The aim of the translation is stated in the preface to the New Testament text: “The editors have wished to produce a version in English that reflects contemporary English usage and is readily understandable to ordinary educated people, but one that will be recognized as dignified speech….” The preface mentions that: “The experience of actual use of the New Testament of the New American Bible, especially in oral proclamation, has provided a basis for further improvement.”
For example, in translating the Beatitudes the 1970 version reads, “How blest are the poor in spirit: the reign of God is theirs.” The new version has it, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt. 5:3) This translation returns to the most traditional “kingdom” which is also more easily understood. Further on, the 1970 text has, “Blest are the single-hearted, for they shall see God.” The new translations reads, “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.” (Mt. 5:8)
In these and other passages we have a clear, more dignified and very accurate rendering of the original and, incidentally, texts which often return to the time-tested language of the 1948 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine translation.
“Inclusive language” is an issue frequently mentioned in connection with this translation. Here again it is not the Bible which has changed, but our own language " and the changes seem more pronounced in North America than in other parts of the English-speaking world.
By “inclusive language” we are not talking about the “vertical inclusive” changes which some have urged. The Scriptural references to God have always been in the third person masculine, a use of the masculine technically described as grammatical, not biological.
The issue with the translation is rather one of “horizontal” language: when Paul addressed his readers as “brothers” he surely did not wish to exclude the women who read or heard his words. As newspaper style manuals and the practice of most publications attest, there has been a shift in usage, at least in North America. The school texts our young people read and the songs they sing usually reflect this shift.
Several years ago the Holy See confirmed its willingness to work with the bishops of the United States to update the Lectionary to meet this newly recognized need. Because, as the preface to the new translation notes, scholars still are not in agreement about how to resolve all the specific linguistic questions, three of our bishops who are also scholars met earlier this year with English-speaking officials in Rome to reach practical conclusions about individual texts. As a result, the Lectionary … see(s) the familiar “brothers” expanded, where the sense of Greek requires it, to “brothers and sisters.”
As a result of the translators' approach, terms which are already inclusive in the Greek (are) rendered as inclusive also in the English. Thus, the 1970 text ran, “Blest too are the peacemakers; they shall be called sons of God.” The new translation states, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Mt. 5:9)
Another issue is the use of the word man. The preface of the new translation observes, that, while many do not accept the traditional, generic sense of man in English, “it is retained in cases where no fully satisfactory equivalent can be found.” Again the results should be a clear, comprehensible faithful translation " a help to our own understanding and prayerful participation in the Liturgy.
For all that has been accomplished so far, we owe a great debt of gratitude to scholars in both our country and at the Holy See. They have been seeking to make the Holy Scriptures as accessible as possible to all our people while at the same time keeping faith with the traditions of the Church.
