Major Publishing Event: The Re-Publication of the Holy Bible translated from the Latin Vulgate by Msgr. Ronald A. Knox

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I am very pleased that one of my favorite versions of the Holy Bible, The Holy Bible Translated from the Latin Vulgate by Monsignor Ronald Knox, has been published in it's entirety for the first time since the 1960's. Templegate Publishers have been printing the New Testament since 1997.

Monsignor Ronald Knox created one of the truly beautiful and literary translations of the Holy Bible. It is a joy to read.

Not only is the wonderful Knox Bible available again in print, but a searchable electronic version is available on the Bible Gateway!

Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and other Christians and Bible readers of a literary bent are rejoicing over the re-publication of the Knox Bible.

I am so glad to Monsignor Ronald A. Knox is receiving his due for his beautiful translation of the Sacred Scriptures!

Here are some sample passages from the Knox Bible, which displays the translation's literary quality:

The Lord is my shepherd; how can I lack anything? 2 He gives me a resting-place where there is green pasture, leads me out to the cool water’s brink, refreshed and content. 3 As in honour pledged, by sure paths he leads me; 4 dark be the valley about my path, hurt I fear none while he is with me; thy rod, thy crook are my comfort. 5 Envious my foes watch, while thou dost spread a banquet for me; richly thou dost anoint my head with oil, well filled my cup. All my life thy loving favour pursues me; through the long years the Lord’s house shall be my dwelling-place.

Psalm 22 (23)


 My son, do not cheat a poor man of the alms he asks, nor pass him by, with averted look, in his need. 2 Wouldst thou despise his hungry glance, and add to the burden of his distress? 3 Wouldst thou disappoint him in his bitter need by bidding him wait for the gift? 4 Nay, spurn thou never the plea of the afflicted; look thy suppliant in the face, 5 and of his poverty take good heed; shall his baffled rage curse thee behind thy back? 6 The curse of an embittered man does not go unheard; his Maker is listening.

7 To the common sort of men give friendly welcome; before an elder abate thy pride; and to a man of eminence bow meekly thy head. 8 If a poor man would speak to thee, lend him thy ear without grudging; give him his due, and let him have patient and friendly answer. 9 If he is wronged by oppression, redress thou needs must win him, nor be vexed by his importunity. 10 When thou sittest in judgement, be a father to the orphans, a husband to the widow that bore them; 11 so the most High an obedient son shall reckon thee, and shew thee more than a mother’s kindness.

Ecclesiasticus 4.1-11

There was a man called Nicodemus, a Pharisee, and one of the rulers of the Jews, 2 who came to see Jesus by night; Master, he said to him, we know that thou hast come from God to teach us; no one, unless God were with him, could do the miracles which thou doest. 3 Jesus answered him, Believe me when I tell thee this; a man cannot see the kingdom of God without being born anew.[a] 4 Why, Nicodemus asked him, how is it possible that a man should be born when he is already old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and so come to birth? 5 Jesus answered, Believe me, no man can enter into the kingdom of God unless birth comes to him from water, and from the Holy Spirit. 6 What is born by natural birth is a thing of nature, what is born by spiritual birth is a thing of spirit. 7 Do not be surprised, then, at my telling thee, You must be born anew. 8 The wind breathes where it will, and thou canst hear the sound of it, but knowest nothing of the way it came or the way it goes; so it is, when a man is born by the breath of the Spirit.


John 3.1-8 



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About the Knox Bible (from Wikipedia). 
The Holy Bible: A Translation From the Latin Vulgate in the Light of the Hebrew and Greek Originals is a Catholic version of the Bible in three volumes (later published in one volume editions) translated by Monsignor Ronald Knox, the English theologian, priest, and crime writer. It is more commonly known as the Knox Version.

In 1936, Ronald Knox was requested by the Catholic hierarchies of England and Wales to undertake a new translation of the Vulgate with use of contemporary language and in light of Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. When the New Testament was published in 1945, it was not intended to replace the Rheims version but to be used alongside it, as Bernard Griffin, the Archbishop of Westminster noted in the preface.

With the release of the Knox's version of the Old Testament in 1950, the popularity of translations based on the Vulgate waned as the Church authorities promoted the use of Bibles based primarily on Hebrew and Greek texts following the 1943 encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu. The Knox Bible was, however, one of the approved vernacular versions of the Bible used in the Lectionary readings for Mass from 1965 to the early 1970s along with the Confraternity Bible.

The style of the translation is in idiomatic English and much freer in renderings of passages than the Douay version. With the Deuterocanonical books, the interpretation of the passages was brought closer to the Septuagint. When the Latin appeared to be doubtful, the translation of the text was based on other languages, with the Latin translation placed in the footnote.

Templegate Publishers produced a facsimile of the New Testament in 1997 (ISBN 0-87243-229-7). Baronius Press secured the rights for the work from the Diocese of Westminster in 2009 and their new leather bound edition of Monsignor Knox's translation was published in October 2012.

The Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, commented on the new Baronius Press edition that "Ronald Knox's translation of the Bible remains an exceptional achievement both of scholarship and of literary dedication. Again and again it successfully avoids conventional options and gives the scriptural text a fresh flavour, often with a brilliantly idiosyncratic turn of phrase. It most certainly deserves republication, study and use."

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The Knox Bible – Press ReleaseLondon, UK, October 15, 2012

Baronius Press has announced the launch of the Holy Bible – Knox Version (also known as the Knox Bible) for the first time in more than 50 years, stating that the translation’s clarity and beauty will help Catholics deepen their knowledge of scripture in this Year of Faith.

Welcoming the return of the Bible, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor said: “I welcome the publication of this new edition, as his remarkable work is likely to continue to be of interest for many years to come. I sincerely hope that many will read and profit from this new edition.”

The translation was described as "a masterful translation of the Bible" by Time Magazine and was the first vernacular version to be approved for liturgical use in the 20th Century.

In his introduction to the new Baronius Press edition Dr Scott Hahn writes: “Knox had a profound love for Sacred Scripture, a passion to make the Bible accessible to as many people as possible.”

As part of the republication of the Knox Bible, Baronius Press has worked with Biblegateway.com — the world’s most visited Christian website with ten million unique visitors each month to allow free access to a searchable text of Monsignor Knox’s translation. Rachel Barach of Biblegateway.com said: “As BibleGateway.com seeks to encourage Bible reading and Scriptural understanding among Bible readers of all denominations, we are delighted to be able to share the Knox translation on our website.”

Monsignor Ronald Knox was commissioned in 1939 by the Bishops of England and Wales to produce a fresh translation of the Holy Scripture and, for the next nine years, he worked alone to achieve this task. He used Pope Clement VIII’s edition of the Latin Vulgate as a base for his translation, diligently comparing it to Greek, Hebrew, Syriac and Chaldean manuscripts to determine the meaning of ambiguous passages.

He aimed at a Bible that was understandable to modern audiences and yet rooted in Catholic tradition and “written in timeless English”. He wanted a Bible that did not merely translate the original but made it read as if an Englishman had written it.

Knox’s Bible received great acclaim when it was first published. Even the Archbishop of Canterbury of the time recommended it, and it became the preferred translation of Fulton Sheen. The Bishops were so pleased with the completed version that it was authorized for liturgical use, and the Knox translation of the Bible was used as the official version in the churches of Great Britain, Ireland and Australia for the decade leading up to Vatican II – and the first version sanctioned for liturgical use in England and Wales.

Available today from Baronius Press in a hardback leather edition with gold gilded edges, two ribbons and a complimentary copy of “On Englishing the Bible” in which Msgr. Knox describes himself how he tackled this mammoth project.

Baronius Press is a Catholic book publisher based in London. It was originally founded in 2002 and takes its name from the Venerable Cardinal Caesar Baronius, a Neapolitan ecclesiastical historian from the late 1500's. Its logo is a biretta, which together with a cassock forms the traditional image of a Catholic priest.

The main objective of Baronius Press is to raise the quality of traditional Catholic books in order to make them more appealing to a wider audience. In an age of mass production and cost cutting overriding aesthetic beauty, Baronius Press is retypesetting (rather than producing facsimiles) classic Catholic books, to obtain clear text which is easy to read. These are then published in high quality bindings that are beautiful and durable. The time and effort that is invested into each title is enormous, but this is a small gesture of love for the treasures of the Holy Mother Church whose literary treasures Baronius is publishing. The first title Baronius Press published was the Douay Rheims Bible – the first retypeset edition for several decades. Since then, this title is available in three different sizes and three colours and also as a pocket size Psalms & New Testament only.

The company has made history by updating and republishing a number of titles that previously were out of print for many decades. In 2004 the company was the first to publish the 1962 Daily Missal with an Imprimatur since the mid 1960s and in subsequent years continued to expand the range with a series of Christian Classics in both paperback and leather bound editions. These included the only edition of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin to include the Gregorian Chant and the republication of the Carmelite classic Divine Intimacy. In 2012 after five years of preparation, Baronius Press released the first 1963 Roman Breviary in nearly fifty years. Currently, the company has over 50 titles in print.

source: Baronius Press
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To read or search the Knox Bible online.

Purchase the Knox Bible

Purchase the Knox New Testament

Ronald Knox Society of North America



About Ronald Knox (from Wikipedia)

Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (17 February 1888 – 24 August 1957) was an English priest, theologian and writer, including crime novels and regular broadcasts for BBC Radio. Knox had attended Eton College, and he won several scholarships at Balliol College, Oxford. Knox was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1912 and was appointed chaplain of Trinity College, Oxford, but he left in 1917 to convert to Catholicism. In 1918 he was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest. Ronald Knox wrote many books of essays and novels. Directed by the Catholic clergy, he re-translated the Latin Vulgate Bible into English, using Hebrew and Greek sources, beginning in 1936.


Life

Ronald Knox was born in Kibworth, Leicestershire, England into an Anglican family. His father was Edmund Arbuthnott Knox, who became the Bishop of Manchester. The young Knox was educated at Eton College, where he took the first scholarship in 1900 and Balliol College, Oxford, where again he won the first classics scholarship in 1905. Knox, a brilliant classicist, won the Craven, the Hertford and the Ireland scholarships in classics, as well as the Gaisford Prize for Greek Verse Composition in 1908 and the Chancellor's Prize for Latin Verse Composition in 1910. In 1910, he became a fellow of Trinity College, Oxford. As he was not to begin tutorials until 1911, he took the job of classics tutor to Harold MacMillan in the sabbatical, although he was later fired by Nellie MacMillan for being a high-church Anglican. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1912 and was appointed chaplain of Trinity College, but he left in 1917 when he became a Roman Catholic. He explained his spiritual journey in two privately printed books, Apologia (1917) and A Spiritual Aeneid (1918). In 1918 he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest; in 1919 he joined the staff of St Edmund's College, Ware, Hertfordshire, remaining there until 1926.

Knox wrote and broadcast on Christianity and other subjects. While a Roman Catholic chaplain at the University of Oxford (1926-1939) and as domestic prelate to Pope Pius XI (1936), he wrote classic detective stories. In 1929 he codified the rules for detective stories into a "decalogue" of ten commandments (see Golden Age of Detective Fiction). He was one of the founding members of the Detection Club and wrote several works of detective fiction, including five novels and a short story featuring Miles Bredon, who is employed as a private investigator by the Indescribable Insurance Company.

Knox singlehandedly translated the St. Jerome Latin Vulgate Bible into English. His works on religious themes include: Some Loose Stones (1913), Reunion All Round (1914), A Spiritual Aeneid (1918), The Belief of Catholics (1927), Caliban in Grub Street (1930), Heaven and Charing Cross (1935), Let Dons Delight (1939) and Captive Flames (1940). Knox's Roman Catholicism caused his father to cut him out of his will. This did not make much difference to his finances, however, as Knox earned a good income from his detective novels.

An essay in Knox's Essays in Satire (1928), "Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes", was the first of the genre of mock-serious critical writings on Sherlock Holmes and mock-historical studies in which the existence of Holmes, Watson, et al. is assumed. Another of these essays, The Authorship of "In Memoriam", purports to prove that Tennyson's poem was actually written by Queen Victoria. Knox was led to the Catholic Church by the English writer G. K. Chesterton, before Chesterton himself became a Catholic. When Chesterton was received into Roman Catholic Church, he in turn was influenced by Knox. Knox delivered the homily for Chesterton's Requiem Mass in Westminster Cathedral.

In 1953 Knox visited the Oxfords in Zanzibar and the Actons in Rhodesia. It was on this trip that he began his translation of The Imitation of Christ and, upon his return to Mells, his translation of Thérèse of Lisieux's Autobiography of a Saint. He also began a work of apologetics intended to reach a wider audience than the student one of his The Belief of Catholics (1927). But all his activities were curtailed by his sudden and serious illness early in 1957. At the invitation of his old friend, Harold Macmillan, he stayed at 10 Downing Street while in London to consult a specialist. The doctor confirmed the diagnosis of incurable cancer.

He died on 24 August 1957 and his body was brought to Westminster Cathedral. Bishop Craven celebrated the Requiem Mass, at which Father Martin D'Arcy, a Jesuit, preached the panegyric. Knox was buried in the churchyard of St Andrew's Church, Mells.

Knox's first biography, entitled The Life of Ronald Knox, was the work of his friend and literary executor, Evelyn Waugh, and appeared two years after his death. Waugh, a devout Catholic and fervent admirer of Knox's works, had obtained his friend's permission for the task. In 1977 Knox's niece, Penelope Fitzgerald published a composite biography, The Knox Brothers, which devoted equal weight to him and his three brothers (E. V. Knox, the editor of the humorous magazine Punch, Dillwyn Knox, a mathematician, and Wilfred Knox, an Anglican monk and New Testament scholar). In 2009 appeared The Wine of Certitude: A Literary Biography of Ronald Knox by David Rooney, which followed two recent studies, Ronald Knox as Apologist: Wit, Laughter and the Popish Creed (2007) and Second Friends: C. S. Lewis and Ronald Knox in Conversation (2008), both by Milton Walsh. A more recent biography setting Knox in the cultural context of his times is Terry Tastard, Ronald Knox and English Catholicism (2009)