With the Oscars still in mind, in the “Always the last to know” category, I received a phone call from the local Fox Network affiliate to talk to me about the revised edition of the New American Bible, except they knew more about it than I. Their slogan “Wake up with Fox 9” now takes on symbolic meaning for me. Now, though, armed with the trusty “Google” I have searched the Internet for news of the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE). It turns out that the revised edition is basically a revision of the Old Testament, with the 1986 revision of the New Testament remaining intact. Interestingly, though, this revision is not approved for use in Mass, but for private reading and study. The Mass readings will be those from the modified text of the NAB which are currently in use.

News outlets have shown most interest in the translation changes from “booty” to “spoils of war” and from “holocaust” to “burnt offering,” but the most significant change that I have discovered in my recent searches has been the shift to “young woman” (from the Hebrew almah) in Isaiah 7:14 from “virgin” (in the Septuagint Greek parthenos, as in Matthew 1:23).

You know my views of translations, at least some of you might, but I would be interested to hear from you as, and if, you begin to use this revised edition of the NAB. Oh, and by the way, in the “Scholars will lend their expertise even to things they do not know” category, I will be interviewed for the Fox 9 news tonight on the NABRE. I suggested to them that they might want to find someone more familiar with the translation, which will be available for purchase only on March 9, 2011, but they assured me I would do and we would just discuss biblical translation in general. Let’s hope so!

UPDATE UPDATED: It turns out that God is looking out for me and so is Mary Elizabeth Sperry, Associate Director for Bible Utilization for the USCCB. She called after reading the blog post today and filled me in on some of the key aspects of the new revisions and sent me some of the new translations. It was helpful and kind and allowed me to prepare for the interview. Thanks to Mary for this help!

“For those in the Twin Cities area, the interview will run on the Fox 9 News at 9:00 pm tomorrow (March 3, 2011) not tonight.” That’s what I thought yesterday, but now it will run on Fox 9 News on Friday, March 4, 2011. This is what I have been told today.

John W. Martens

Follow me on Twitter @johnwmartens

John W. Martens is an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn,where he teaches early Christianity and Judaism. He also directs the Master of Arts in Theology program at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. He was born in Vancouver, B.C. into a Mennonite family that had decided to confront modernity in an urban setting. His post-secondary education began at Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kansas, came to an abrupt stop, then started again at Vancouver Community College, where his interest in Judaism and Christianity in the earliest centuries emerged. He then studied at St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, and McMaster University, with stops at University of Haifa and University of Tubingen. His writing often explores the intersection of Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman culture and belief, such as in "let the little children come to me: Children and Childhood in Early Christianity" (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2009), but he is not beyond jumping into the intersection of modernity and ancient religion, as in "The End of the World: The Apocalyptic Imagination in Film and Television" (Winnipeg: J. Gordon Shillingford Press, 2003). He blogs at  www.biblejunkies.com and at www.americamagazine.org for "The Good Word." You can follow him on Twitter @biblejunkies, where he would be excited to welcome you to his random and obscure interests, which range from the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Timberwolves, to his dog, and 70s punk, pop and rock. When he can, he brings students to Greece, Turkey and Rome to explore the artifacts and landscape of the ancient world. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and has two sons. He is certain that the world will not end until the Vancouver Canucks have won the Stanley Cup, as evidence has emerged from the Revelation of John, 1 Enoch, 2 Baruch, and 4 Ezra which all point in this direction.