The New Testament [Paperback]

Richmond Lattimore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 1997

Richard Lattimore, among the most distinguished translators of the Greek classics, concluded late in his life one of his most ambitious projects - a complete translation of the New Testament. This New Testament is itself a classic of another kind - the words of the gospel and the apostles presented for the modern reader in fresh English by a writer without pretensions as a biblical scholar, who was an authority on the Greek language in which these texts have come down to us.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This volume offers the complete translation of the New Testament, previously published in two paperback volumes (The Four Gospels and the Revelation, 1962, 1979; Acts and Letters of the Apostles, 1982) by the well-known translator of the Greek classics, who died in 1984. More formal than attractive, Lattimore's translation is not really that different from the Revised Standard Version. Although verse numbers are indicated at the top of each page, the body of the text remains unnumbered, so that one feels one is reading a narrative, the way the text was originally presented, and not a hallowed volume that has been canonized. Although literal?with masculine terms for God?the rendition is smooth and gives a sense of the Greek style. Notes (limited to questions of translation) are kept to a minimum and relegated to the back. Recommended for all libraries.?Augustine J. Curley, Newark Abbey, N.J.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"The importance of Lattimore's skill and careful work and of his highly-informed literary sense is that you do indeed come away with a new and strong sense of who the reporters are. And when you know that, it expands the meaning of the Story."--Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe

"Without the gaudy beauties of the King James version or the overly hip sound of some modern editions, Lattimore's New Testament possesses an austere, moving plainness, a willingness to shape long sentences, and an admirable clarity."--The Washington Post Book World

"The important news is that Mr. Lattimore has provided a... self-consistent, personal, sanely literal version of the four texts most central to our tragic history. He has avoided the twin shoals of caprice and ego, and his dedication to the line of the originals has produced an air of solidity and reliability often missing from single efforts."--Reynolds Price

"An impressive, scholarly new version by the eminent translator."--The New York Times Book Review

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 612 pages
• Publisher: North Point Press (October 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865475245
• ISBN-13: 978-0865475243
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Translation Worthy of Its Subject, June 9, 2000

By 

Good Bye - See all my reviews

This review is from: The New Testament (Hardcover)

Greek of the Hellenistic period is notoriously tricky to translate. First there is the matter of distance in time. Many of the idioms have lost their meaning, words have been recorded in the lexicon as having a variety of and often conflicting definitions, and the simple (or not so simple) matter of the differences between a pre-industrialized Mediterranean society and a post-industrial western one all can put seemingly unassailable walls between the scholar and his text. Yet despite all these obstacles, Professor Lattimore has provided the world with one of the finest English translations of the New Testament ever produced.

To say that Professor Lattimore's skill in translating both ancient and Hellenistic Greek is outstanding is to understate the matter. His ability is now legendary. Readers of his translations of Homer, Aeskylus, Euripides, and many others have long hailed them as the superlative editions of the works. We can all thank God that he saw fit to apply his talent to this, the most famous of all the Hellenistic Greek documents.

Doing away with the numbering system and printing the individual books in paragraph form is something someone should have done long ago. The text can now be read as it would have been recited long ago - cleanly and without the distraction of meaningless numbers (they were added centuries after the texts were written).

The texts themselves are splendid. Professor Lattimore took the time to convey the flavor of each one to the reader through subtle changes in style and word choice that most often accurately reflect the original Greek. For example, the stilted and simple language of the Gospel of Mark versus the more refined style of the Gospel of Luke is well established in the English translations. What's more, Professor Lattimore offers notes to the reader explaining why he chose one word or phrase over another. That is a sign of true scholarship rarely, if ever, seen in commercial translations of this text. The only regret that can be stated is that he did not team up with a noted anthropologist of the period, such as Richard Rohrbaugh or Jerome Neyrey, to put the final touches to the cultural subtleties so often lost in translations.

The only detraction from the work is the cover. The Andres Serrano photo on the cloth bound edition is unfortunate. North Point tried to depict the suffering and death of Jesus of Nazareth but ended up simply being gratuitous. It will likely put off many readers who will pass by the book simply because the cover photo is so repulsive. This is a shame. Thankfully, North Point thought the better of using the same photo on the paper bound edition.

Without a doubt, this edition of the New Testament is superior to all the well known editions, from the KJV to the NRSV. It makes such partisan tracts, such as The Book (perhaps the worst, I hesitate to write translation as I think it to be more a conglomeration of various other translations which were then simplified for a fourth grade reading level, edition of the New Testament ever produced) look like the intellectual laughingstocks that they are. I would hope more clergy, both Catholic and Protestant, would read Professor Lattimore's translation and also encourage their congregations to do so. It brings a collection of stories too often obscured by time, distance, and dogma much closer to intelligibility.

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smell the Ink in Your Nostrils, November 18, 2002

By 

Gord Wilson "alivingdog.com" (Bellingham, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The New Testament (Paperback)

Lattimore's translation of the N.T. seems so new it's like it just came off the presses. It's so fresh you can smell the ink in your nostrils. It's so vibrant you can easily forget it's the N.T. and then forget to put it down. It's so gripping that instead of dreading the daily dose of a couple of verses, you look forward to overloading on your next fix. At least I do, and that's after reading countless translations, studying all sorts of helpful guide books, and knowing the Sunday School stories front to back.

But Lattimore's translation is different. He's a Greek translator not a theologian, concerned not so much with making the text say something in English, as with letting it live. And stripped of adornment, the Word is pulse-pounding, heart-racing, blood- pumping alive. "Wait a minute," someone may say, "Are we talking about the Bible?" Yes, we are. But reading Lattimore's version, one sees why people think the story is so exciting.

The genius of this book is in what it leaves out. So not the stately King James. Nor the Not-so-New International Version. No chapter or verse numbers. The four Gospels sound like stories, and the letters of St. Paul read like letters. Lattimore's other genius is his uncanny ear; he often uses simpler words than other translations, but sometimes he chooses bigger ones. Some parts flow together connecting half-remembered tales into a larger narrative, but others are told at a breathless pace: "we did this, and then we did that and then this happened, and then some other thing occured." This is exactly how someone, face to face, would relay a story.

In the preface Lattimore modestly says, "I was struck by the natural ease with which Revelation turned itself into English." I am struck with how he turned it into great reading.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent, February 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The New Testament (Paperback)

Chillingly faithful and breathtakingly beautiful! I tell you the truth, this is Greek in English! There is absolutely no comparison between this and other translations. The poetry, sparseness, dignity, and immediacy of the original texts come shining through. There is none of the awkwardness of the NRSV/RSV, there are none of the maddening idioms of the NIV and other "junky" versions. I would make this manadatory reading for everyone.