I got one! Yes, I think I might be the only Catholic in the United States to hold in my hands the new English Standard Version Catholic Edition Bible (ESVCE). Through my super-secret trading channels, I was able to secure one and now will offer a review and a backstory, just for you, my faithful reader. The Bible is printed on thin, high quality Bible paper in a very readable font. It feels just right in the hand—a bit smaller in form factor than your typical Bible with smallish print throughout. It contains a short Foreward, a Preface, a few grayscale maps and a chart of weights and measures. Thankfully, these materials explain the exact texts on which the translation was based.
Update 12/13/2019: ESV Catholic Edition Now Available in the United States!
A Breath of Fresh Air!
Finally, we Catholics get a new translation in clear English with serious attention to exact fidelity to the original text: the English Standard Version Catholic Edition, just released by the bishops of India. The same debate has been raging since the 1960’s in the English speaking world—on the relative merits of the New American Bible (1970), Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (1966) and the Jerusalem Bible (1966). While we have received welcome updates on these translates like the NAB revised New Testament (1984), the New Jerusalem Bible (1985), the NRSV Catholic Edition (1991), RSV-Second Catholic Edition (2006), and the updated Old Testament in the NAB Revised Edition (2011—notice the 27-year delay between revised NT and OT), this ESVCE is a truly new Bible translation for us. Though it takes its cues from the 1971 RSV, the ESV stands on its own with its own translation philosophy and its strong commitment to clear and meaningful English that stays truly faithful to the original languages. (I’m not even including the simplified or quasi-paraphrase translations like the Good News Bible.)
Students, Bishops and the old Douay-Rheims
Catholic students of the Bible (who both read and write this blog!) have been arguing for years round and round about whether the RSV or NAB is better. Not only that but bishops’ conferences in the English-speaking world have been going round and round about which translation to use at Mass. The old Douay-Rheims translation (and its “Confraternity edition” followups) was discarded as antiquated after the Second Vatican Council. Besides, the old D-R was based on the Vulgate and did not take the Greek and Hebrew witnesses seriously. But after discarding the Douay, bishops were left with a problem on their hands. Fortunately, for American Catholics, the U.S. bishops had commissioned the Catholic Biblical Association of America to produce a new translation back in 1943, after the publication of Pope Pius XII’s encyclical, Divino Afflante Spiritu.
A Footnote from 1943
It’s an odd footnote to biblical history that the CBA had originally been commissioned to produce a new translation from the Latin Vulgate which was scrapped after Pope Pius XII encouraged recourse to the original languages (see paragraphs 14-16). The encyclical, which was drafted by biblical scholar Augustin Bea (later a cardinal), insisted that “we [ought] to explain the original text which, having been written by the inspired author himself, has more authority and greater weight than any even the very best translation, whether ancient or modern” (§16). This one line, along with the developing knowledge of biblical languages promoted by the Pontifical Biblical Institute, was instrumental in getting Catholics off the couch and into Greek and Hebrew courses. It sidelined Vulgate-only translations and insisted on fidelity to the original languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek) in new translations.
Back to the Bishops
The bishops, since 1943 (and with renewed zeal after the Council), have been casting about for good Bible translations. Other language communities have perhaps done a better job cooperating, but the English-speaking world has been characterized by fierce competition. In particular, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops actually owns the copyright to the New American Bible, so it is in their financial best interest to promote, and yes, to require, the use of the NAB/NABRE in liturgical settings. Though the USCCB does approve of other translations for non-liturgical use. The other English-speaking bishops (UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India) have been none too thrilled about paying royalties to their brother prelates, so have normally opted for the Jerusalem Bible, but have also approved the New Jerusalem Bible, and the RSV. The Canadian bishops have adopted the NRSV as of 2008. The Antilles adopted the RSV-2CE for its lectionary. My sense is that many bishops’ conferences are none too thrilled with these options. The complaints, though often whispered, are easy to summarize:
- The Jerusalem Bible is too inexact, preferring dynamic equivalence over word-for-word translation. Same goes for its update, the NJB.
- The RSV is too old (from about 1950) with too many “thees” and “thous”.
- The NRSV has too much gender-inclusive language.
- Many complain about the NAB/RE, but frequently the complaints are directed at the New Testament footnotes in addition to the translation itself.
The ESVCE gives the bishops conferences a new option and indeed, several English-speaking bishops conferences have reached out to the Indian bishops to explore the possibility of using the new ESVCE lectionary in their countries.
ICEL, Liturgiam Authenticam, Vox Clara
To understand the backroom politicking at work, we must at least nod at some big decisions at the Vatican. After Vatican II, the English-speaking bishops set up the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) to translate liturgical texts—including the Roman Missal, the Liturgy of the Hours, the Roman Martyrology and so forth. However, Bible translations, while often handled separately, had to be approved in the form of Lectionaries. In 2001, the Vatican issued a document entitled Liturgiam Authenticam which laid down rules for liturgical translations, which included Lectionaries. The Congregation for Divine Worship issued a new edition of the Latin missal in 2002,which served as the basis for the translation of the liturgy released in 2011. In order to implement Liturgiam Authenticam in the English-speaking world, the Vox Clara Commission was set up to oversee the work of ICEL (an angry history of it HERE). The Vox Clara Commission included some well known conservative churchmen (George, Pell, Olmstead). Notably, it also included Cardinal Oswald Gracias, who gave the imprimatur to the ESV-Catholic Edition and wrote the foreward. Recent news has seen Pope Francis moving to roll back a bit of the centralization of translation.
Back to Bible Students
Now, we Bible Students care little for the squabbles of high prelates: How faithful is the actual translation? Here’s where we get into the weeds to compare actual texts. I’m going to use the NABRE, the RSV-CE and the ESVCE to show you what we have on our hands. I’ll just present a bunch of examples without comment in no particular order. You can judge for yourself:
| NABRE | RSV-CE/2CE | ESVCE | |
| Prov 18:24 | There are friends who bring ruin, but there are true friends more loyal than a brother. | There are friends who pretend to be friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. | A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. |
| Luke 1:28 | And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” | And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” | And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O highly favored one, the Lord is with you!” |
| Eph 5:3 | Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is fitting among holy ones, | But fornication [2CE: immorality]and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is fitting among saints. | But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. |
| Isa 9:6 | For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. [v. 5] | For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” | For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. |
| Gen 1:1 | In the beginning, when God created… | In the beginning God created | In the beginning, God created |
| Gen 1:2 | and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters | The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters | The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. |
| Mark 10:9 | Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate. | What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder. | What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.
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| Gen 18:11 | and Sarah had stopped having her menstrual periods | it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women | The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. |
| Matt 5:28 | But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. | But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. | But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
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| Eph 5:19 | singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, | singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart | singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
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| Rom 9:5 | …theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Messiah. God who is over all be blessed forever. Amen. | …to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, be blessed for ever. Amen. | To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. |
| Jer 20:7 | You seduced me, LORD, and I let myself be seduced | O LORD, thou hast [2CE: you have] deceived me, and I was deceived; | O LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; |
| Sir 22:3 | An undisciplined child is a disgrace to its father; if it be a daughter, she brings him to poverty. | It is a disgrace to be the father of an undisciplined son, and the birth of a daughter is a loss. | A father’s disgrace is in the birth of an undisciplined son, and the birth of a daughter is a loss. |
Obviously, I could go on listing examples forever, but here I will stop. The long and short of these examples is that the ESV preserves both accuracy and decorum with beautiful English in the King James tradition while updated with the most recent manuscript evidence.
Other Thoughts on the New ESV-Catholic Edition
It’s important to note that the ESV preserves the typical English verse numbering (along the lines of KJV, RSV, etc.) rather than reverting to the Hebrew numbering, which the NABRE tries to do. The Old Testament is translated from the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Göttingen Septuagint. The New Testament is translated from the Novum Testamentum Graecae, Nestle-Aland, 28th Edition. Tobit is a textual anomaly, so they used “the longer Greek text (Sinaiticus) supplemented by the shorter Greek text (Vaticanus) and the Old Latin version at points where the longer text lacks some verses” (p. xvi.).
Team of Catholic Scholars
The ESV Catholic Edition, while it comes from the translation done by American Protestants, was reviewed by a panel of Catholic scholars before receiving approval from the Indian bishops. The names of those scholars who reviewed the text are listed in the Foreward:
- Rev. Dr. Lucien Legrand, MEP
- Rev. Dr. Assisi Saldanha, CSsR
- Rev. Dr. Govindu Rayanna
- Rev. Dr. A. Alfred Joseph
- Rev. Dr. David Stanly Kumar
- Sr. Dr. Prema Vakayil, CSST
- Rev. Dr. Shabu Joseph Thottumkal, SDB
- Rev. Dr. Stanislas Savarimuthu
The publication was made possible by a licensing agreement between Crossway and the Asian Trading Corporation. You can try ordering a copy of the ESVCE at the ATC website, but I didn’t have much luck. It has received official approval and Imprimatur from the Catholic Bishops Conference of India.
Conclusions
Pretty soon, when you attend Mass in India, you will hear the ESVCE being read from the pulpit. I think it won’t be long before the ESVCE shows up in the hands of many Catholic Bible Students who are gathering in church basements, Catholic schools, Newman Centers and coffee shops for a good old-fashioned Bible study. The translation is solid, new and refreshing. I will be digging into it for more insights over time. The ESVCE could be a close competitor with the RSVCE/2CE. It’s hard to say which will win out or if they will live a peaceful coexistence. Bravo to the Indian bishop and to Crossway for gifting us with a powerful ecumenical collaboration that produced such a great translation. I think this new translation will be a blessing to many, many English-speaking Catholics. Once it is available for sale in the U.S. (or wherever you are), I recommend adding a copy to your Bible shelf!
Just curious, where will this translation be available for purchase within the US?
I wish we knew! Crossway is the publisher in the U.S., so they would know best, but from what I hear they still have some licensing issues to work out.
Does this version just add the additional books to the OT or has the current ESV text (OT & NT) been changed also similar to when they issued the RSV CE?
Hi. Excuse my ignorance. My daughter is requesting this bible in the study edition.
Is this Catholic or Protestant? If not Catholic, which is the best version for a non-academic Catholic?
Hi Marian – the ESV-Catholic Edition is only available in India right now, but you can to order it through the link I posted. It’s just a reading edition, not a study Bible with extensive notes. The ESV Study Bible as it exists is evangelical Protestant, not Catholic. You could take a look at the study editions of the NAB and most especially the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, which I’ve helped with a bit. But the ICSB is only available in a complete NT and as booklets of various OT books.
Frankly, we don’t know. Until someone runs a complete comparison or the publisher releases a list of changes, I’m not 100% sure on how many if any tweaks were made to the existing ESV texts.
Hello, hope you have a nice day. This is a very good review, I enjoyed reading it. I’m wondering what is your thoughts on 1 Tim 3:15 in ESVCE? I mean “a” pillar instead of “the”pillar. So do you think the Catholic bishops/scholars from India who have been reviewed ESVCE to make sure it’s translation is being faithful to the ancient original language etc should have adapted “a” pillar to “the” pillar? I’m not questioning nor criticising their works, just wondering why they couldn’t change it like they have added “highly” onto Luke 1:28.
On 1 Tim 3:15, the question of whether it should be “a pillar” or “the pillar” is quite complex. In the Greek, there’s no definite article either for “pillar” (stulos) or for “church” (ekklesia). However, according to Apollonius’ Corollary, when two indefinite words are combined in a genitive construction then the phrase is definite–as in “the spirit of God” (Matt 3:16). That rule applies here for “ekklesia theou”, “the church of God.” But does that definiteness distribute to the nominative form “stulos” in the next clause? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on whether the last clause is truly in apposition to the immediately preceding one, that is, whether “pillar” refers to “church” or something else. Latin doesn’t have definite articles, so Jerome’s Vulgate just has “columna.” But KJV, RSV, NET, NASB, Douay-Rheims, NRSV, and NIV all have “the pillar.” Only ESV/ESVCE has “a pillar.” Why? Recent scholarship (as represented in the Anchor Bible, the Word Biblical Commentary and elsewhere) has brought up the possibility that “pillar and bulwark” might actually be referring to the first clause in the verse “how one ought to behave…”, meaning Timothy’s pastoral responsibility, rather than to the immediate preceding phrase. The ESV leaves the door open for either interpretation. If Timothy’s pastoral responsibility is in view, then it would actually match Ignatius of Antioch’s take that the bishop is to be regarded “as the Lord himself” (Eph. 6) and submitted to with obedience (Magn. 2). That is, it could be said that Ignatius regards the bishop, like Timothy, as a pillar and bulwark which protects the household of God from error.
Hello, it’s Fabio and I live in Italy. I’ve tried to get a copy of the ESV-CE at the ATC website, but unfortunately I have had no much luck. Anyway, hoping to see it on Amazon store soon, I wanted you to ask if getting a copy of the ESV by Crossway is the same thing. I mean, I know there are no deuterocanonical in it, but meantime until I get a copy of the Catholic Edition I can be familiar with the Protestant version. What do you think?
@Fabio: As far as I understand, Oxford University Press released an ESV with Apocrypha (including all the deuterocanonical material) in 2009. I have a copy of this red hardback edition. However, the edition was not kept in print. Some of the deuterocanonical material, particularly Tobit, was completely changed from this edition for the ESVCE and many small changes were made throughout the text. So, no, the ESVCE is not the same as the ESV with apocrypha.
How large is the print in your copy?
It’s a first that an edition of “supposedly” good calibre translation is first available in India. Thankfully I am an Indian and therefore have easy access to this one. I abandoned the Catholic church a while ago but my mother who is still a Catholic would find this useful. I have been looking to get her a new Bible for about a month now. I have several editions of ESV, and while I am not overly flattered by the ESV translation – since I prefer the more literal NASB or ASV – it is still a good translation to use as a primary Bible.
I hope this one is more literal than the RSV-CE. And I also hope too many “Catholic” changes have not been made, save those to increase accuracy of the text. (A good translation is expected to be faithful to the original languages, not ones theological disposition) I further hope the printing is of the standard we have come to expect from Crossway in general. And finally I hope this edition is not plagued with leftist propaganda of gender neutralism like the NRSV-CE is (which my mom is currently using).
P.S. Thanks for bringing this edition of the Bible to my notice. Its ironic that an Indian came across this translation through an American, even though this edition is only available in India. 🙂 And by ironic, I mean in a good kinda way.
This isn’t line matched, is it? How is the showthough, and the quality of pages?
@Neil: I’m not sure what “line matched” means here, but the showthrough and paper quality are typical of other Bibles I have. The paper is thin, but the type is very clear and readable. In the white spaces you can see a bit of gray text showing through, but it looks like a normal Bible to me.
Well, if you dont know what Line-matched means, I can assume you are either not familiar with premium Bibles nor with Crossway Bibles. To be fair to you, these are Bibles only come with the Protestant canon, and therefore are “incomplete” for Catholics, but to be fair to those publishers also – Catholics, due to the reduced (or lack of?) centrality of scripture probably wont spend hundreds of dollars on a Bible. I already saw some Catholics cribbing about $30 Bibles in the ESV-CE review blog comments.
Anyway, linematching is a printing technique designed to reduce showthrough by printing text exactly on the same line on front and back pages. It enhances readability. I think Cambridge was the first to introduce this through their expensive Clarion series, and Crossway picked it up employing this technique on their cheapest Bibles also…. result – excellent readability. Since this is not a mainstream process even among Protestant publishers (Lockman Foundations, to give one example) continues to print terribly designed and printed Bibles), it will be years, perhaps decades before their Catholic counterparts catch on.
However many other publishers are picking this trend up, with most new Reader’s Bibles employ this simple yet effective technique. Sadly, and predictably – the ESV CE is not line matched – but it looks to be a decent paper, and therefore it probably wont be too much of a problem (I am jut spoilt by the superior publishing techniques by Crossway even in their cheaper $10 Bibles). I have contacted them, and should place my order hopefully on Monday.
This is a great blog that surveys excellently printed and bound Bibles.
https://www.bibledesignblog.com/
Most Bibles reviewed here are expensive, but worth the money. Sadly, most, if not all, are Protestant canon.
Check out reviews on the following Bibles:
1. Schuyler (any translation)
2. ESV Legacy and ESV Heritage
3. Cambridge Clarion
You may also check reviews on Crossway’s inexpensive ESV Bibles printed in the last few years to see the effort they take in making their Bibles more readable.
@Donna – A bit bigger than a paperback, but smaller than a typical American Bible.
I have been trying to get a copy of this but it is proving to be frustrating. Went to a site in India twice to purchase it with no luck. I know there are rumors that it is going to be released in the US but when I chatted online today, 1/15/19, with a representative of Crossway, he stated that there are no current plans to release it here. Frustrating.
I would like something that is based on updated scholarship and will be used for lectionaries. That means the 2025 version of NABRE, something like NRSV-2CE, and a new version of the CTS Bible based on the NJB.
Since they are not available yet, and because I lack funds, then I will have to settle for more an affordable hardcover edition of NABRE and a softcover version of NRSV-CE (which I can have hardcover bound for three dollars or so).
I forgot to add that what I’d really like to see is an authoritative update of the Latin Vulgate (whether the Neo-Vulgate counts, I leave it to experts to decide), and then make that readily available in affordable and premium editions.
This version may be used for Latin Mass and may be the basis for translating to English and other languages. That way, the Church does not have to rely on translators from various groups to come up with updated translations, and then tweak what is released to make the editions suitable for Catholic private study and lectionary use.
Also, one translation for scholarly use, devotion, and lectionary use is more practical. And if various regions are compelled to come up with suitable English versions given ave. reading levels of the laity or the point that some populations use English as a second language, then at least the versions will all be based on the updated Vulgate.
With that, issues involving unnecessary changes to ensure gender inclusiveness, phrases not suitable for lectionary use or unrecognizable by Catholics (like using “favored one” instead of “full of grace”) are avoided. There should be no need to seek approval from the Church because they will all be translation projects established by the Church.
Has anyone had luck ordering the ESV-CE through ACT books in India? I am a former Protestant who converted to Catholicism, and I miss the beauty and decorum of my old, trusty Protestant ESV. I have tried to email ACT and I have tried to purchase through the website, but both my emails and purchases were rejected. Any other tips?
Update 12/13 – you can get the ESV-CE now in the USA: https://catholicbiblestudent.com/2019/12/esv-catholic-edition-bible-now-available-in-the-united-states.html
@CatholicBibleStudent,
Regarding 1 Tim 3.15 and “pillar”. This is one decision I wish the ESV-CE had reverse. I know the Greek is tricky, but apparently to change the longstanding “the pillar” to “a pillar” fell to one man. Bill Mounce. I get the impression this may be one of his pet peeves so he changed it. He and his father are responsible for the vast majority of changes in the NT. He was also the chair of the NT committee, so his input carried a lot of weight.
Here is what he wrote in his Word Biblical Commentary on 1 Tim 3.15:
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William D. Mounce, Pastoral Epistles, WBC 46; Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 223.