My New American Bible vs. The Douay-Rheims Bible

[Wild_Fan4Christ]

I have the NAB bible as given to me by my parents for my First Holy Communion. My parents have given all 4 of us kids the NAB at this point in our lives.

I know this is a approved version by the Catholic Church. As found in the copyright of all Catholic approved books. An author sends this to the diocese Censor. If they find nothing wrong or to be in error they print this on the copyright page as "Nihil Obstat" or "nothing stands in the way." This is then sent to the Bishop, if the Bishop finds nothing objectionable the word "Imprimatur" meaning "let it be printed." Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of doctrinal or moral error. If the Catholic writing the book is a member of religious order the manuscript is first sent to his religious superior before it is sent to the Censor and Bishop "Imprimi Potest," which means "it can be printed."

I know you probably know this already. But thought I would post for our Protestant bretheren.

Anyways, with that said. What are the main differences between the NAB and the DR version. Is the NAB translated from the Latin Vulgate like the DR? Or is the DR the only or one of few Bibles which closely translates from the Vulgate? Reason why I ask is that I am finding all of this to be interesting. In the future I may buy a DR bible as it is a closer version to the original text in 382 A.D. by Pope Damasus.

Another thing is I have noticed my NAB is missing a few books. I am not talking about the 7 Deutero-Canonical books. I am talking about 3 and 4 Kings and a few others which I haven't really looked at too much.

I found this website for the Douay-Rheims bible
http://www.drbo.org/

 

[Aaron-Aggie]

1 Kings in DR = 1 Samuel in Nab
2 Kings = 2 Samuel
3 Kings = 1 Kings
4 Kings = 2 Kings
1 Paralipomenon = 1 Chronicles
2 Paralipomenon, =2 Chronicles

 

[Wild_Fan4Christ]

Thanks Aaron, but why the difference or change in books between the two versions? I imagine they have the same information but are just placed in different names. Hmmm, interesting

 

[thereselittleflower]

The NAB does not use the Latin Vulgate . .

They take a slightly different approach as well . . reading the two together will be helpful . .

I know one woman of God who would put a different translation of the bible in each room of her house, and then, every day, pick a bible verse and as she went from room to room, read that bible verse out of the translation that was in that room . .

I remember thinking at the time that sounded a little excessive, but now I don't think so at all . .


The more the merrier!


Peace in Him!

 

[Carrye]

The more the merrier!

I agree for the most part. It's not NAB vs Douay-Rheims, it's both-and.Both are without inclusive language, and both are fairly close to the Latin from what I understand, though DR is a more precise translation.

I'm not personally big on some of the new-fangled translations that turn scripture into a pretty little story, but other than that, which translation to use often depends on personal preference and on what you're planning to use it for.

 

[Paul S]

There are some newer versions of the NAB that do have inclusive language in the Psalms and the New Testament. You won't hear it read at Mass, though, because the Vatican refused to approve it.

I prefer the Douay-Rhiems, since it's an almost word-for-word translation from the Vulgate, and I'm used to the Vulgate versions of the psalms and Scripture readings. Plus, with the Douay, I know there's no modernism creeping in.

The NAB, though, isn't a bad translation, but some of the footnotes are a bit too liberal for me. It's also easier to read than the older language of the Douay.

The names of some of the books and the numbering of the Psalms are different in the two versions because the Douay is based on the Vulgate, which is a translation of the original Hebrew but influenced by the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The NAB is based much more on the Hebrew texts.

 

[NDIrish]

Paul, I've been looking for a nice, leather bound DR Bible. Any sugestions?

 

[geocajun]

There are some newer versions of the NAB that do have inclusive language in the Psalms and the New Testament. You won't hear it read at Mass, though, because the Vatican refused to approve it.

as I understand it, those NAB's with the inclusive psalms haven't been printed for years.

 

[Paul S]

Paul, I've been looking for a nice, leather bound DR Bible. Any sugestions?

From a quick search on Yahoo!, I found this one for $55. I got mine at the local Catholic bookstore about a year ago, but it's a regular hardback book, not leather. I think I got the last one, because I haven't seen one there since.

http://www.marianland.com/bibledouayrheims/main.htm

There's also the two-volume Haydock commentary, which contains extensive quotes from the Church fathers and councils - each page is more commentary than Bible text.

 

[Paul S]

as I understand it, those NAB's with the inclusive psalms haven't been printed for years.

Deo gratias.

There is, however, an cassette recording of the NAB with something called "Revised Psalms" from 1991. I'm not sure if these are the inclusive ones or not, but I'd guess they are. I found the recording to be very good and easy to listen to, except the inclusive language was a bit annoying, especially since I'm used to the Vulgate and Douay psalms.

 

[Atomagenesis]

hmm guess baronius went out of business.