It is a great joy to see the entire Knox Bible back in
print. After more than fifty years
during which this treasure lay hidden in the field of second-hand bookstores,
Baronius Press has made this, the only English translation of the Vulgate Bible
apart from the Douay-Rheims, available once again. The edition itself is of the highest quality,
as befits the word of God, and Knox’s Bible is accompanied by a collection of
essays in which he describes his approach to translation, and some of the
difficulties he faced – both from the text itself, and from his intended
public.
Today we
are awash in translations of the Bible, good, bad, and indifferent, but to
appreciate the boldness of Ronald Knox’s endeavor, we must recall that until
the mid-twentieth century there were, for all intents and purposes, two
principal English versions: the Protestant Authorized Version and the Catholic
Douay-Rheims. While it may seem tame
today, Knox’s translation was a pioneering effort. Even apart from its intrinsic worth, this
translation deserves to see the light of day again because it represents a
milestone in Catholic biblical scholarship.
But what of
its intrinsic worth? I would underscore three characteristics of this Bible which
should make it a welcome addition both to your bookshelf and to your prie-dieu.
1.
It is a translation of the Latin Vulgate
Bible. Within a few years of the
completion of the Knox Bible, Rome gave permission for translations to be made
from the original languages of Scripture. While encouraging this, the fathers
of the Second Vatican Council spoke of the “place of honor” enjoyed by the
Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament) and the Vulgate
(Dei Verbum, #22). The Vulgate has nourished Christian piety for
over fifteen centuries; it has enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with the
Church’s worship and remains a touchstone for biblical texts used in the
liturgy; it bears witness to how the Church has traditionally interpreted the
word of God. There can be no doubt that
modern translations from the original languages are a great blessing, but
certainly there should be a place among these for a modern translation of the
Vulgate.
2.
It is a translation of the entire Bible by one
man, who was a master of the English language.
We know that the Bible consists of many writings composed over hundreds
of years in diverse circumstances. But
we also recognize that the Holy Spirit has inspired the entire canon of
Scripture, and there is a unity to the Bible as a whole for this reason. When the work of translation is done by a
committee (as most translations are) that organic unity can be obscured; to
have one translator carry out the entire project emphasizes the integral unity
of Scripture. And in Ronald Knox we have
a translator who was a master of English prose.
When you read any of his writings, you encounter a very careful writer
indeed, who always sought the apt word, the elegant turn of phrase that would
best convey his thought. Knox brought
that lifetime’s experience to the work of translation, and the result is a
version of the Bible that is marked by freshness, imagination, and a profound
sense of the beauty of the English language.
His translation is modern, but never pedestrian.
3.
It is a translation shaped by faith. This is a challenging attribute to capture in
words, but the way I would express it is this: most modern translations aim at
conveying as accurately as possible the meaning of the texts in their original
languages. This is noble ideal, and Knox
himself consulted many biblical scholars in crafting his translation. But the Bible is more than a collection of
ancient documents: it is the inspired word of God, and Knox approached his
effort as a work of devotion. When we
read Knox’s sermons, we hear a preacher who was deeply immersed in Scripture;
when we read his translation of the Bible, it reflects a lifetime of prayer and
preaching on the word of God. It is
this, even more than his mastery of style, which imparts to the Knox Bible an
atmosphere of serene majesty, and an occasional turn of phrase that goes right
to the heart.
You may already have a favorite translation of the Bible that you read
for spiritual nourishment; if so, I urge you to dip occasionally into Knox’s
translation to gain fresh insight into familiar texts. You may be preparing a homily or engaging in
Bible study; the Vulgate translation, in this modern translation, will enrich
your scholarly endeavors. Or, you may be
looking for a translation that is both accurate and original; look no further
than the Knox Bible.
Milton
Walsh, author of Ronald Knox as Apologist
and
Second Friends: C. S. Lewis and Ronald Knox
in Conversation, both published by Ignatius Press.
