to end, but of course I haven’t. I do buy many Bibles, especially pocket-size New Testaments, with the intention of carrying and reading them - but then something always happens to change that plan...and then when I’m next in a shop - or away on a trip - I remember that I would like a good edition for reading on the fly... so I start buying again.

Recently, I made an inventory of ‘Bibles’ in the house and the grand total was 30 (19 full Bibles, 7 New Testaments, a book of the Gospels and one of the Psalms, a Franklin electronic Bible and an audio MP3 version). Not all of these were impulse purchases, quite a few were for specific research or were received as gifts. None of them are valuable in monetary terms but each of them is appreciated for different reasons. Let me explain what I mean. 

I think one-year-reading-plan Bibles are a great idea. For a first – marathon - exposure to Holy Writ, they are ideal. The first one I read was a New Living Translation version, which has the advantage of simplicity of expression and the disadvantage of simplicity of expression. In other words, it reads like a newspaper – a tabloid – but it was based on a revision of the Living Bible, which is not a translation of the ancient texts but simply a paraphrase of them, and one done using ‘dynamic equivalence’ (the sense of the message expressed in modern terms, in a form and content equivalent to the original expression). Because of this, some of the accuracy of meaning is lost and the editor’s bias, intentional or unintentional, intrudes. It has some other faults as well but, despite all that, I enjoyed it very much, and it gave me entree to the Bible as a complete book.

 

However, if I was to recommend a one-year Bible now, I’d prefer one of the many New International Versions that are readily available. It’s a translation not a paraphrase, translation began as recently as 1965 and it has largely succeeded in its aim of using idiomatic twentieth century English. But it is not ideal for everyone as it was translated from an Evangelical Protestant perspective and shows the expected bias of that viewpoint. Nevertheless, it reads well.

 

Speaking of reading well, what can compare with the Authorised King James version? There is a sonorous majesty and beauty of the language that transcends time and is hard-wired into the national consciousness. Certainly it is inaccurate at times, overtaken by modern scholarship and contains archaic and obsolete expressions but it still has power to move the spirit. It was the version I grew up with and I’m fond of it.

However, when I want to research something, the Bible version that I normally reach for is a ‘literal’ version such as the New Revised Standard Version (Catholic Edition). Not as literal as the RSV but a better read, up-to-date scholarship and good for study and prayer. Other versions at the ‘literal’ end of the continuum include the King James Bible, the New American Standard and the Douay-Rheims Bibles. The dynamic equivalence end includes the New Jerusalem Bible, the Good News Bible, and the Contemporary English Version. The ubiquitous New International Version and the New American Bible are somewhere in the middle.

It’s worth knowing whether you are buying a Protestant or a Catholic edition. While the Protestant and Catholic versions of the New Testament are identical, the Catholic Old Testament has 46 books, seven more than the Protestant version (these are the Deuterocanonical books or second canon for Catholics, also called the Apocrypha or false writings by Protestants; they include books such as Tobias/Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, and the First and Second Maccabees).

But, really, there’s no such thing as a perfect version. The best version-  as a wise person once said - is the one you’ll actually read!

It’s not just the version that matters, there’s also the personal association. For example, one of my Bibles is a large-print red-letter King James version, that belonged to my uncle, the one I’m named after. It’s lovely, with embossed wooden end boards, a little battered now, bearing his name stamp and it is overprinted ‘The American Colony Stores, Jerusalem, Palestine.’ It was probably acquired during the Second World War, when he was a chaplain with British troops and visited the Holy Land. 

Speaking of print size, the older one gets the smaller the Bible font seems to be. I’ve found that it is not worth ordering Bibles from the internet. Too often the font is not mentioned and when it is stated it does not always turn out to be the stated size. Even if it turns out to be the right size, the quality of the paper used makes a huge difference to the readability of the text. Some paper is almost transparent and the text from the other side bleeds through making it very hard to read, or the paper is a mucky grey colour and the typeface muted so that the text does not stand out well. 

Honourable mention goes to two very readable and pocketable editions, New Testament editions of course - it’s extraordinarily difficult to get a truly readable small edition of the complete Bible. For me, the Zondervan ‘pocket thin’ NIV version works well, although the text is barely bold enough. The other is a NIV edition published by the Gideons, with superb bold text but a shade cramped, although the plastic leatherette cover is very durable (it’s not on retail sale though, it’s one I’ve ‘acquired’ from my son, who was presented with it at school).

Maybe there’s a better pocketable version somewhere out there? Time to start looking again!