The Revised New Jerusalem Bible

FOREWORD

Over the course of the years the English language has changed; it continues to change. When The Jerusalem Bible was published in 1966 it was the first full translation of the Bible into modern English. The translation of the biblical text itself was in fact a secondary initiative in that edition of the Bible. The primary purpose of The Jerusalem Bible was to make available to the English-speaking public the theological richness of the French Bible de Jérusalem elaborated over the previous twenty years at the French biblical school in Jerusalem. There, a team of scholars had applied to biblical study the advances of the previous century in archaeological, linguistic, literary and theological studies. It was also the era of the exciting discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, in which the École biblique had played a major part. The translation of the text was secondary to that of the notes and introductions; it arose out of a need to support the notes with a new translation. However, the editor, Alexander Jones, a former student of the École biblique, at that time teaching in Liverpool, saw that a fresh translation of the text was needed to support the scholarship of the theological notes and introductions. For this purpose he assembled a skilled and distinguished literary team, which ensured that the biblical translation was hailed as an achievement in its own right. Nevertheless, the principal feature of this Bible was the mediation of the results of biblical research. Until then a fully annotated Bible had not been part of the English biblical tradition. One of the aims of the great King James Version, since 1611 the template and model of all English Bibles, had been to avoid commentary and annotation. King James himself had prescribed the elimination of all notes, for such notes had served largely as weapons in interconfessional and indeed also political controversy.

Soon after the publication of The Jerusalem Bible other modern translations began to appear, such as the Revised Standard Version and the Good News Bible (in the United States known as Today’s English Version) and the New International Version (1978). A major impetus was given to biblical studies and to the use of the Bible by the decree of the Second Vatican Council on the Bible, Lumen Gentium, and by the ecumenical movement, which rightly saw in the Bible a source of unity rather than a quarry for religious controversy.

The appearance of a fresh edition of the French Bible de Jérusalem, produced with the co-operation of scholars from a wide range of religious backgrounds and named the La Bible Oecuménique (1976), prompted the English publishers, Darton, Longman and Todd, to initiate a second edition of The Jerusalem Bible. Knowledge of the Bible and of its background had advanced significantly in the decades since the original research in Jerusalem, and the progress of the ecumenical movement had made available a broader base of scholarship. As regards the text of the Bible it was also realised that the translations had relied too heavily on the French edition rather than the original languages of the Bible, Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. For The New Jerusalem Bible (1985) the biblical text was revised, with closer attention to the original languages. For some Books of the Bible a completely new translation seemed necessary. The introductions and notes to the Books were revised and partially re-written, though still under the remote supervision of the École biblique. Every change required the permission of the Director of the School, which was on the whole courteously given, though very rarely international pressure had to be applied.

Two decades later a request from the African biblical apostolate for a cheaper edition of The Jerusalem Bible led to a complete revision of the supporting material, independent of the Jerusalem school, though for financial reasons the biblical text of 1966 was retained. This was published by the Catholic Truth Society of London as The CTS New Catholic Bible in 2008. The supporting material produced for that edition has formed the basis of the present edition. The biblical text here presented is, however, a wholesale revision of the Jerusalem Bible text, chiefly under three guiding principles. The Bible was written to be proclaimed aloud rather than studied in silence; it is important, therefore, that the message of the Bible should be read out and heard intelligibly as well as understood in reflective meditation. Attention has also been given to rendering the language and imagery of the original languages accurately rather than by dynamic equivalence. Further, every attempt has also been made to show that the message of the Bible is directed to women and men equally, despite the inbuilt bias of the English language. 

Two important features of the Jerusalem Bible tradition and an innovation deserve mention. The marginal references, which contribute so much to the understanding of a text, have been rationalised. A New Testament text can often be fully appreciated only if it is realised that the passage is built on and assumes knowledge of an Old Testament background. Such key-references should not be drowned by reference to less important allusions. The Index to the Notes makes it possible to find in the notes the most important key-explanations of words, themes and ideas, together with the basic cross-references. As an innovation to make texts more immediately intelligible to current readers, ancient systems of measuring and timing (how many cubits were there in a stade?; how long was a Roman hour?) have been replaced by modern, metric equivalents. There is, therefore, no table of weights and measures. In this rapidly changing world monetary equivalents would soon be out of date, and in any case needs and opportunities for the use of money are utterly different.

A word might be helpful about some details. Only just a detail is the Revised Grail Psalter. The original Grail Psalter (1963), nominally produced by the Ladies of the Grail, but with Hubert Richards as an important consultant, was revised in the early twentyfirst century by Abbot Gregory Polan and monks of Conception Abbey, with modest contributions from the present editor of the RNJB, and finally published in 2008. Abbot Gregory kindly allowed a few ameliorations for the Psalter’s use in this edition of the RNJB. Two other details concern names. Soon after his election as Pope, Benedict XVI was approached by the Chief Rabbi of Rome who said that the use of a possible vocalisation of the divine name was offensive to Jews. Pope Benedict submitted the matter to the Pontifical Biblical Commission and we recommended the use of ‘Lord’, with small capitals, for YHWH, a suggestion which the Pope accepted. A further question arose over the translation of the Greek Christos. It has been pointed out that in some biblical writing, especially St Paul, this is both a confessional and an honorific title which should remain as such in translation. In other writings, however, especially the gospels, it is used to express that Jesus is precisely the fulfilment of the messianic hopes. On these occasions, therefore, it has been translated ‘Messiah’.

Praise and thanks are due especially to Frank Moloney, who read through the whole script of the New Testament, to Karen Wilson, who copy-edited the whole, and to Andrew Carter, who made valuable suggestions about English usage throughout the volume. All these made substantial improvements. We would also like to thank Abbot Gregory Polan for making available the text of the New Grail Psalter for this edition, and generously permitting some minor changes in the text of the psalms. For this edition the Hebrew numbering of the psalms, espoused by the École biblique, rather than the Greek has been retained. My special thanks are due also to David Moloney, editorial director of Darton, Longman and Todd, who has worked tirelessly in preparing this volume for publication. 

Henry Wansbrough
Ampleforth Abbey, York
June 2019