Septuagint (LXX). A Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. The Pentateuch (Five Books of Moses) was translated in Alexandria, Egypt, in the third century B.C.E. It is the first written translation of the Bible we know about. Other books of the Hebrew Bible were added during the following few centuries. The name is Greek for “70” (hence the abbreviation LXX) and refers to the belief that 72 Jewish scholars, six from each of the twelve tribes, collaborated in the work.a
King James Version (KJV). A translation commissioned by James I of England; a committee of 54 scholars worked on the project from 1604 to 1611. Though translated from the original Hebrew and Greek, about 60 per cent of the KJV wording comes from earlier English versions, in particular William Tyndale’s translation (1525) and the Bishop’s Bible (1568). Thus, the language was already archaic when the KJV first appeared in Shakespeare’s time. For more than three centuries it remained the Authorized Version (AV) for Anglican and many other Protestant Churches. The language was somewhat modernized for the British Revised Version (RV) in 1881–1885 and the American Standard Version (ASV) in 1901. The Thomas Nelson company, the American successor to the British firm that published the RV and the ASV, published the New King James Version between 1979 and 1982.
The Revised Standard Version (RSV) is a widely used update of the American Standard Version (see above). The New Testament translation appeared in 1946; both Old and New Testaments appeared in 1952, with the Apocrypha following in 1957. The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), incorporating such advances in biblical studies as the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, was published 1990 (reviewed in Bible Books, BR 06:03).
Jewish Publication Society (JPS). A translation, of the Hebrew Bible, first published in 1917. Based on the traditional Hebrew text (the Masoretic Text or MT) and incorporating Jewish interpretation, it is nevertheless strongly influenced by the language and rhythm of the KJV. The new Jewish Publication Society Version (NJPS), a completely new translation based on MT, was issued between 1962 and 1982.
Jerusalem Bible (JB). A Catholic translation that appeared between 1959 and 1966. Produced in Jerusalem but first published in French in Paris, this scholarly version contains numerous footnotes and alternative readings. It was originally intended as a study Bible and not as a liturgical replacement for the Douay Bible (1582–1609), the standard Catholic English translation based on the fourth-century Latin Vulgate. An update, the New Jerusalem Bible, appeared in 1985.
New English Bible (NEB). A translation sponsored by British Protestant denominations and published between 1961 and 1970, it consciously rejected the KJV tradition. Its modern language, innovative scholarship and many textual emendations produced both praise and shock. Originally intended for private study, the NEB was widely used for public reading, sometimes to the chagrin of the faithful. A more middle-of-the-road version, with loftier liturgical language, appeared in 1989 as the Revised English Bible (REB; reviewed in Bible Books, BR 06:03).
