New American Bible Revised Edition
The New American Bible Revised Edition is an English-language, Catholic translation of the Bible, the first major update in 20 years to the New American Bible, which was translated by members of the Catholic Biblical Association and originally published in 1970. Released on March 9, 2011, the NABRE consists of the 1986 revision of the NAB New Testament with a fully revised Old Testament approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2010.
Approved for private use and study by Catholics, the NABRE has not received approval for Catholic liturgical use. Although the revised Lectionary based on the original New American Bible is still the sole translation approved for use at Mass in the dioceses of the United States, the NABRE New Testament is currently being revised so that American Catholics can read the same Bible translation in personal study and devotion that they hear in Mass.
Scriptural sources
New Testament sources are predominantly "UBS3" and "NA26," as further explained below:Old Testament major sources come by way of the New American Bible; specifically Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, the Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Other source details, such as Codex Sinaiticus, are as described below:
Reasons for revision
In a press statement, the USCCB cited three reasons for the necessity of revising the Old Testament. The new translation:- Aims to utilize modern scholastic advances in biblical study and adapt to changes in linguistics in order to render a more accurate translation in contemporary English.
- Takes advantage of recently discovered ancient manuscripts like the Dead Sea Scrolls which provide better access to the historical textual tradition.
- Uses the best manuscript-translating traditions available in order to translate more literally and accurately than previous translations.
Old Testament
In August 1990, the Catholic Biblical Association passed a resolution urging revision of the Old Testament of the New American Bible. In 1994, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops agreed to pass the resolution and form a steering committee/editorial board to direct the revision. The editorial board for the majority of the Old Testament consisted of 8 editors and 40 translators. In 2002, the Old Testament was completed and sent to the Subcommittee for the Translation of Scripture Text to see if it was a suitable Catholic translation. In September 2008, the last book of the Old Testament was accepted by the Subcommittee.In November 2008, the Old Testament was approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. However, they would not allow it to be published with the 1991 Psalms. A final revision of the NAB Psalter was undertaken using suggestions vetted by the Subcommittee for the Translation of Scripture Text and stricter conformity to Liturgiam Authenticam.
Psalms
The Psalms have been the most controversial book of the Old Testament during the course of the revisions leading up to the publication of the New American Bible Revised Edition. The controversy is related to the adaptation of the New American Bible text's use in the official liturgy of the Catholic Church in the United States.The first revision of the Psalms in 1991 was rejected for liturgical use by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments at the Vatican because of the extensive application of gender-neutral language in the text.
Example: “Happy is the man” ; a literal translation of the Hebrew Esher-i Eieesh, which was the translation used in the original 1970 NAB and the 1986 RNAB—was replaced by the horizontally gender-neutral “Happy those” in the 1991 revision. The issue is that the change from "man" to "those" changes the promise given in the verse. The "blessedness/happiness" is no longer promised to the man "who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked" but to a group. The necessity of each man to "not walk in the counsel of the wicked" is lost. This particular phrase has been changed in the 2010 Psalter to the traditionally worded, individual-specific "Blessed is the man."
The current liturgical text of the Psalms was modified under the supervision of the a Congregation of the Holy See and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for use in the Roman Catholic liturgy in 2000. The Vatican Congregation accepted some use of gender-neutral language, such as where the speaker is speaking of one of unknown gender, but rejected any changes relating to God or Christ.
The newly revised Psalms found in the New American Bible Revised Edition follow the guidelines of Liturgiam Authenticam, a document issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Throughout the new translation of the Psalms, the use of gender-neutral language has been limited and appropriate gender-specific pronouns used in conjunction with the original Hebrew.
The difficulty of translating the book of psalms is a Church dilemma dating back to St. Jerome who translated the Psalms from Greek and Hebrew into Latin and made multiple revisions to them. It continues today in part because the Psalms form the backbone of the prayer life of the Church, so it is important to have a melodic and smooth text while maintaining fidelity to the underlying original language texts.
Changes to vocabulary
One of the more important changes found in the New American Bible Revised Edition is the substitution of various words and phrases for language which carries a modern connotation which is quite different from the original suggested meanings. Examples include changing "cereal" to "grain" and "booty" to "plunder."Examples
Similarly, "holocaust" has been changed to "burnt offering". The word "holocaust" in modern English has become used almost exclusively to refer to the attempted genocide of the Jewish people during World War II. In order to capture the biblical meaning, the translators chose the phrase "burnt offering" to replace "holocaust" throughout the text in reference to sacrifices made to God.Sample changes
At some points the New American Bible Revised Edition differs substantively from other respected translations. For example, in Nehemiah 8:8, NABRE reads: "Ezra read clearly from the book of the law of God, interpreting it so that all could understand what was read." Most translations attribute this interpretive work to the Levites, who are named in the previous verse.Gender-neutral language
In general, gender-neutral language is language that is formulated to specifically include women by avoiding generic masculine forms such as he/him/men/man. The New American Bible Revised Edition has translated all references to human beings using gender-neutral words or phrases because male pronouns are sometimes understood in North American English to be gender-specific. Gender-neutral language is the rule except where the use of gender-neutral language would create awkward phrasing. One of the most common concerns among more conservative Catholics awaiting the release of the New American Bible Revised Edition was whether or not the Bible would be translated with so-called "horizontal" and/or "vertical" non-gendered language. Modern liturgy and Bible scholars make a distinction between "horizontal" non-gendered language—those words and phrases that refer to relationships between human beings—and "vertical" non-gendered language—words and phrases that denote the relationship between human beings and God. Some Protestants and Catholics find neither form of gender-neutral editing acceptable. Vatican norms for translation of the Bible include that, "The translation of scripture should faithfully reflect the Word of God in the original human languages, without 'correction' or 'improvement' in service of modern sensitivities", and do not support adjusting the Bible to be in line with public sentiment.Horizontal gender-neutral language
As it relates to Bible translations, "horizontal" gender-neutral language translates gender-specific pronouns and words like "man" and "mankind" to gender-neutral pronouns such as the grammatically controversial singular they or "you" for "he." Other examples are "people" for "men" and "brothers & sisters" for "brethren." Thus, a particular passage in scripture might be rendered with gender-neutral language to avoid any sense that the teaching in the passage is for men only, rather than for men and women alike.According to a press backgrounder released by the USCCB, the New American Bible Revised Edition "reflects the original meaning of the texts. Much of the original material, especially in the narrative books, was gender specific and remains so."
Vertical gender-neutral language
Whereas horizontal non-gendered language is generally viewed as an understandable adaptation in light of modern gender sensitivity, "vertical" neutral language—any pronoun or referent to the Christian God—is considered a break from both tradition and Christian revelation. The Catholic Magisterium has made it clear that any gender-neutral language in reference to any of the three persons of the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, or Holy Spirit—is unacceptable. According to the USCCB, "traditional masculine language for God...belongs to the deposit of divine revelation and may not be replaced ." This is so especially in light of the Church's ancient tradition, and of the teaching regarding Jesus Christ's incarnation as a specifically male person.The USCCB stated in its press backgrounder that "all references to God retain the traditional use of masculine pronouns" in the New American Bible Revised Edition.
Completion and use
In January 2011, the USCCB announced that the fourth edition of the NAB would be published on March 9 of that year. To be known as the "New American Bible, Revised Edition" or NABRE, the fourth edition of the NAB includes the newly revised Old Testament and re-revised Psalms, and the revised New Testament from the 1986 second edition. While the NABRE represents a revision of the NAB towards conformity towards Liturgiam Authenticam, there have not been any announced plans to use the NABRE for the lectionary in the United States. The USCCB announced the approval is for "private use and study" while Masses will continue to use a lectionary taken from "an earlier, modified version of the NAB translation."Among press coverage on the release of the New American Bible Revised Edition on March 9, 2011 were interviews on local news channels, national news coverage by NPR and NBC, as well as a variety of articles by online journals and publications.