Customer Reviews

The Holy Bible: Douay Rheims Version

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The first review disturbed me as a couple of the comments might throw a negative light on it. I would like to clarify that this bible is the English translation of the Latin Vulgate as translated from the original languages by St. Jerome ( 342-420 ad) St. Jerome knew latin and greek perfectly and hebrew and aramaic nearly as well. He was 1600 years closer to the languages than scholars of today which would make him a much better judge of the exact meaning of the original texts. Some of these manuscripts are no longer available. The Latin Vulgate has been honored by the western church for 1600 years. Pope Pius XII stated in his 1943 encyclical letter Divino Afflante Spiritu " the Vulgate is free from any error whatsoever in matters of faith and morals." The Douay-Rheims is a faithful, word for word translation of the Latin Vulgate of St. Jerome. In using this bible I have discovered a very rich source of the WORD of GOD and feel confident in its integrity.

The full title of this book is: "The Holy Bible, Translated from the Latin Vulgate, Diligently Compared with the Hebrew, Greek, and Other Editions in Divers Languages." This Bible is a 20th century facsimile edition of a 19th century printing, of an 18th cent. revision of the 17th cent. Douay Old Testament and the 16th century Rheims New Testament. The Challoner revision (1749-1752) of the Douay Rheims Bible remained the "de facto" standard Catholic edition of the Scriptures until the 1950s, this edition is a facsimile of the 1899 John Murphy printing with Imprimatur by Cardinal Gibbons.

The seasoned Bible reader will enjoy the high style of the English and the linguistic interpretations retained from St. Jerome's text. This version preserves the literal translation from the Vulgate, while incorporating literary style, when appropriate, from the Authorized Version. While I do not suggest that this be the only translation on anyone's bookshelf, it should certainly have a prominent place.

This is by far the nicest (regular size) Douay-Rheims Bible I have ever come across. It is so beautiful, and very high quality, with breathtaking color pictures/maps, the words of Christ in red, very clear type, and much more. The genuine leather cover is also very good. And, of course, the translation itself is absolutely beautiful. I would highly recommend purchasing this Bible.

This version of the Holy Bible is unique indeed, as already pointed out by two previous reviewers, P. Boudreau and J. Hamby but there is so much more to this particular edition. It is written in the English language of the mid-1700's but is surprisingly easy to read. The Preface makes the origins and later updating quite clear and that makes this Bible version a "testament" to the clarity of language which the holiness of Bishop Richard Challoner could only contribute, so much so that there are very few passages that are difficult to read or understand. Indeed, if one reads this Douay-Rheims Holy Bible at least three or four times, as I have, the apparent esoteric aspects of the language begins to fade away, and the language becomes very intelligible, even profoundly understandable. When read while reading other more "modernized" versions, this one becomes more and more clear and seems to, or one gets the impression that it, truly convey the exact meaning of the original texts even though most of us know nothing of them. It takes on a kind of "aura" of deep understanding not obtained by newer versions in the common English (or even French, in my case) versions. It seems as if though the language conveys the Divine that is inherent in and of the Bible.
The text is appears poetic; it manipulates language to draw ethereal pictures; it uses rhetoric that depicts the spiritual without embodiment and invokes very high minded language to express ideas, truth, holiness, godliness and all that is spiritual, of which the profane can not imagine unless guided by holy scripture.
Granted, some of the language appears archaic, such as in Job 42:2 cf "I know that thou canst do all things and no thought is hid from thee. Who is this that hideth..." The old forms are seemingly awkward, but they begin to get familiar after a few reads and all awkwardness about their use soon disappears. In fact, the previous seeming awkwardness vanishes and is replaced with a feeling that you are reading the authentic Word of God. Just a personal observation, mind you, but I call them as I see them.
Enjoy it! I did!.

I was trying to decide between this Douay Rheims Challoner bible and one offered by another publisher. Eventually, I selected this one because of its convenient size. It is a most portable and accessible book of the Sacred Scriptures, and it is light weight. The genuine leather cover feels good in my hands and the bible has every appearance of being durable. The paper is not glossy, so I have had no trouble reading it due to glare. It is newly typeset, not a facsimile, so all of the text is easy to read.

I am extremely pleased with this bible and recommend it.

This is the same Bible listed on the TAN website as:
Douay-Rheims Bible Genuine Leather - Black
Standard Size Leather Black

I wanted a nice, leather bound, lightweight and portable Douay-Rheims Bible for taking to mass, waiting rooms, etc. I also like to keep an easy-handling bible nearby for quick verse lookups when reading my bulkier and multi-volume versions. This is near-perfect for my needs.

The cover is real leather, not the plastic-feeling bonded leather. Page edges are gilded, and the ribbon marker is always appreciated. The font is a touch larger than normal for compact-sized Bibles, and that was a pleasant surprise. Also, this is the first Douay-Rheims I've found with Our Lord's words in red, which is another plus.

My only knock on this edition is that the paper is ultra thin, causing the type on the reverse page to slightly darken the page you're reading. I realize though, that there's a tradeoff somewhere for larger type and keeping the volume light, so I'm ok with it, and I don't think it will effect anyone's reading pleasure.

All in all, a wonderful Bible for Catholics and all those who want to read the *entire* Word of God (note to my Protestant brothers and sisters: that last comment is meant playfully - please don't take offense.)

It would be the Douay-Rheims Bible as revised by Bishop Richard Challoner in 1749. Challoner was a former Protestant who had been raised on the King James Version, but had reverted to Catholicism in later life. Finding the original Douay-Rheims Bible much too Latinate (so much so than one could hardly understand it,) he sought about to revise the text into more syntactically and idiomatically correct English. He did not hesistate to borrow from the flowing rhythms and felicitous phrasings of the Protestant KJV, but not so much as to drastically change the staunch Roman leaning and doctrine of the DRB. A good example of his wise borrowing from the KJV is the first verse of Hebrews chapter 1. In the Vulgate it reads: "Multifariam, multisque modis olim Deus loquens patribus in prophetis..." The original DRB-NT closely followed the Latin down to the word order. Challoner, to the probable welfare and future existence of the Douay Bible, shrewdly borrowed from the AV: "God, who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all..." Pick up a King James and read the same verse, and you will see the remarkable similarity. Of course, the cross-pollinization (so to speak) occured on both sides as the even great King James Bible translators had as one of the versions they consulted the original Rheims New Testament of 1582. They scrupulously lifted words such as "propitiation" "concupiscence" and "victim" thereby enriching the AV (and the English language)with many sophisticated Latinate words. To sum up, this Bible version is well suited to traditionalist to moderate Roman Catholics. In spirit, phraseology and heredity it is about 70% Vulgate and 30% King James Version. Make no mistake, this version is still a translation of a translation (the Vulgate) and not of the original Hebrew and Greek. If one likes to hear Latin Mass, this Bible would be well used to follow along with the Latin chanting of the Scripture. This version by TAN Publishers is a good edition. A hard cover is always prefered, but the soft-cover is the one that seems to be more commonly produced. If one is interested in another edition of the Douay Bible, the absolute BEST, (that I recommend) is the edition published by Baronius Press. Their edition utilizes a digitally reset, clearer type, has engraved illustrations, colour maps, and is handsomely bound in French Morocco leather (hardbound or flexible leather). Sadly, it is not available on Amazon.com (yet), but can be ordered either directly from the U.K. or a private vendor on eBay. I own both common editions of the DRB, the one by TAN and the one by Baronius. TAN's was bought second-hand in the softcover paperback. It is a sparse edition, that is photoreproduced from a 1940's edition of the DRB, thus the type is "fuzzy" and some letters are notched. At the end are some appendices and a concordance of marginal quality, and black and white maps and diagrams of the Holy Land and the Temple. This TAN edition has been employed as a nice study Bible, since it can take a beating with its paper binding and relatively low cost. Again for a truly NICE Douay Bible, the Baronius edition is highly recommended. An eBay seller out of Tacoma, WA is currently selling them.

Every English speaking Catholic should own and read this Bible. It is a word for word translation of the Latin Vulgate of Saint Jerome, the first book to be printed by moveable type. The Latin Vulgate was approved by the Council of Trent 1545-63. Printed in English before the King James Bible.
The type is small about font '8'. This is the only problem.

The Douay Rheims is by far the best translation of any of the bibles assuming, of course, that you don't read Latin. TAN publshers recently came out with a book explaining why the DR is the best translation and I highly recommend reading.

This is perhaps the greatest Bible ever in the English language! Yet it seems even amazon cannot supply it!

I believe that there is a new publisher - Baronius Press who can supply it in a beautiful leather bound edition.