Today in History: James Moffatt completed his translation of the Bible on this day in 1926. As a Bible Collector, this is one of my favorite versions of the Bible and Moffatt and is one of the three greats in Bible translation history according to Jason BeDuhn (the other two being Edgar Goodspeed and Brooke Foss Westcott). I have one editon so old it is kept together by black duct tape. I'm not alone in liking this version...it was also a favorite of C.S. Lewis and Martin Luther King Jr., the Moffatt Bible was quite a popular version in his time. Moffatt was Scottish so it is interesting to see bagpipes in Daniel 3:10 and linen kilts in 2 Samuel 6:14.
Moffatt wrote "No translation of an ancient classic can be quite intelligible, it is true, unless the reader is sufficiently acquainted with its environment to understand some of its flying allusions and characteristic metaphors. But something may be done and I am convinced, ought to be done at the present day to offer the unlearned a transcript of the Biblical literature as it lies in the light thrown upon it by modern research. The Bible is not always what it seems to those who read it in the great prose of the English version or indeed, in any of the conventional versions."
Some samples from James Moffatt's Bible:
John 1:1 "THE Logos existed in the very beginning, the Logos was with God, the Logos was divine."
Exodus 2:14 "God said to Moses 'I-will-be-what-I-will-be."
John 8:58 "Truly, truly I tell you," said Jesus, "I have existed before Abraham was born."
Hebrews 1:8 "he says of the Son, 'God is thy throne for ever and ever, thy royal sceptre is the sceptre of equity"
Luke 22:19 "Then he took a loaf, and after thanking God he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This means my body given up for your sake; do this in memory of me.'"
1 Cor 11:24 "and after thanking God he broke it, saying, 'This means my body broken for you; do this in memory of me.'"
Col 2:8 "Beware of anyone getting hold of you by means of a theosophy which is specious make-believe, on the lines of human tradition, corresponding to the Elemental spirits of the world and not to Christ."
1 Corinthians 13 Thus, I may speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but if I have no love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal; I may prophesy, fathom all mysteries and secret lore, I may have such absolute faith that I can move hills from their place, but if I have no love, I count for nothing; I may distribute all I possess in charity, I may give up my body to be burnt, but if I have no love, I make nothing of it. Love is very patient, very kind. Love knows no jealousy; love makes no parade, gives itself no airs, is never rude, never selfish, never irritated, never resentful; love is never glad when others go wrong, love is gladdened by goodness, always slow to expose, always eager to believe the best, always hopeful, always patient. Love never disappears. As for prophesying, it will be superseded; as for 'tongues,' they will cease; as for knowledge, it will be superseded. For we only know bit by bit, and we only prophesy bit by bit; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will be superseded. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I argued like a child; now that I am a man, I am done with childish ways. At present we only see the baffling reflections in a mirror, but then it will be face to face; at present I am learning bit by bit, but then I shall understand, as all along I have myself been understood. Thus 'faith and hope and love last on, these three,' but the greatest of all is love.
Of course, not every Bible is perfect. Instead of using the Divine Name Jehovah/Yahweh, Moffatt resorts to using the traditional French title "The Eternal."
I'm a bit of a Bible Translation Geek so feel free to see may faves at
See also: James Moffatt and Coptic John 1:1, 18
See also 100 Bibles on DVDrom You're Not Supposed to Read (PDF)
See also: Review of James Moffatt's New Testament by Theodore Schmauk 1914
Some samples from the James Moffatt Bible:
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