The Knox Bible

by Ronald Knox (Translator), Anonymous

The Knox Bible is the ideal translation for those looking to deepen their understanding of the Holy Scriptures. It was hailed as the finest translation of the 20th Century, approved for liturgical use & endorsed by Pope Pius XII, Archbishop Fulton Sheen etc. In the early 20th century, Msgr. Ronald Knox embarked on an entirely new English Bible. He wanted a Bible that didn't merely translate the original but made it read as if an Englishman had written it. His translation is spiritual & literary, graceful & lyrical, making it one of the most beautiful vernacular versions of the Holy Bible. The unique features of the Knox Bible are:
Translated from the Latin Vulgate and compared with the Greek & Hebrew Texts single handedly by Ronald Knox over nine years.
Uses timeless English, which is both sacral and reverent.
Set in a single-column format with verse references placed at the side of the text in order to provide a clear and easily readable Bible.
The full Bible is now available again for the first time in over 50 years, in an edition from Baronius Press, beautifully bound in leather with gilt edges.

Genres: Catholic, Religion, Scripture, Reference, Christian, Classics, Theology

1472 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Monsignor Ronald Arbuthnott Knox was a Roman Catholic priest, theologian, author of detective stories, as well as a writer and a regular broadcaster for BBC Radio.

Knox had attended Eton College and won several scholarships at Balliol College, Oxford. He was ordained an Anglican priest in 1912 and was appointed chaplain of Trinity College, Oxford, but he left in 1917 upon his conversion to Catholicism. In 1918 he was ordained a Catholic priest. Knox wrote many books of essays and novels. Directed by his religious superiors, he re-translated the Latin Vulgate Bible into English, using Hebrew and Greek sources, beginning in 1936.

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.

Reviews

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is unquestioned that for the past 300 years the Authorized Version has been the greatest single formative influence in English prose style. But that time is over …. When the Bible ceases, as it is ceasing, to be accepted as a sacred text, it will not long survive for its fine writing. It seems to me probable that in a hundred years' time the only Englishmen who know their Bibles will be Catholics. And they will know it in Msgr. Knox's version.-- Evelyn Waugh

I have been trying to get my hands on a Knox Bible for some time, ever since I learned of the existence of such a thing. An English translation done between 1936-1945 that strove to keep beauty while making all clear to the average Englishman ... translated directly from Latin Vulgate of St. Jerome, but while consulting the texts in Greek and Hebrew where needed. It sounded fascinating and possibly too good to be true.

Alas, Knox Bibles were nowhere to be found. Until now when Baronius Press has reprinted it in a nice serviceable edition ... sturdy-seeming but with lovely touches like ribbons, gilt-edging, marble end papers and more.

I have just begun to read but already have seen a couple of instances where the translation brought tears to my eyes when I read it aloud ... it struck a chord within.

UPDATE
As I sit daily and open this Bible up, I am struck by how readable it is.

Some of that is the format. Instead of having subheads telling us what we'll read, verse numbers at the beginning of sentences, and the formats we're used to ... it is in chapters and paragraphs. Just like a real book.

The verses are in tiny numbers on the outside margin. This sounds difficult, but as I've been checking this translation against others, I have found it is very workable.

Best of all, it leaves the reader free to just sit and ... read. As one would a regular book. I feel as if I can let the text hit me however it happens to for that moment, which surely is a good thing when we are trying to hear the Word in the words.

My biggest comparison with other translations was when I received it and sat down to look over the first couple of chapters of Genesis ... verse by verse ... compared with the New American Bible, the Revised Standard Version, the Douay-Rheims, and Robert Alter's superb translation. I didn't realize I had so many translations in the house until that moment. Which made me laugh. Bible geek - book geek ... it's pretty much the same thing at that point.

Reading them aloud, I read Knox's chapter 1, verse 2:

Earth was still an empty waste, and darkness hung over the deep; but already, over its waters, stirred the breath of God.

What is there in that to make me cry? I don't know but it touched my soul and I did. Something about that "stirred by the breath of God" was just so lovely and evocative.

You can imagine how I laughed, then, when reading my New American Bible:

and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind was sweeping over the waters

A mighty wind? Hmmm ...

Of all the Bibles, Robert Alter's "won" the Genesis if I can call it winning. But the Knox Bible was a close second and it was often more beautifully put.

It also made me smile, when I read Genesis, chapter 2, verse 1:

Thus heaven and earth and all the furniture of them were completed.

There was something both amusing and also "right" about thinking of the animals, fish, plants, and people as "furnishing" the earth. It settled in my mind in a way that the other translations failed to do (array, hosts, etc.).

I read Knox's "The Englishing of the Bible" which is a collection of essays he wrote explaining his translation choices. He wanted language that would be accessible, beautiful, and timeless. He kept "thee" and "thou" because, as he put it, there were times when the "thou" would mean God and times when that same "thou" might mean man ... he didn't want his choices between "thou" and "you" to influence the reader. He wanted to leave that for the moment and the Spirit to decide. I do find "thou" awkward sometimes, but it always makes me think about Knox's choice and I think that is a good reason for the older language in it.

This morning I looked at Psalm 19 (18 in Knox's numbering):

SEE how the skies proclaim God's glory, how the vault of heaven betrays his craftsmanship! Each day echoes its secret to the next, each night passes on to the next its revelation of knowledge; no word, no accent of theirs that does not make itself heard, till their utterance fills every land, till their message reaches the ends of the world.

There is a dynamic quality in the day echoing to the night, to the night passing on its revelation, that makes me think of nature itself as crying aloud, "Cannot you see God? We are showing Him to you." (So much less eloquent than the psalmist or Knox, of course.) But I can feel it in the birds singing outside my window, in the wind blowing the puffy cloud along.

I continue to compare the translations and there is no perfect one. I love the RSV. Sometimes Knox's old fashioned verbs slow me down or the meaning is not as clear as another Bible. But that is not often so far.

It speaks to me. As does much of this splendid translation. I will be reading it every day.

[David Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

One year ago today, I started reading the Knox Bible; and tonight, I finished. I read the Haydock commentary along with it. Since the Haydock commentary is based on the Douay-Rheims translation, I also read most of the Douay-Rheims this year. The side-by-side reading was an eye-opener, and very illuminating. Also, Knox's footnotes go into some detail on the issues and difficulties in Bible translation.

All in all I like this translation very much. The original Douay-Rheims is still my favorite... Not the popular Challoner revision which is what most people mean by "Douay-Rheims", but the original translation from 1582. I dream of learning sufficient Latin to read St. Jerome's Vulgate directly... a true Catholic experience, free of the Protestant taint and the need to respond to our separated brethren.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very poetic English. I like Gen 1, in particular. Four years since I read it, and its beauty still haunts me.

[Tom Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

My preferred 'literary' Bible translation (over, maybe, the Jerusalem Bible).

✓ I Kings (I Samuel)
✓ II Kings (II Samuel)
✓ III Kings (I Kings)
✓ IV Kings (II Kings)

[Finn Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best translations of scripture you can find. Has all the beauty of the English language and the Biblical text. Produced in a time of blossoming Catholic literature, and approved by a Pope himself. A fairly free, but faithful, translation.

[blaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Might be the most poetically beautiful translation of the Bible I've read. Knox was a real literary master. His version of Psalm 22/23 ('The Lord is my shepherd') is the one I have memorised.

[Jeanenne McCloskey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ordered this bible after listening to one of Dr. Peter Kreeft's talks on the beauty of language. I love words and this translation is beautiful and poetical. I like reading it alongside the NRSV and The Message.

[Kevin de Ataíde · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent translation into beautiful English, and arranged according to the Vulgate Bible, being a translation from the Latin, with reference to the Greek and Hebrew. Rewarding for a cover-to-cover read, and in my copy with the verse numbers well separated from the text and placed in the margins, allowing the text to be interrupted only by the foot-note numbers. That is also a good feature and leads me naturally to seek out a Bible without any verse markings at all, or even chapter markings. I'm giving this book a five star rating, because it doesn't get better than this.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Done!! Finally at 45 yrs of age, I've finally read the Bible in its entirety.

Now my goal is to read it every year from here on out.

Next up is the Douay Rheims Version. :)