Blog reader CatusDei recently purchased a copy of the paperback RNJB Reader’s Edition which was published by Darton, Longman, and Todd (DLT) and is now available through Hodder Bibles.
The product listing for this edition shows that it measures approximately 8 X 5.6 X 1.7 inches. CatusDei finds it a perfect size to bring to adoration or read comfortably at home. It is notably shorter and thicker than the hardcover ESV-CE from the Augustine Institute, as shown below:
Text Layout and Features
The biblical text is laid out in double-column format for prose-dominant books and single-column format for poetry-dominant books (including Psalms and Proverbs). Introductions to the biblical books are included and are printed in single-column format.
There are no footnotes of any kind—not even translator’s notes. In rare cases, this could result in some head-scratching. CatusDei noticed that in Mark Chapter 11, the verse number for 26 is printed in brackets, and the verse is omitted. There are no footnotes to explain what is going on. The NABRE also omits this verse, but it includes a footnote to explain why: “This verse, which reads, ‘But if you do not forgive, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your transgressions,’ is omitted in the best manuscripts. It was probably added by copyists under the influence of Mt 6:15.”
I cannot find any documentation on the font size for this Bible. CatusDei would prefer a larger font, but he said the text size is still readable for him.
Ghosting
Unfortunately, despite the positives, this Bible is plagued by bad ghosting of text from nearby pages. The text is not line-matched, making the ghosting more visible, and the ghosting stands out like a sore thumb on pages of poetry with single-column text. CatusDei says the ghosting is bad enough to make reading uncomfortable in some parts of the Bible.
Even in prose sections, a lot of ghosted text is visible between lines:
Conclusion
The concept behind this Bible is exactly what I like: a reader’s edition with poetry books printed in single-column format. I often prefer reader’s bibles with minimal footnotes to avoid distraction (plus, a separate commentary is often more detailed and informative than Bible footnotes anyway). I’m especially happy to see the single-column format for poetry.
Several years ago, when Harper Collins published their hardcover NRSV Standard Bible, I was disappointed that they printed poetry in double-column and prose in single-column. Their typesetting was still beautiful (and I included it as one of the photos on the right-hand side of the header for this blog!), but I think the single-column format is much more valuable for poetry than prose.
All that to say, the design concept of this RNJB Reader’s Edition is really nice! What a pity that the paper is so translucent. If this Bible had better quality paper, I’d gladly buy one. If it was available in hardcover with a sewn binding, I’d be even happier. But as it is, the ghosting is a big drawback for an otherwise excellent design.
As I’m always reading this blog vertically from my phone, I didn’t even know there was something more than a crucifix in the header!
If they come out with a study bible of this translation as they did with the JB/NJB I will gladly purchase it. Until then, I will continue to use my NJB saints devotional edition and study edition. The ghosting in this brick of a bible is horrendous. Run for your life. Avoid it at all costs.
You mean…?
https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/revised-new-jerusalem-bible/rnjb-study-edition/9780232533620/
Thank you for the link, Christopher. Do you own this study version? I went to Hachette and was hoping they would have posted some samples of this study bible but I didn’t see any. I checked around other sites and still no luck. If you do own it, would you be able to post a few pictures? Again, thank you for the link and the info. Much appreciated.
I have a copy of the study edition which was published by Darton, Longman, and Todd (DLT). It looks like Hachette is simply printing the same edition under their name. Here is a post I did on the blog with a few photos:
https://catholicbibletalk.com/2019/08/in-person-impressions-of-the-rnjb/
I also shared some photos from a blog reader of several other pages inside this bible in these two posts:
https://catholicbibletalk.com/2019/08/first-batch-of-photos-of-the-rnjb/
https://catholicbibletalk.com/2019/08/second-batch-of-photos-of-the-rnjb/
Hi Marc. Thank you, that’s very informative. From the looks of it, that’s not the study bible we were used to with the JB/NJB. Maybe that’s a good thing, at least for me. There are now so many commentaries out there that a person really doesn’t need a big, bulky study bible to lug around. (I say that after purchasing the ICSB last year. Lol)
Someone call Ghostbusters! Thats horrible
Whoever worked on the production of this bible, once they picked up the finished product before it went into mass production, they must have been a close real life approximation of the “dog in the burning house” meme – staring an obvious disaster in the eye and deciding that “this is fine.” The ghosting is gnarly. Even if this were the best bible translation out there, I cannot see myself wanting to pick this up and read it.
What I gather from this is that Hachette/DLT/whoever desperately needs to license out the RNJB text to other publishers (like how Ignatius Press started to do with the RSV-2CE in recent years) and make a BibleGateway deal (unlikely, as neither the JB nor NJB was ever submitted there). This printing might honestly be worse than the Orthodox Study Bible and its notoriously severe ghosting problem. When your translation already has struggled to get readers, the last thing you want is to make it physically painful for someone to read it! Compared to the admirably printed JB and NJB by Doubleday in decades past, this is shameful.
Grant Jones, the popular Bible reviewer on YouTube, did two very informative reviews of RNJB editions with study notes.
The standalone NT and Psalms RNJB:
https://youtu.be/nmvujk_poIs?si=UP8pR5ryUQZXpWdS
The full Bible:
https://youtu.be/54kxnLeRVpk?si=hT5M6TmbOcDbdwdb
Ghosting wasn’t an issue in those (DLT) versions, especially NT/Psalms which had extremely thick paper.
I seem to remember Grant being overall disappointed in the RNJB. That said, now that I know the reader’s edition is a bust, I feel like the best version currently available is conclusively the DLT Study Edition, having a sewn binding and acceptable paper. Objectionable notes that people have discussed can easily be crossed out, and it not really being a real “study edition” Bible in practice can be considered almost a positive, if you consider that a full “study edition” could’ve contained even more objectionable content. I really hope liturgical adoption brings about higher quality editions in those countries that adopt it, but I think the question of which is the least-worst available RNJB copy is settled now.
Correction: the version of the full bible with study notes that Grant reviewed was published in the US by Image (not DLT) and had a glued binding. The standalone NT/Psalms was published by DLT. I believe DLT published the full bible with study notes in the UK and its paper quality may differ from Image’s version (the cover art is definitely worse). It may, however, have sown binding.
The DLT Study Edition definitely has a sewn binding, though it’s a “slick” hardcover. I decided to revisit the Grant video on the NT/Psalms, and while I still agreed with him that there are some truly beautiful renderings in the RNJB vs. its predecessors, when he reminded me of the footnotes that contradict Catholic doctrine, I started remembering why I passed on the RNJB. I don’t mind critical footnotes in a more scholarly Bible, but like with the NABRE, it leaves a bad taste when you pair them with a liturgical-use Bible that, typically, would be a new Catholic’s first Bible.
That said, the RNJB still contains what I think is the most vivid, visceral, and impactful translation of Psalm 22:16 in any English Bible version, “They tear holes in my hands and my feet,” as opposed to the typical “pierced.” That was until I remembered it wasn’t the work of the RNJB but rather from the Revised Grail Psalms, and even this particular reading goes back decades to the Abbey Psalter of 1981, and even earlier in prayer books from the 60s.
I think the idea behind the RNJB Study Edition was to study the translation, with a view to using it for the Lectionary. Clearly it’s not a study bible.