They did it!
Oh man, I'm so pumped. In school I came to the conviction that the way the Bible is divided into chapters and verses damages our ability to read it, because it imposes a structure on the text that masks the actual literary structure, wherein most of the meaning lies. I discovered the New English Bible and have used it since. Formated in one column, with chapter and verse numbers in the margins, it is basically The Norton Anthology of Ancient Jewish and Early Christian Literature. Unfortunately, the translation (which I do like) is a little too free to have caught on, and while there are plenty of used copies around, the NEB is out of print.
Imagine my excitement, then, at discovering The Books of the Bible. These guys get it! Not only have they relegated chapter and verse numbers all the way to the footer of the page (they do have to be somewhere), they've even gerrymandered the book ordering itself! The New Testament is laid out in 4 streams, each starting with a Gospel: brilliant! And guess what translation they are using? The solidly popular TNIV, meaning that this edition has a chance to actually get picked up. Oh man, am I pumped. I ordereda case two cases of 12.
Imagine my excitement, then, at discovering The Books of the Bible. These guys get it! Not only have they relegated chapter and verse numbers all the way to the footer of the page (they do have to be somewhere), they've even gerrymandered the book ordering itself! The New Testament is laid out in 4 streams, each starting with a Gospel: brilliant! And guess what translation they are using? The solidly popular TNIV, meaning that this edition has a chance to actually get picked up. Oh man, am I pumped. I ordered
1 comments:
You should also keep your eye out for (or, seek out) the translation of the NT by Lattimore -- who was the top translator for the Greek classics on the last half-century. His really flows, and gives a good sense of the underlying Greek.
Not surprisingly, it also ditches the chapter/verse interruptions within the text itself.
For reference purposes, one's better off with NAS anyway, right? *grin*
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