''The Holy Bible: A Translation From the Latin Vulgate in the Light of the Hebrew and Greek Originals'' is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

version of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

in three volumes (later published in one volume editions) translated by Monsignor

Ronald Knox Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (17 February 1888 – 24 August 1957) was an English Catholic priest, theologian, author, and radio broadcaster. Educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, where he earned a high reputation as a classicist, Knox wa ...

, the English theologian, priest and crime writer. It is more commonly known as the Knox Bible or Knox Version.

Origin and publication

In 1936, Ronald Knox was requested by the Catholic hierarchies of England and Wales to undertake a new translation of the

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

with use of contemporary language and in light of Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. When the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

was published in 1945, it was not intended to replace the

Rheims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

version but to be used alongside it, as Bernard Griffin, the Archbishop of Westminster, noted in the preface. With the release of Knox's version of the Old Testament in 1950, the popularity of translations based on the Vulgate waned as church authorities promoted the use of Bibles based primarily on Hebrew and Greek texts following the 1943 encyclical ''

Divino afflante Spiritu ''Divino afflante Spiritu'' ("By the inspiration of the Spirit") is a papal encyclical letter issued by Pope Pius XII on 30 September 1943 calling for new translations of the Bible into vernacular languages using the original languages as a ...

''. The Knox Bible was, however, one of the approved vernacular versions of the Bible used in the lectionary readings for Mass from 1965 to the early 1970s, along with the

Confraternity Bible The Confraternity Bible is any edition of the Catholic Bible translated under the auspices of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) between 1941 and 1969. The Confraternity Bible strives to give a fluent English translation while remainin ...

Style

The style of the translation is in idiomatic English and much freer in renderings of passages than the Douay version. With the

Deuterocanonical books The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be ...

, the interpretation of the passages was brought closer to the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

. When the Latin appeared to be doubtful, the translation of the text was based on other languages, with the Latin translation placed in the footnote.

Later editions

Templegate Publishers produced a facsimile of the New Testament in 1997 ().

Baronius Press Baronius Press is a traditional Catholic book publisher. It was founded in London, in 2002 by former St Austin Press editor Ashley Paver and other young Catholics who had previously worked in publishing and printing. The press takes its name from ...

secured the rights for the work from the Archdiocese of Westminster in 2009 and their new leather-bound edition of Monsignor Knox's translation was published in October 2012. A hardcover version was also published, but is no longer being made. The Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury,

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

, commented on the new Baronius Press edition that "Ronald Knox's translation of the Bible remains an exceptional achievement both of scholarship and of literary dedication. Again and again it successfully avoids conventional options and gives the scriptural text a fresh flavour, often with a brilliantly idiosyncratic turn of phrase. It most certainly deserves republication, study and use."

References

External links

Knox Bible
fully searchable, including all references and possible to compare with both the Latin Vulgate and Douay Rheims Bibles side by side.
Text at New Advent
with the

Westcott-Hort ''The New Testament in the Original Greek'' is a Greek-language version of the New Testament published in 1881. It is also known as the Westcott and Hort text, after its editors Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901) and Fenton John Anthony Hort (1828 ...

and

in parallel columns
Title pages to first editions of Knox Translation
{{English Bible translation navbox 1950 books Bible translations into English Catholic bibles

Origin and publication

Style

Later editions

See also

References

External links