The most popular English language Bibles the “New American Bible” will offer a new edition with substitutes for words such as “holocaust” and “booty” to reflect in a better understanding, said the Catholic Group Wednesday March 3, 2011.
Since 1994 the committees of Roman Catholic Bishops and almost 50 other scholars from all faiths have labored for the first fresh edition of the “New American Bible” since 1994, said the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop.
Marry Sperry who oversees Bible licensing for the bishops said Wednesday, “It’s a beautiful translation, it’s a new way to understand at an old love.” This could be the annual best seller to be issued by many publishers starting next week, she added.
“For better understanding, some changes were made and there are few words altered based on the Catholic Church interpretation of biblical concepts. There are fresh written notes included that should help the readers,” Sperry said. “In our new edition the Book of Psalms now contains more than 70,000 words, both text and notes,” she said.
The Old Testament version of ancient Hebrew and Greek was revised more accurately and the translations reflect to the constant evolution of modern day language, Sperry said.
Like for example the ancient word “holocaust” which refers to the World War 2 genocide during Jewish generation, was now changed to “burnt offerings,” in which makes it more clearly to point to the original ideas of making offerings to God.
And the word “booty,” which sounds having a sexual connotation, was now changed to “spoils of war;” and “cereal.”
There is also a change in the p(–foul word(s) removed–)age from the book of Isaiah 7:14 that foretell the birth of the Messiah and the coming of Jesus through a virgin mother Marry. The early edition in 1970 referred to “the virgin” will be changed to the young woman; to be better translated the Hebrew word “almah.”
Sperrysd said, “The bishops does not altered any Biblical meaning, and it does not mean any sort of changes in the doctrine of the Bible and of the virgin birth of Jesus.”
Some changes in the new edition carries more profound and hopeful meaning to give more clear understanding to account the story in the Bible. The new edition becomes more poetic like in the book of Psalms 23 instead of “dark valley’, now it reads, “I walk through the valley of the shadow of death” and many more changes from the old English to a new one, Sperry said.
Last year the ‘New American Bible’ sold more than one million, mostly in the United States, in the Philippines, Africa and India. The new version will be expected to have more sales, Sperry predicted.
It is also available in different formats like e-book, for cell phone use, and in a Braille version. Family hardback and basic paperback is also available.