The Bible: James Moffatt Translation

Just a few days ago I listened to an hour long discussion with Eugene Peterson, the pastor who spent 12 years translating the entire Bible from the original languages into contemporary English (The Message). In the discussion he referenced two other translations that he suggested also took a similar approach to his ... The New Testament in Modern English translated by J.B. Phillips and this book, The Bible, James Moffatt Translation. I have all three of these books in front of me now as I write this review. I have read the entire J.B. Phillips translation and I think he did a marvelous job in the translation ... it flows and is indeed "poetic" as some people refer to it. I also have read quite a bit of The Message and find that Mr. Peterson had a knack for translating passages with a flair! It may not be a "study Bible", but is very worthwhile to have on your shelf along with your ESV, HCSB, NASB, etc Study Bible! So, when Mr. Peterson referred to the Moffatt translation he caught my interest. I had heard of it, but had never seen nor read it. So I quickly looked on Amazon to see if I could still buy it (looking at the copyright page, it appears that it was written beginning in the year 1922 (actually that was the first copyright, so it likely had been in the process of being written for several years prior to that). That was 90 years ago! I am very pleased that Amazon still is a source for us to find good books that have been around for decades (nearly a century in this case ... the back cover of the book sums it up like this: "Moffatt is best remembered, however, for single-handedly translating the Bible. His New Testament was printed in 1913, followed by the Old Testament in 1924. Both translations were revised and reprinted together in 1935 and popularly know as Moffatt's Bible"). But reading the reviews I was concerned that comments seemed to imply that perhaps the current edition being sold on Amazon was mis-printed in some way, with some chapters or verses out of order. But I bought it anyway, since it was kindly referred to by Eugene Peterson. Any reviewer that speaks about printing the various books of the Bible out of sequence, etc should also make it clear that the publisher is not to "blame" for this! The book appears to be correctly printed and published ... and indeed, there is a two page "Publisher's Preface" at the very front of the book (the first thing you will read!) It reminds us that this translation was written decades ago using manuscripts available at that time! Here is what is included in those first two pages:"Also noted by critics of the translation is Moffatt's tendency to rearrange the order of verses or chapters where the Hebrew (at that time) seemed less than clear. Again, subsequent discoveries have validated the previous readings and left Moffatt's rendering inadequate."So ... anyone interested in reading the Moffatt translation can purchase this book with confidence ... the publisher not only presented the translation as written by James Moffatt, but even prefaced the book explaining what some people noticed ... things that appeared "out of order". In my first day's perusal I did notice this in Isaiah 53, for example.

This bible deserves five stars and is now my favorite bible amongst five. I love the interpretation which makes more sense than other bibles which have oversimplified or replaced words that don't make as much sense. I highly recommend this great translation. Although this Bible gets five stars, I docked off one star because the PACKAGING WAS VERY POOR. It was thrown into a box with other things full of soot-like dust without any protection and dirty black fingerprints embedded into the page edges. VERY DISAPPOINTING to receive a sacred item in this condition !! In order to get the dirty prints off, I had to use a cleaner which compromises the protective coating on the page edges. Sad. AMAZON PACKAGING - DO A BETTER JOB!! This has happened many times with a lot of items I've bought!

Great to have this hard-to-find version of the Bible. Could have done without the previous owner's handwriting on the inside front and back covers, but otherwise unmarked for a used book. I can sort of see why C.S. Lewis and many others valued this translation. It's literary, lyrical, powerful, even if idiosyncratic, particularly in the unexplained transposition of text. The paragraphs flow without being broken up by verse numbers (the verses are indicated in the margins). In his "Preface to the Revised and Final Edition" Moffatt explains the use of italics in the New Testament, but does not explain what it denotes in the Old, nor his use of parenthetical marks. His footnotes on his translations from the koine Greek and occasional Aramaic in the New Testament are fascinating (and replete with references to other scholars), even for one who does not know Greek. An added incentive to learn the language. I was also interested to learn, from the brief bio on the back cover, that Moffatt was Washburn Professor of Church History at New York City's Union Theological Seminary.

By reading dedicated Bible scholars writingsi ran into ref James Moffat and JB Phillips.By reading their translations i got impressed.They have heart and guts and love for loosers.regrettably i lost taste for anything 'modern'touched by hort&co lovers and these 2 are:apostates, renegadestraitors, godlessfire will not purify youfor setting up innocentswith faulty travel guideinto the Terra Satanicawho is right...who is wrongi was fast asleep...then i woke upthere is AuthorizedKing James Bibleand there is thousandbooks 'bible so and so'A KJB are our guideto reach out for ourGod the Father andthe Son our SaviourJesus Christ andHoly Ghost the Comforterwe accept reality of itand we live in Jesus Christand Jesus Christ lives in uswe are homeand the hereticsthat wants to have ittheir way godlessgo to Lake of Firewe accept allas it is writtenwhile those othersconspire with historyto make gnostics rightin their merry wayof total permissivenesspa says while the catis not home mice enjoy!otherwiseprice - reasonablebook - almost brand newdelivered - very promptly

It said to be a good version not sure haven't read,as seen on site,not much to say on subject ,so just get yourself one check it out..

Moffat’s Bible is known for its accurate translation. This hard-cover is well priced and was brought to my door promptly.

The Bible is very nice, the concordance is not the best.

I’m so blessed: purchased a week ago, now price is 5x what I paid! Hope it falls for those interested to purchase this.Pic 1 shows size relative to a placemat and mouse.Pic 2-5 shows something curious, note the page numberings: John chapters 13, 15, 16, 14, 17, 18 in this order. It’s evidently intended, not a misprint, may be in chronological order.Pic 5 shows the spine binding lying flat and should not break, attesting to Kregel Publications’ bookbinding experience.The ghosting shown in pic is not that bad in reality (camera overcompensation), paper quality is opaque, thick enough to hold itself and thin enough to carry this Bible like a thick paperback (this is a hardcover).The number of pages in Amazon’s description is erroneous - 160 pages - this is a complete Bible with Old & New Testaments.Moffatt’s translation is a good alternative version referred to in Smith Wigglesworth’s and EW Kenyon’s books (that’s what made me curious in this version) and when you need one alongside your familiar version. God bless you & enrich you in His Word! 🙌🏼

Great find online! I scrounged my current Moffats from a dear friend. I love this translation. Referring to God as the Eternal is a lovely spin on it. 23rd psalm is a delight. I was hoping for a LARGER font . As it's the same bible the font is the same, just a personal pref nothing wrong with the font. This one does have a cute lil concordance at the back. I would prefer maps XD.