THE NEW TESTAMENT
translated by
RICHMOND LATTIMORE
"
Without the gaudy beauties of the King James version or the overly hip sound of some modern editions, Lattimore's New Testament possesses an austere, moving plainness, a willingness to shape long sentences, and an admirable clarity."
-HIE WASHINGTON POST BOOL WORLIi
Richmond Lattimore, among the most distinguished translators of the Greek classics, concluded late in life one of his most ambitious projects-a complete translation of the Mew Testament. Published in its entirety for the first time in 1996, this New Testament is itself a classic of another kind-the words of the Gospel and the apostles presented for the modern reader in fresh English by a writer without pretensions as a biblical scholar, who was an authority on the Greek language in which these texts have come down to us. The New York Times hailed the first volume as "an achievement that places us more deeply in Lattimore's debt than any other in a long and diligent career."
Lattimore's aim was to provide a simple, literal rendering in which the syntax and order of the Greek dictate the character of the English style. He lets the words of the apostles and early disciples speak for themselves with an accuracy and fidelity to the original language that is a gift to today's reader.
Beautiful ... the competence of the translator is unquestionable."
-BIBI.E COLLECTORS' WORLD
For this labor of love [Lattimore] conceived a language and vocabulary of complete simplicity and dignity ... an uncanny melding of the ancient and the contemporary that turns into something timeless as you read. Lattimore understood well the nature of his enterprise: not to make the New Testament contemporary in tone . . . but to make a past that is historical, legendary, and divine comprehensible in its own qualities to the present. In that, he has succeeded beyond all praise." -frederic koeppel
ТНГ: [MEMPHIS) COMMERCIAL APPEAL
richmond lattimore, whose renderings of the classics set new standards for Greek translations, was for many years professor of Greek at Bryn Mawr. He died in 1 984.
RELIGION I LITERATURE
COVER DESIGN BY RODRIGO CORRAL
STRAUS AND GIROUX
COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY FREDERICK S. SCHMITT
NORTH POINT PRESS A DIVISION OF FARRAR, www.fsgbooks.com
USA $25.00 / CAN $31.00 ISBN-13: 978-0-86547-524-3 ISBN-10: 0-86547-524-5
978086547524352500
THE NEW TESTAMENT
THE NEW TESTAMENT
Translated by Richmond Lattimore
North Point Press Farrar • Straus • Giroux New York
North Point Press A division of Farar, Straus and Giroux 19 Union Square West, New York
Copyright © 1996 by Alice B. Lattimore Al rights reserved Distributed in Canada by Douglas & Mclntyre Ltd. Printed in the United States of America First published in 1996 by North Point Press First paperback edition, 1997
O^^^^y published by Farar, Straus and Giroux in two volumes as The Four Gospels and the Revelation, copyright © 1962, 1979 by Richmond Lattimore, and Acts and Letters of the Apostles, copyright © 1982 by Richmond Lattimore
The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition as follows: Bible. N.T. English. Lattimore. 1996.
The New Testament / translated by Richmond Lattimore. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
O^^^y published in 2 v. c1979-c1982.
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-0-86547-524-3 Paperback ISBN-10: 0-86547-524-5
I. Lattimore, Ricchmond Alexander, 1906- . П. Title. BS2095.L26 1996
225.5'209—DC20 96-23825
PuBusHER's Non: The prefaces to each of the original volumes have been combined in this edition, and tended slightly, for readability.
Contents
Preface vii
MARK 3 MATTHEW 49 LUKE 119 JOHN 195 ACTS
The Acts of the Apostles 253 LETTERS
The Letters of Saint Paul Romans 329
Corinthians 358
Corinthians 387 Galatians 406 Ephesians 416
Philippians 426 Colossians 433
Thessalonians 440
Thessalonians 446
Timothy 450
Timothy 458 Titus 464
Philemon 468
The Letter to the Hebrews 470
The General Letters James 492
Peter 500
Peter 508
John 514
John 522
John 524 Jude 526
THE REVELATI О N О F J О H N 531
Notes 569
Preface
h IT WAS WHILE I WAS TEACHING V AR- ious Greek texts to beginning students that I was struck by the natural ease with which Revelation turned itself into English. I undertook the translation, and The Revelation of fohn appeared as a separate volume in 1962. I continued with the Four Gospels, but with many interruptions for other tasks.
I have held throughout to the principle of keeping as close to the Greek as possible, not only for sense and for individual words, but in the belief that fidelity to the original word order and syntax may yield an English prose that to some extent reflects the style of the original. The aim of at least some other contemporary translators has been, avowedly, just the opposite: to be faithful to the sense but to render it in contemporary idiom. This is, of course, a perfectly legitimate aim, and is part of the reason why there is room for a number of modem translations.
Let me illustrate. I have translated Mark 10.27: "For men it is impossible, but not for God, since for God all things are possible." I could have written: "Men cannot do it, but God can do anything." That says the same thing, but does not reflect the way Mark wrote. At John 11.21 and 32, first Martha, then Mary says: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." So I translated, and cannot claim originality, for the words are identical with those of the Revised Standard Version. I had thought that so simple a statement could be translated only in this one way. But I have not found it in any other translation that I have consulted.
Consider a more extended passage. For Mark 7.1-5 I have written: "Then the Pharisees gathered to him, and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, seeing that some of the disciples were eating their bread with profane, that is, unwashed, hands: for the Pharisees, and all the Jews, will not eat unless they have washed hand against fist, thus keeping the tradition of their elders; and when they come from the marketplace they will not eat unless they have purified themselves, and there are many other observances that are traditional with them, the washing of cups and vessels both wooden and bronze: the Pharisees and the scribes asked him: Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of our elders, but eat their bread with profane hands?" Let me try to put this into what is more like a contemporary idiom: "The Pharisees, with some of the scribes, went out from Jerusalem to visit him. They noticed that some of his disciples ate without first washing their hands, which made their hands profane. The Pharisees and the Jews in general observe a tradition handed down from their ancestors not to eat without first washing their hands thoroughly. When they come in from the marketplace they will not eat until they have purified themselves. They have many other such traditions, like washing their cups, whether these are made of wood or bronze. Because of all this the