Reader Deacon Dave just alerted me that Amazon has delayed the release date of the Revised New Jerusalem Bible (RNJB) to August of 2020. Here is a link to the Amazon listing.
ChristianBook still reports a release date of April 9, 2019 on their product listing for the RNJB, but I suspect this will be delayed soon. The British publisher of the RNJB (Darton, Longman, and Todd) currently lists a publication date of June 2019.
I have sent an email to a contact at Darton, Longman, and Todd to request more information on when the bible is likely to be released. It’s quite possible that the currently-reported publication dates are merely estimates that depend on too many uncertain factors to nail down a firm date.
For your information:
The Amazon ISBN is 978-0525573197
Pages listed are 2208
[The above is the same information on the ChristianBook site]
The Darton, Longman + Todd ISBN is 9780232533620
Pages listed are 2432
Angus & Robertson (Australia) lists a February 28, 2019 release
Same ISBN as DLT
Same page numbers as DLT
I’m not sure how to explain the large difference in page numbers between the two ISBNs but I would expect a different ISBN for the USA version than the edition published by DLT. In the past, DLT has licensed the JB and NJB to a US publisher (Doubleday published the NJB). Both the Amazon and ChristianBook product pages indicate that the RNJB will be published by Image in the USA.
I presumed the same (different ISBN for different countries). The page total is a concern. I’d rather wait to read if anyone hears back from DLT, or its US agent.
I’m still waiting on a reply from DLT. No response yet.
I knew this was going to happen, as everyone here who reads my comments can confirm, I predicted that it wouldn’t be released in April, but even I’m surprised that it was pushed back as far as 16 months. This is really an embarrassing failure, and I would love to know what happened. It is one thing to say that the project wasn’t done but the original date was based on an estimate of when it might be finished erred on the side of optimism, but being overoptimistic by as much as 16 months? Something ain’t right. I am wondering if maybe they had difficulty getting an imprimatur and have been forced to re-write large portions of the text.
UPDATE from DLT (as of 17 December 2018):
Thank you for your enquiry. The RNJB Study Edition has been delayed as more time has been needed for the editorial and production processes. Incidentally, I notice that you have included our US distributor Midpoint Book Sales & Distribution in this email – just in case this means that you are wishing to order the Bible for delivery to a US address, I should point out that we will not have the rights to sell the RNJB in North America. Penguin Random House will be the publishers there.
Best wishes,
David Moloney
Editorial Director
Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd