DEFINING TEXTS
I am not a Biblical scholar however I read
my Bible regularly. Many of us do. The Roman Mass and the Eastern Divine Liturgy are full
of Biblical references.
It is easy to become confused with all of
the translations of the Holy Bible and more coming out all of the time. As they appear, they are greeted as the “best
translation yet, the easiest to
understand, and most up-dated according to recent Biblical scholarship.” I spoke with a good and holy priest of my
acquaintance about my concerns (and no small amount of confusion). I hated to
purchase a Bible and only then discover that the translation is poor at best
and downright wrong in some instances.
He told me about the “defining texts.”
These are passages that are central to Catholic dogma. He suggested that I quickly scan the pages
for the following chapters and verses and that short review should tell me how accurate or good the translation is.
That sounded like an excellent idea. So I did as he suggested and I offer this simple
and good method to your readers.
The DEFINING
TEXTS are:
St. MATTHEW
16:15-19
St. MATTHEW
28:18-20
St. MARK 10:5-12
St. LUKE 2:48-50[1]
St. JOHN 3:5
St. JOHN 6:47-58
St. JOHN 20:21-23
1 St. John 5:7-8
I have included the translations in the Interlinear described below and the
Douay-Rheims. Go from there.
A
NEW TESTAMENT INTERLINEAR (INT)
The Interlinear
Literal Translation of the Greek New Testament.
George Ricker Berry,
Ph.D., University
of Chicago and Colgate University, Department of Semitic Languages.
Wilcox and Follett
Company, Chicago, 1943. It was
recommended to me and given to me as an aid in Biblical study by The Reverend
Monsignor Maurice Aloysius Hofer, Ph.D., Papal Chamberlain, September 1958,
Domestic Prelate, 1963, Professor of Biblical Studies, The Pontifical College Josephinum
in Columbus, Ohio.
DOUAY-RHEIMS
(DR)
Translated from
the Latin Vulgate. The New Testament was
first published by the English
College at Rheims A.D. 1582. The re-edited edition by Rev. James A. Carey,
M.A. was first published A.D. 1935. The
Douay Bible House, New York
1938
St. Matthew 16:15-19
INT 15 He says to them, “But ye, whom me do ye
pronounce to be?” 16 And answering, Simon Peter said, “Thou are
the Christ, the Son of God the living.” 17 And
answering Jesus said to him, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonas, for flesh
and blood revealed [it] not to thee, but
My Father who [is] in the heavens. 18 and
I also to thee say, That thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my
assembly, and gates of hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give to thee the keys of the
kingdom of the heavens: and whatever
thou mayest bind on the earth, shall be bound in the heavens; and whatever thou
mayest loose on the earth, shall be loosed in the heavens.”
DR 16 Jesus
saith to them: “but who do you say that
I am?” Simon Peter answered and said;
“Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And
Jesus answering said to him: “Blessed
art thou, Simon Bar Jona: because flesh
and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I
will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give to thee the keys of the
kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou
shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it
shall be loosed also in heaven.”
St.
Matthew 28:18-20
INT 18 And having come to [them] Jesus spoke to
them saying, “Has been given to Me all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Going therefore disciples all the
nations, baptizing them to the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I commanded you.
And, lo, I with you am all the days until the completion of the
age. Amen.”
DR 18
And Jesus coming,
spoke to them, saying: “All power is
given to me in heaven and in earth. 19 Going
therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost 20 Teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days even unto
the consummation of the world.”
St.
Mark 10:5-12
INT 5 And answering Jesus said to them, “In view of your
hardheartedness he wrote for you this commandment; 6 but from [the] beginning of creation male and female, made them
God. 7 On account of this shall
leave a man his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife, 8 and shall be the two for flesh one;
so that no longer are they two, but one flesh.
9 What therefore God united
together, man let not separate.” 10
And in the house again his disciples concerning the same thing asked Him. 11
And He says to them, “Whoever should put away his wife and should marry
another, commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman should put away her
husband and be married to another, she commits adultery.”
DR 5 To whom Jesus answering, said: “Because of the hardness of your hearts he
wrote you that precept. 6 But from the beginning of the
creation, God made them male and female.
7 For this cause a man shall
leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his
wife. 8 And they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one
flesh. 9 What therefore God hath joined together,
let not man put asunder.” 10 And in
the house again his disciples asked him concerning the same thing. 11 And
he saith to them: “Whosoever shall put
away his wife and marry another, committeth adultery against her. 12 And
if the wife shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she
committeth adultery.
St.
Luke 2:48-50
INT 48 And seeing him they were astonished: and to him his
mother said, “Child, why hast thou done
to us thus? Behold, thy father and I
distressed were seeking thee.” 49 And he said to them, “Why [is it]
that ye were seeking me? Knew ye not
that in the [affairs] of my father it behoves to be me?” 50 And they understood not the word which he spoke to them.
DR 48 And seeing him, they wondered, And his mother said to
him: “Son, why hast thou done so to
us? Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.” 49 And
he said to them: “How is it that you
sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my
Father’s business?” 50 And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them.
St. John 3:5
INT Answered Jesus, “Verily, verily I say to thee, Unless
anyone be born of water and of Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
DR Jesus answered:
“Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of the water and
the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
St. John 6:47-58
INT 47 “Verily verily I say to you, He
that believes on me has life eternal. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your Fathers ate the manna in the
desert, and died. 50 This is the bread which out of heaven comes down, that anyone of
it may eat and not die. 51 I am the
bread living, which out of the heaven came down: if anyone shall have eaten of this bread he
shall live forever; and the bread also which I will give, my flesh is, which I
will give for the of the world life.” 52
Were contending therefore with one another the Jews saying, “How is able he us to give flesh [his] to
eat?” 53 Said therefore to them Jesus, “Verily verily I say to you,
Unless ye shall have eaten the flesh of the Son of man and shall have drunk his
blood, ye have not life in yourselves. 54
He that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, has life eternal, and I will
raise up him in the last day; 55 for
my flesh truly is food, and my blood truly is drink. 56 He
that eats my flesh and drinks my blood, in me abides, and I in him. 57
As sent me the living Father, and I live because of the Father, also he that
eats me, he also shall live because of me.
58 This is the bread which
out of the heaven came down. Not as ate
the fathers of you the manna, and died:
he that eats this bread shall live forever.”
DR 47 “Amen, amen I say unto you: He that believeth in me, hath everlasting
life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the
desert, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down
from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die. 51 I
am the living bread which came down from heaven. 52 If any man eat of this bread, he shall live
forever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the
world.” 53 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: “How can this man give us his flesh to
eat?” 54 Then Jesus said to them:
“Amen, amen I say unto you:
Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you
shall not have life in you. 55 He that eateth my flesh, and
drinkith my blood, have everlasting life:
and I will raise him up in the last day.
56 For my flesh is meat
indeed: and my blood is drink
indeed. 57 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me,
and I in him. 58 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so
he that eatheth me, the same also shall live by me. 59 This
is the bread that came down from heaven.
Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread shall live for
ever.
St. John 20:21-23
INT 21 Said therefore to them Jesus again, “Peace to you: as has sent forth me the Father, I also send
you.” 22 And this having said he
breathed into [them], and says to them, “Receive [the] Spirit Holy: 23 of
whomsoever ye may remit the sins, they are remitted to them; of whomsoever ye
may retain, they have been retained.”
DR 21 He said therefore to them again:
“Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent
me, I also send you.” 22 When he had
said this, he breathed on them; and he said to
them: “Receive you the Holy
Ghost. 23 Whose sins you shall
forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are
retained.”
1 St. John 5:7-8
INT 7
“Because three there are
who bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these
three one are. 8 And three there are
who bear witness on earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and the
three to the one [point] are.” (In the introduction to the
Interlinear it is explained that words in brackets
[ ] are what
have been added in the English to complete the sense where there is no word in
the Greek to correspond to the words added.)
DR 7 “And there are three who give testimony
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. 8
And there are three that give testimony on earth: the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and
these three are one.”
Judith
Martin
Powell, Ohio USA
No comments:
Post a Comment