Customer Reviews

The New American Bible (Style No. 2403): Student Edition

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This it the Bible translation (known as the NAB) that is used in the Liturgy of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church (i.e.: first and second readings, psalms and the Gospel) in the United States of America (Canada uses the New Revised Standard Version - NRSV).

It is a very easy to read translation, and is truly a translation, as the scholars who compiled the New American translation did so from Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts. This is unlike other Catholic translations, which have often worked from the Latin text of the Latin Vulgate. In the foreword, it talks about how the oldest and best-known and supportable texts were used in the writing of this translation, making it one of the best historical translations you can find.

Since it is a Catholic Bible, it contains the deuterocanonical books, which non-Catholic's erroneously call the "Apocrypha" (i.e.: I say erroneous because apocrypha means hidden, and these books are far from hidden).

Each book of the Bible contains the history of that book. Such information included is who was responsible for writing the book (when available), the period in which it was written, and the purpose and intent of the book. Along with this foreward, the each book contains extensive footnotes to assist the reader in understanding particular phrases and/or the historical context. It also contains cross-referencing material which will point the reader in the direction of other related scriptural verses.

As a pointer, this translation can also be found online by visiting the National Conference of Catholic Bishops at the United States Catholic Conference website. You will be able to read the text there and decide if this is a translation you would want to purchase. As a Catholic, I would highly recommend it to all other American Catholics.

This is a translation from the original Hebrew and Greek, with reference to the Qumran documents or "Dead Sea Scrolls". Previous bibles for Catholics have been taken from the Latin Vulgate. (This translation, the NAB is different to the New American Standard Bible, the NASB.) It includes the books of the Apochropha. (These are additional historical and wisdom books, which are found in the Old Testament section of this Bible. Some put these books in a seperate section.) There are frequent, useful notes, especially in the New Testament section, and many cross-references. This particular version does lack the interesting article on English translations that appears in some NAB editions. At this price, give it a try! Or buy a copy to give away.

First off, the translation on this bible is, for the most part, solid. That, in itself, isn't really a compelling reason to buy it, there are plenty of other good translations out there, some perhaps even better than this one.

However, this one has hands down better notes than any other cheap paperback bible. Every book of the bible has a brief, very scholarly written introduction, and clarifying footnotes on many pages.

What I really respect is that the introductions and footnotes and really, legitimately, scholarly. The moralizing commentary routinely found in some "study bibles" is here reduced to simple notes of clarification on either odd historical points or lines that are hard to translate.

More than enough to recommend this one, even to non-Catholics. Martin Luther might not have particularly liked the extra books, but he did say people should read them.

While I feel this edition of the "New American Bible" is invaluable, you should avoid it if your faith depends on a strict literal interpretation of the Bible. (If this is the case with you, and you are looking for a nice version of the Bible, I suggest the "New King James." That is a well written Bible that many Protestants use, and it should not upset your faith.) While the original "Revised Standard" is the translation I prefer the most, the "New American" is also a Catholic Approved Bible. (My only complaint is the overdone Gender Inclusive Language.) While I feel the "Good News" takes the prize for the most beginner friendly Bible, this edition of the "New American" comes really close. Like the "Good News," this version has intros to the different books that are helpful for beginners or people seeking a deeper understanding of the text. Like the "Good News," this version also has titles that break up the text and give an indication as to what the passages pertain to. The 'New Testament' is a revision of the previous edition of the "New American." While I still prefer the original "Revised Standard," this translation is well done. I say literalists and Protestants should use caution, because they will undoubtedly find the footnotes disturbing. But Roman Catholics and Anglo Catholics should find them impressive as well as enlightening. Amongst other things, the footnotes explain that not everything that was labled as an act of God was so; they also explain that the events were not being documented as they happened. As Gerard Rosse said in his "The Cry Of Jesus On The Cross:" 'The Bible must not be read as a newspaper, but as narrative theology.' Another nice bonus is this version has a list of the Popes from Peter to John Paul II. Since this is a Catholic Approved Bible, it of course contains the 'Deuterocanonicals.' (Better known as the 'Apocrypha.') I still feel the "Good News" is the best for beginners; and the original "Revised Standard" will probably always be my favorite version. But in my opinion, this edition of the "New American" should be in the library of any Roman Catholic or Anglo Catholic. I dare say Ukraine Orthodox as well. The price of $6.95 is virtually nothing when considering that you are getting a great Catholic Approved Bible, the 'Deuterocanonicals' / 'Apocrypha,' a list of the Popes, great introductions to the books, and outstanding footnotes. Few Bibles will get you closer to Christ than this one!

The New American Bible is the translation that's read at Mass in U.S. parishes, but this is misleading; the 1991 New American Bible was revised in 2000-2002 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to remove unacceptable inclusive language (see below). The Lectionary is currently not available as any personal Bible.

As for the translation itself, it's very poor. Though it's extremely readable in its looseness, which is a plus for anybody not proficient with the English language, the dynamic renderings often end up as absurdities. Genesis 25:30 reads "he said to Jacob, 'Let me gulp down some of that red stuff; I'm starving.' (That is why he was called Edom.)" Okey dokey.

Now, disregarding that bizarre choice, there is a cause for concern in some places. Genesis 1:2 is often rendered "and the spirit of God moved over the waters" by orthodox Bibles. Note the inclusive of "spirit of God," which is often seen as a precursor of the revelation of the Holy Spirit being a person of the Trinity. Looser Bibles might render it "wind from God" or "divine wind," which although removes the Holy Spirit from the passage, at least remembers that it is the work of God. The New American Bible has the absolute worst translation: "while a mighty wind swept over the waters." It simply removes God from the equation. The liberalism is uncalled for.

As I said before, the reason why the New American Bible was modified by the USCCB is because of inclusive language. Now, changing "brothers, hear me out" to "brothers and sisters, hear me out" is acceptable, because the speaker was clearly designating both in his audience. But what the bishops do not tolerate is when inclusive language diminishes the divinity of Jesus. The example always thrown is the first psalm, which begins "happy is the MAN who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly." Many Christians view it as another prophecy of the Messiah, who will not sin like his brethren, but will instead guide them. Inclusive language would alter this to "happy is ONE who..." or "happy is THE MORTAL who..." The Jews were not anticipating a genderless Messiah!

The footnotes are even worse. Regarding Matthew 17:21-23, the footnote reads "Neither this nor the two later passion predictions can be taken as sayings that, as they stand, go back to Jesus himself. However, it is probable that he foresaw that his mission would entail suffering and perhaps death, but was confident that he would ultimately be vindicated by God." Jesus could not foresee his own death? The logic goes, it is impossible to know the future; therefore, this saying must've been invented after it was fulfilled.

Regarding Matthew 21:5, when Jesus enters Jerusalem with an ass and colt, the footnote reads "Upon them: upon the two animals; an awkward picture resulting from Matthew's misunderstanding of the prophecy." Matthew misunderstood Isaiah and Zechariah? So much for divine inspiration.

Because of the poor renderings, inclusive language and awful footnotes, I cannot recommend this Bible to any faithful layperson. For an excellent Catholic Bible, with a healthy balance between orthodoxy, scholarly accuracy and readability, I would recommend The Ignatius Bible: Revised Standard Version - Second Catholic Edition.

Three Bibles, The Revised Standard Version-Catholic Edition, The Jerusalem Bible (1966) and the New American Bible (1970 edition) are approved by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Holy See for use in U.S. Catholic Churches. The New American Bible is the work of Catholic scholars and some non-catholic scholars in rendering the ancient text.
The introductions to each chapter are very informative and there are many footnotes explaining the text. Any controversy concerning the various editions of the New American Bible are a subject to be resolved by the Holy See and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.

I love this translation of the Bible. In addition to the Scripture, this particular edition has a list of Popes, Parables in Chronological Order, Miracles in Chronological Order, and a preface to the Bible. It also has a lot of footnotes which are very helpful to the average reader. The only drawback is that it contains no maps or other study guides, and the print is fairly small; but for the price it can't be beat.

This is an excellent book for the price. It is well written and I am enjoying reading it. It has notes that contain where the words came from, how they were interpeted, and is very interesting.

As a Catholic bible, this is wonderful. As a paperback, not so great. Better to invest in the hardback. Mine is falling apart after 2 years.

This is the official translation of the Bible that is used by the Catholic Church in the United States and several other English-speaking countries. The aim of this translation has been to make the Bible more accessible to the modern readers, especially in the context of liturgical use. In that respect the translation has been fairly successful: the language used is standard modern English with North American usage, most of the terminology is straightforward, and many obscure terms and references have been reworded in order to get the basic meaning across. However, this updating of the translation has come at some cost: many passages that have become familiar to the generations of English speakers in their more archaic forms have lost a lot of their punch. The language is less powerful and poetic, and lacks a lot of strength and conviction of some other translations. On several occasions the choice of words and phrases comes across as motivated more with the current political sensibilities, rather than with clear meaning of the particular passage.

One of the best features of this edition is the ample commentaries. There is a page or two of introduction to each book of the Bible, and every page is filled with footnotes. There are in fact many pages where there are as many footnotes as there is text. This may be a bit of detraction if you are just using this Bible for devotional reading, but even then it is useful to have easy and accessible references if you come across some obscure or puzzling passage. However, the best use of this Bible is for study or small discussion groups. That's where ample references really come in handy. Furthermore, all of the footnotes and explanations are consistent both with the most current biblical scholarship and the official theological stance of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless, I feel that in some instances the commentators tend to be unduly apologetic for particular more politically incorrect passages.

The overall quality of this book is actually pretty low: the paper is cheap, and the binding extremely fragile. If you use this book frequently, be prepared for pages to come out. This has its advantages, however, as you will probably not feel too reticent to write comments or highlight passages. This again works in favor of using this book more for study than for devotional reading.

If you are a Catholic living in the United States or any other country that uses this Bible translation in its liturgy, I would strongly recommend getting your own copy of this wonderful book. It is a useful and necessary tool for deepening your faith in communion with your fellow believers.