The Bible

The Bible is the title of compilations of the sacred texts of Judaism and Christianity.

This work's page has more information about this work, including links to online books about this work.

Bibliographic Notes

The canon of texts used in the Bible varies among religious groups. Jewish Bibles contain books written in Hebrew and Aramaic before the rise of the Roman Empire and the birth of Jesus Christ. (Christians call this compilation the Old Testament; it is also called the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible. Editions of just these books can be found under Bible. Old Testament.) Christian Bibles add 27 books written in Greek by early Christians, collectively called the New Testament. Editions containing just the New Testament can be found under Bible. New Testament. Versions listed here include both testaments.

Writers of the New Testament used the Septuagint, a popular Greek Bible, as their "Old Testament". Jews, however, eventually settled on a canon with fewer books, and that smaller canon is also used as the Old Testament in most Protestant Bibles. Catholic and Orthodox Christians include additional books used in the Septuagint, which are also known as the Apocrypha, in their Old Testaments.

Online Editions and Versions

Multi-version Bible sites

• Bible Gateway (in several languages and translations) (HTML at biblegateway.com)
• The Polyglot Bible (parallel KJV, Greek Septuagint, Hebrew Tanakh, Latin Vulgate), ed. by John Hare (HTML at sacred-texts.com)

Popular versions online

These versions appear in recent CBA best-seller reports (which tend to favor versions bought by American Protestants).

• The Holy Bible: New International Version (HTML at biblegateway.com)
• The Bible (Authorized or King James version) (multiple editions)
• New King James Version (NKJV Bible) (HTML at biblegateway.com)
• The Holy Bible: New Living Translation (HTML at biblegateway.com)
• The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (HTML at biblegateway.com)
• New International Reader's Version (NIRV Bible) (HTML at biblegateway.com)
• Holman Christian Standard Bible (HTML at biblegateway.com)
• The Message (Bible paraphrase), contrib. by Eugene H. Peterson (HTML at biblegateway.com)
• New American Standard Bible (HTML at biblegateway.com)

Versions associated with particular Christian groups

Catholic Bibles

• New American Bible (1991 or later edition, with notes), trans. by Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (HTML at nccbuscc.org). The official Bible for Catholic liturgies in the US.
• The Bible (Douai-Rheims version) (multiple editions). Widely used by Catholics in the 17th through mid-20th centuries.

Other groups

• New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (HTML at watchtower.org). Used by Jehovah's Witnesses.
• The Holy Scriptures, Inspired Version, Containing the Old and New Testaments: An Inspired Revision of the Authorized Version (with notes on 1867, 1944, and manuscript editions), ed. by Joseph Smith (HTML at centerplace.org). Includes additions and edits by Joseph Smith. Used by some Mormons, but not the official Bible of the LDS Church (which uses the King James Version).

Other versions of particular historic significance

• Biblia Sacra, Vulgatae Editionis Sixti V et Clementis VIII Pontt. Maxx. (in Latin, 2 volumes; Paris: P. Lethielleux, ca. 1891), contrib. by Saint Jerome
  • Volume 1: multiple formats at archive.org
  • Volume 2: multiple formats at archive.org
  An edition of St. Jerome's Vulgate, declared by the Council of Trent to be the standard Latin Bible for the Catholic Church.
• Die Bibel, oder Die ganze Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testaments nach der deutschen Uebersetzung Dr. Martin Luthers. (in German; Leipzig: P. Reclam, 1847), trans. by Martin Luther (page images at HathiTrust). An edition of Luther's German translation, highly influential in the development of both Protestantism and the German language.

Other editions and versions

• The Bible (American Standard Version)
  • HTML at ebible.org
  • HTML at readbibleonline.net
• The Bible (Revised Standard Version) (searchable HTML at Michigan)
• The Bible and Holy Scriptures Conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament, Translated According to the Ebrue and Greke, and Conferred with the Best Translations in Divers Langages (Geneva: Rovland Hall, 1560) (PDF files at thedcl.org)
• The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments, Translated Out of the Original Tongues (English Revised version; Oxford: At the University Press, 1885) (PDF files at thedcl.org)
• The Orthodox Jewish Bible: Tanakh and Orthodox Jewish Brit Chadasha (fourth edition (includes New Testament); New York: AFI International Publishers, c2010), ed. by Phillip E. Goble (PDF at afii.org)
• The Holy Bible, From Ancient Eastern Manuscripts, ed. by George M. Lamsa
  • Old Testament: HTML with commentary at aramaicpeshitta.com
  • New Testament: HTML with commentary at aramaicpeshitta.com
• The Emphasised Bible: A New Translation (4 volumes; Cincinnati: Standard Pub. Co., 1916), ed. by Joseph Bryant Rotherham
  • Volume I (Genesis-Ruth): multiple formats at archive.org
  • Volume II (1 Samuel-Psalms): multiple formats at archive.org
  • Volume III (Proverbs-Malachi): multiple formats at archive.org
  • Volume IV (Matthew-Revelation): multiple formats at archive.org

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