作者：施惠淳 Shield, Bernard J. Which Bible 年份：1977
SOME HINTS ON CHOOSING AN ENGLISH AND CHINESE BIBLE
These hints are in two main parts, with a short bibliography at the end.
Part 1: Check-List of Some Current Bible Translations in English & Chinese
No attempt is made here to list all Bibles in English and Chinese, ancient and modem, but only those that are "current", i.e. those available through Hong Kong bookshops. Nor is any attempt made to list the various editions and bindings (complete, partial; hardback, paperback) or dates of new printings of these various Bibles. The date given here is as far as possible the year of first publication. Note that many English-language books are published both in England and in the U.S.A.
Catholic Bibles in English
Kleist-Lilly J. Kleist & J. Lilly, The New Testament, Bruce, Milwaukee, 1954
Knox R. Knox, The Holy Bible, Burns & Gates, London, 1955
Douay Rheims-Douay Version of the Bible, Catholic Truth Society, London, 1956 (many earlier editions and some more recent)
Grail Psalms (H. Richards, ed.), The Psalms: A New Translation, Fontana Books, Collins, London, 1963
JB A. Jones, ed., The Jerusalem Bible, Darton, Longman & Todd, London/Doubleday, New York, 1966 (reprinted in Taiwan)
RSV, CE Catholic Biblical Association of Great Britain, ed., The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, Catholic Truth Society, London, 1966
NAB Catholic Biblical Association of America, The New American Bible, Kenedy, New York, and other U.S. publishers, 1970 (reprinted in Taiwan)
Living Bible K.N. Taylor, The Way: Catholic Edition (The Living Bible) Our Sunday Visitor, Huntingion, Ind., 1973
Wu Psalms 吴经熊，圣咏译义初稿，商务印书馆，台北，1946
OFM Bible 思高圣经学会，圣经，香港，1968; 十一册，北平／香港，1948-1961
Wu NT 吴经熊，新经全集，商务印书馆，台北，1949
Hsiao NT 萧静山，新经全集，光启出版社，台中，1956
Hsiao NT 光启编译馆，新轻全集新译本，上下册，光启出版社，台中，1969
Other Bibles in English
Chicago Bible E.J. Goodspeed et al., The Complete Bible: An American Translation, University of Chicago, 1939
RSV Anon., The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version, Oxford University Press, 1957 (including deutero-canonical OT books; reprinted in Taiwan)
Phillips J.B.Phillip, The New Testament in Modern English, Collins, London,1958
AB W.F. Albright & D. N. Freedman, ed., The Anchor Bible, Doubleday, NewYork, 1964 (38 volumes planned, about 20 now published)
OAB, RSV Anon., The Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Oxford University Press,1965
TEV, GNMM Anon., Good News for Modern Man: The New Testament in Today's English Version, American Bible, New York, 1966
NEB Anon., The New English Bible with the Apocrypha, Oxford University Press, London, 1970 (reprinted by Mei Ya Publications, Taipei, 1970)
NASB Anon., New American Standard Bible, Lockman Foundation,1971
CB, RSV Anon., Common Bible: The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, An Ecumenical Edition, Collins, London, 1973 (includes deutero-canonical books)
NIV Anon., New International Version, New Testament, New York Bible Society, New York, 1973
NB Anon., The Good News Bible, American Bible Society, New York, 1976 (without deutero-canonical books)
Other Bibles in Chinese
Union Version 新旧约全书，圣经公会，香港，1919
Lui Chan-chung 吕振中，〔全部圣经〕，1970
Contemporary Good News 当代福音，中文圣经意译本新约全书，香港新力出版社，香港， 1975
TCV 给现代人的福音，香港圣经公会，香港，1976
Lockman NT 新约全书，新译本，申文圣经新译委员会，香港，1976
PartII: Some Comments on the Above Check-List
Catholic Bibles in English
The Kleist-Lilly NT has been called by J.L. McKenzie "the most modern of modern speech versions", and "the best existing translation in English by Cathoics... ; consistently superior to Knox in the Gospels, superior (but less consistently)to Knox in the other books". I am not sure how easily available it is today.
Knox's NT is better than his OT--he was a good Greek scholar. His Pauline epistles have been termed "masterful"."Knox has been more appreciated by literary aesthetes than by... biblical scholars" (says Raymond Brown). He translated from the Latin Vulgate. His is one of the rare one-man translations of the whole Bible (on which he spent 10 years) and the first Catholic challenge to the Douay Bible for centuries. Knox is already somewhat dated, I feel, but still circulates to some extent in Hong Kong, e.g. in a bilingual Chinese (Fr. Hsiao, S.J.) and English translation of the Gospels, Acts and Paul published in 1962-64 by the Hong Kong Catholic Truth Society. Cf. Knox's On Englishing the Bible.
The Douay was a competent translation from the Vulgate made at Rheims and Douay and later revised by Bishop Challoner. It dominated the English-speaking Catholic world for several centuries. It is now rather out-of-date because of its archaic language, poor printing and lack of contact with modern biblical scholarship.
The Grail Psalms, translated directly from the Hebrew by a team of scholars, were intended to be sung to the melodies of Joseph Gelineau. They read well and seem sufficiently accurate--H. H. Rowley, an outstanding Protestant OT scholar, calls them "a very impressive rendering". The Psalms in the new English Breviary, The Liturgy of the Hours, follow the Grail version.
The JB is related to the Bible de Jerusalem which was published by the best French-speaking scholars, first in many separate fascicules, then in a single volume and now (1975) in a thoroughly revised edition. The original French BJ is the outstanding French version with an international reputation. The English JB, though very widely circulated round the world in many editions, is not of the same calibre--a glance at the list of "collaborators" will suggest why. The Scripture text in particular has been severely criticized for many inaccuracies and excessive liberties. However, the introductions and footnotes are of real value and the very readable English style and good printing make it generally popular. The JB text appears in several Mass lectionaries and in parts of the new Breviary, and it is approved by the Archbishop of Canterbury for use in Westminster Abbey.
The RSV appeared in a Catholic edition with minor textual adjustments and some extra notes in 1966. This edition, which has a Foreword by Cardinal Heenan and Imprimatur by the Archbishop of Edinburgh, is available in an inexpensive paperback. Personally I find this the most reliable and generally satisfactory Bible for my work. See further comments on the RSV below.
The NAB is the name ultimately given to the U.S. New Confraternity Bible (the first Confraternity Bible of 1941 was an attempt to modernize the Douay Bible). The NAB was done by the best U.S. Catholic biblical scholars and claims to be the first Catholic translation into English directly from the original languages. It is certainly a competent and reliable translation with useful introductions and notes, and the U.S.-style English does not seem obtrusive. I am not sure how widely it has been accepted inside and outside the Catholic Church in the U.S.A.
The Living Bible: This is not a translation but a paraphrase, and as such it has been severely criticized for distorting the original meaning, cf. Catholic Biblical Quarterly review in vol. 36 (1974), pages 439-440. By 1974 it had sold 16 million copies. This Catholic edition surprisingly carries an Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat.
Catholic Bibles in Chinese
N.B. For writings in Chinese the present writer obviously does not claim any competence but just offers a few opinions for reference.
Dr. John Wu's Psalms and NT have been highly praised as a tour de force for putting the biblical text into elegant literary Chinese. However, many Hong Kong Chinese today have little interest or competence in classical Chinese. Moreover, since John Wu translates from English, the result is not always faithful to the original sense. I have heard that Bishop Francis Hsu asked his friend John Wu to make a special, new colloquial translation of the Scripture readings in the new lectionary for use in the Sunday Mass liturgy in Hong Kong, and that that is the origin of the present Chinese readings.
This NT of Fr. Hsiao, S.J. was the standard Catholic NT until the OFM version appeared. It is based on the Vulgate and is said to read rather well in Chinese, apart from some local dialect expressions. The third printing was done at the Sienhsien Catholic Mission, Hopei Province, in 1933, and the first Taiwan edition was done by Kuangchi Press in Taichung in 1956.
The OFM Bible is at present the standard Catholic Bible approved by the hierarchy and used in the liturgy in Taiwan and, on week-days, in Hong Kong. It will also presumably be used in the new Chinese Breviary. It is the first Chinese Bible translated directly from the original languages and was praised by the famous Dr. Hu Shih, the leader of the Chinese literary renaissance. The full ll-volume edition is a monumental work of over 9,000 pages. I have read the complete NT and parts of the OT and the translation strikes me as very careful but perhaps too literal for bridging the gap between languages so different as, e.g. Hebrew and Chinese. The Chinese text has been sometimes criticized for being rather stiff, "translation Chinese". One the other hand, a Chinese Protestant friend engaged on a new translation of the OT, praised it precisely for its literalness. A great wealth of introductions and notes are provided, especially in the complete edition, well-informed but in general of a somewhat cautious, conservative tendency in exegesis and theology. This translation remains as an imposing contribution and it is unlikely to be superseded by any new Catholic translation, especially of the OT, for at least a generation.
This Kuangchi NT was done by an anonymous team of Jesuits, of whom I think the French Fr. Petit was one. It appeared in an earlier form in Tientsin in 1949. It looks a good piece of work, but I have rarely met anyone who uses it.
Other Bibles in English
The Chicago Bible has been acclaimed for its NT. R. Brown calls it "in many ways the best complete Bible available" up to the time of writing (1968). I have the impression that it is more a scholarly translation than one for wide, popular use.
The RSV, which is in the tradition of the King James Version (1611),was prepared by outstanding Protestant scholars and is the most faithful translation that I know of the original text and meaning. This faithfulness may sometimes result in a certain stiffness in English style by comparison with other more idiomatic versions. It still uses some "Bible English", e.g."thou" (to God), "behold". J. L. McKenzie says that it "is regarded by many as the best English version". According to C. L. Manschreck, it is "likely to be the most enduring of all translations in the 20th century". The NT of the RSV was revised in 1971, and the permanent review committee has both Catholic and Protestant members from Britain, the U.S. and Canada. In Hong Kong the printed booklets giving the Sunday Mass readings in English use the RSV text.
Phillips is an English vicar with a gift for lively, readable English. His NT has been very popular in England and the U.S. However, he does depart too far from the original at times and frequently lapses into paraphrase. He is working on an OT version.
The AB is a major U.S. translation and commentary series still in progress. The scholars invited to prepare the 38 volumes include prominent Protestants, Catholics and Jews. Raymond Brown's John is possibly the finest contribution to date. The style and approach varies considerably from volume to volume in this series.
Even before the RSV came out in a Catholic edition in London in 1966, the Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha received an Imprimatur from Cardinal Gushing of Boston without any changes in the RSV text (1965).
The TEV of the NT claims to have sold 50,000,000 copies. It aims at people outside the Churches and deliberately uses a simplified vocabulary and style. It seems to be substantially accurate but the simplified English inevitably loses many of the subtleties, e.g. of St. Paul's thought. R. Brown's judgment: "Stylistically it stands somewhere between Phillips and the NEB. Occasionally it is too free in its departures from a literal rendering of the original, but it reads well . . ." Massive world-wide publicity, attractive printing, splendid line-drawings and low cost have resulted in an enormous circulation. There is now a magnificent hardback edition in full colour.
The NEB is not a revision of any earlier version but a fresh translation direct from the original languages. It was done by the best British Protestant scholars led by Professor C. H. Dodd of Oxford and advised by a literary panel. It has been praised for being faithful to the original sense and as incorporat ing "excellent scholarship and vigorous modern British style" (R. Brown). It was sponsored by the main non-Catholic Churches in Britain. I think that the NEB is now used publicly at services, like the King James Version and the RSV, in the Anglican and other Churches.
The NASB is said to be quite popular in the U.S.A. It is of a conservative tendency.
Finally the Common Bible was published in 1973. It again uses the RSV unchanged text with the deutero-canonical books and is the nearest we have yet come to a real common Bible accepted by all the Christian Churches. It has been "approved" (in some sense) by Cardinal Koenig, President of the World Catholic Federation for the Biblical Apostolate, and by Orthodox Archbishop Athenagoras II, Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriar chate of Constantinople. It is published in inexpensive paper-back form.
The NIV, like the NASB, was translated by a committee of fifteen conservative scholars from five English-speaking countries. They come from a wide variety of Protestant Churches.
The recently published Good News Bible presumably follows the same principles as the NT. The Catholic scholar Fr. E. H. Maly has reviewed it favourably in The Bible Today for March 1977, pages 1177-1180. Time calls it "homespun" and mentions that it has been criticized by some scholars. It has sold 11/2 million copies in its first three months. It has been suggested to the publishers that they consider publishing an edition containing also the deutero-canonical books of the OT.
Other Bibles in Chinese
The Union Version is probably still the standard Chinese Bible used by most Protestant Churches. It now seems somewhat antiquated in language. I have seen it stated that it was translated from English, not from the original text, but that statement has been challenged. There are two editions, one using神 for God, the other using上帝 .
Lui Chan-chung, a Protestant scholar, recently made a fresh translation of the NT, which has been highly praised to me by a competent critic.
Contemporary Good News, as the subtitle suggests, is more a paraphrase. It is the Chinese equivalent of Taylor's Living Bible (see above). It is well-produced. One edition uses the Mainland characters and carries photographs of Chinese scenes, e.g. the Great Wall, youth, street scenes, and therefore seems intended for circulation there. 神 is used for God. See review in Ching Feng No. 45 (July 1975) 36-39.
The basic text of the TCV was done from English by Moses Hsu, a popular Chinese writer for young people, and then revised against the Greek text by 9 Protestant and 3 Catholic Chinese scholars. It aims at non-Christians between 18 and 25 years of age and therefore employs a simplified vocabulary and quite modem style. It is attractively produced and illustrated and sells at a very economic price. Fr. Mark Fang who worked on the drafts for several years seems rather satisfied with it in general. The Catholic edition of the TCV carries a preface signed by Archbishop Lo Kuang of Taipei and substitutes the Catholic terms for "God", "Holy Spirit" and "Yahweh". It is unfortunate that the two notes on the "Lord's Supper" and "Bread" with their Protestant theology of the Eucharist (not found in the TEV) were allowed to remain unaltered in the "Catholic Edition". The TCV interpretation of Romans 5,1-5 is discussed by Thomas Law and Andrew Tsui of Holy Spirit Seminary and by Major Ng of the Salvation Army in the Kung Kao Po: 14.1.1977. Fr. Marcus Chen, O.F.M. has written a more detailed review of the TCV in Vox Cleri No. 161, December 1976, pages 52-55. Work is now continuing on the OT translation.
The Lockman NT would be rated by Fr. Fang even higher than the TCV', see his review of it in Collectanea Theologica Universitatis Fujen, No. 30 (Winter 1976), pp. 593-7. Work is proceeding on the Lockman OT.
Bibliography
1) The New Catholic Encyclopedia (1966),vol.2 has a long articIe entitled "BibIe, (Text and Versions)". Within that article two sections deal with modern English versions:
S.J. Hartdegen, "Cathoilc English Versions", PP.465-470;
S. Bullough & L. A. Weigle, "Protestant and Jewish English Versions", pp. 470- 476.
2) C.L. Manschreck, "The BIbIe In English", in: The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary on the Bible (ed. C. M. Laymon), Collins, London, 1971, pp.1237-1242.
3) 思高圣经学会，圣经辞典，香港，1975, 45一48: 中文圣经译本。
4) 贾保罗编，圣经汉译论文集，基督教辅侨出版社，香港，1965