TJB - 1966
The Jerusalem Bible(Catholic)
OldCovenantApocryphaNewCovenant
[Home][Contacts][Versions]

The form and nature of this edition have been determinedby two of the principal dangers facing the Christian religion today. Thefirst is the reduction of Christianity to the state of a relic -- affectionatelyregarded, but considered irrelevant to our times. The second is its rejectionas a mythology, born and cherished in emotion with nothing at all to sayto the mind.

Now for Christian thinking in the twentieth century twoslogans have been wisely adopted: aggiornamento, or keeping abreastof the times, and approfondimento, or deepening of theological thought.Its first part can be carried out by translating into the language we usetoday, its second part by providing notes which are neither sectarian norsuperficial.

In 1956, a one-volume edition, which came to be knownpopularly as La Bible de Jérusalem, appeared. This was preparedby the Dominican Biblical School in Jerusalem. The edition being describedhere is the English equivalent of that. Parts of the English edition weretranslated from the French, then carefully compared with the Hebrew orAramaic texts. However, more parts were translated from the Hebrew or Greekand compared with the French. The Psalms presented a special problem becausethey are a collection of verse not only to be read but also to be sungor chanted.

The format of this edition has been chosen to make intelligentreading easier. Thus, the single column arrangement is used. The text isdivided by bold-type section headings so that the reader can see at a glancewhat is ahead. The poetic passages are printed as verse. An introductionis located at the beginning of a book or group of books. There are numerousother characteristics to help the reader.

Doubleday (1966)

[Tyndale House, Cambridge, UnitedKingdom]

Genesis1: 1, 2

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, andGod's spirit hovered over the water.

 
 

Wisdom1: 1

Love virtue, you who are judges on earth,
let honesty prompt your thinking about the Lord,
seek him in simplicity of heart;

 
 

John1: 1 - 3

In the beginning was the Word:
the Word was with God
and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things came to be,
not one thing had its being but through him.

Comparisons which include this version: