New Cambridge Paragraph Bible With Apocrypha

0 views

Skip to first unread message

Ogier Dudley

unread,

Aug 3, 2024, 6:03:44 PM8/3/24

to cacolnobunk

I was raised Mormon (Latter-day Saint), went on a mission to Northern England and Wales at 19,then left the church of my youth, finally removing my name in 2001. I later joined The EpiscopalChurch, based on positive experiences with the Church of England and Church in Wales. I am amember of the Verger's Guild of the Episcopal Church, a verger at the Cathedral Church of St.Mark's in Salt Lake City, and an Education for Ministry (EfM) graduate from the School ofTheology, Sewanee, University of the South.

I think I was one of those weird young missionaries that had not only read the Bible (1979LDS edition of the Cambridge KJB), but also had read parts of Asimov's Guide to the Bible(I finished it after returning), and other commentaries both LDS (e.g. Skousen, McConkie) andnot, dabbled into what other translations there were, and had a hard bound copy of the JosephSmith Translation (though it is perhaps better called a purposeful interpolation). Why weird?Though as missionaries we were required to read the Book of Mormon, a Bible readingschedule was optional. The optional study guide I was given walked through the Bible in a year,so twice for a mission, which I followed, though it strained my hour-per-day reading alotment. Ialready had the habit of reading the Bible, and never wanted to stop.

This section gives notes only on those Bible editions that I've read cover to cover, and givesmy thoughts on each edition. The purpose is to review the edition, but some things about thetranslation I'll comment on as that is relevant to the experience of the edition. This is a workin progress and will grow and fill in over time (and as I finish new editions). I intend toreview other editions as I encounter them, but will add those to a section at the end foreditions I haven't thoroughly read, but still own or are engaged with.

Cambridge is not always clear about the contents of their Bible printing in context to othereditions they offer, though they're open to questions. There's basically two forms of KJB: texteditions and reference editions. The text is in two forms: the received edition found in theConcord Reference edition (and earlier editions that preceeded it), and David Norton'srestorative work found in the The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible. Reference editionsinclude portions of the Concord supplementary materials mapped against mostly old typographicallayouts. This also means that the older layouts will have older notes and references from theperiod of the reprint. The Clarion Reference edition is essentially a replacement of the Concord,using a modern typography, paragraphing, and layout. It is the received text, not the restored textof The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible.

The Oxford 1769 received text is the result of printing variations from the beginning in 1611and over the years that Oxford and Cambridge has tried to correct. The Cambridge edition of thereceived text not identical to Oxford's. The 1769 text can be considered an actual revision ofthe KJB, which is part of the motivation for the formal revision of it called the RevisedVersion. (The other motivation is moving past the Erasmus New Testament text, as well as Bezaand Stephanus, and the Bomberg Hebrew texts, to critical text editions.)

These variations are all documented in Norton's work A Textual History of the King JamesBible. As a note with reference editions, the original reference notes are those of the LatinVulgate as found in the 1602 Bishop's Bible. Where translator modifications or additions mighthave been made, they are not consistently printed, and referenced verse numbers are not alwaysconsistent with the verse numbering of the KJB. The references were extensively corrected,revised, and expanded by Scrivner in the original Cambridge Paragraph Bible. Numeroussubtle variations and corrections exist elsewhere depending on printer and edition. These werereplaced entirely in the Clarion edition. Norton points out that it is questionable whether thereactually is an intended translators reference system for the KJB: instead there is the 1602Bishop's Bible and a few references that some translators noted that could as much be marginalnotes as corrections to the inherited (ultimately from the Vulgate) reference system.

I originally read an old copy of my father's 1979 edition. At 18, I bought a genuineleather, mini quad (which includes other Latter-day Saint scriptures) with a snap closure. Itlasted the rigours of a mission in England and Wales.

The original work in the 1970s was done by Thomas S. Monson, Boyd K. Packer, andMarvin J. Ashton, the latter of which was replaced by Bruce R. McConkie, in conjunction withthe Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and Cambridge University Press.I didn't realize that Cambridge had been involved with LDS bible editions until I saw a copy ofmy grandmother's bible from the 1960s. The text foundation was the Cambridge Concord, where theheaders and bible dictionary were used and modified, by permission of Cambridge. The rest, suchas indexing and topical guide, also included work by James Talmage and others.

Recent changes in 1999/2000 and 2012 were done for the sake of the original Cambridgeplates having aged. I understand the supplementary material (e.g. translator notes, dictionary,JST additions) have been extended and elaborated on, the headers updated, and some modernizedspelling (introduced by David Norton's restoration work of The New Cambridge Paragraph Bibleand advisement that led to the Concord itself being reset for printing in 1996, and later the Clarion edition). The image shown here is of the 2012 economy edition, given out gratis to thepublic, often by missionaries, which includes nothing other than the Cambridge text, LDS headers,a couple maps, and a picture of Jesus.

In general, the headers and notes present a fundamentalist biblical world view. Most of thereferences are to the Book of Mormon, instead of the Bible itself, though not exclusively so,with other references to the Salt Lake church's modern editions of Doctrine and Covenantsand Pearl of Great Price. Joseph Smith's translation (JST) excerpts are fairly extensivein the new edition.

For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this is an excellent resourcefor the classic King James Bible in context of their other scriptures and interpretation,following the Cambridge Concord as a model, and with the 2012/2013 edition there appears to besome spelling influences from the The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible.

I have the Cameo Reference Edition With Apocrypha, Black Calfskin Leather binding. This hasa paste down cover, soft leather, but with just enough stiffness to be comfortable, and nottoo much binding flexibility. Model and bind number is KJ544:XRA - B 1467. It is the only KJBreference edition (that I know of) that includes the Apocrypha. Unfortunately, the references inthe text that point to the Apocrypha have been deleted, (these can still be found in TheInterlinear Bible). If following the common 1611 prints, 102 references to the Apocrypha inthe Old Testament, and 11 in the New Testament, have been removed. Of all the KJB editions Ihave, or have had, this one I like the most, for size, readability, and comprehensiveness.

This edition has pronunciation markings. It is a red letter edition, with darker but readablered that reminds me of my old Royal typewriter ink. It does not have the translator's preface,nor does it have the Bible Dictionary or Glossary, but does have a glossary and the traditionaldedicatory to King James. This is the June 2011 print, so has the 2011 maps and map index. Alongwith the Turquiose, it is the second oldest layout (photo reprint?) and references/marginal notesfrom the 1920s (the oldest being The Interlinear Bible).

This is 1 of 600 printed by Cambridge. It is the Cameo Reference Edition, without theApocrypha. It has a real leather (pig skin?) binding in red. The cover is embossed with KingCharles III's cypher. It has gilded edges, two blue satin ribbons, and a presentation pagededicated to the coronation. It also includes a commemorative booklet supplement with pagesintroducing this special edition, pictures of the king as prince, a history of Cambridge as theking's printer, and a small history on the King James Bible, plus an end page with the nationalanthem.

The Concord is Cambridge's standard, received text up until the release in 2011 of the ClarionKJB edition. The Concord does not have the Apocrypha, is printed with the introduction from thetranslators to the reader and references (trimmed) from the Paragraph Bible from Scrivner, as wellas the standard concordance, but also the Cambridge KJB Dictionary, and a glossary of words useddifferently in the 1600s vs today (or at least the 1950s). A personal size edition exists thatprints a smaller red letter edition that includes the thumb index, which is printed in the 2020susing the stiffer black calf split leather, and for the personal edition French Morocco leather(which is much stiffer than that of the NRSV Reference edition or the Standard edition of theBook of Common Prayer).

The Cambridge Clarion KJB is the Concord text, informed by the typography and research of DavidNorton with his work on The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible. The Cambridge ParagraphBible of the 19th century was primarily the work of Scrivner, who took the inherited Vulgatereferences that were transferred from the Bishop's Bible and corrected and extended them to beconsistent with the verse numbering of the KJB. That edition also moved to a paragraph form,instead of individual paragraphs for each verse. In Norton's A Textual History of the KingJames Bible, he indicated that the translators instructions never prescribed the form thetranslation's publication would take, and gave certain lattitudes of typography. In Norton'sgoing back to the original translators, it became clear the references sometimes had translatormodification, but not with editorial consistency. They remained essentially as inherited fromthe Vulgate.