Gospel According to Knox

Monsignor Ronald Arbuthnott Knox, 56, of Oxford, England, is a melancholy-looking wit who likes to do two things: walk and write. He writes about everything from morals to murders. His latest book, The New Testament in English (Sheed & Ward; $3), a translation from St. Jerome's 4th-Century Latin Vulgate, is for English-speaking Roman Catholics the first fresh translation of the New Testament from the Latin since the standard Douay version was published at Reims in 1582.

The Knox Testament was published in England last summer, has sold 10,000 copies. Father Joseph L. Lilly of the Catholic Biblical Association of America warmly welcomed it to the U.S. last week, declaring: "We are very happy to see it. It is a good thing to have several translations of the Bible. What one misses, the other will bring out. This particular one is ... more of a paraphrase than a literal translation and will have a strong appeal for educated people who appreciate fine literature."

Monsignor Knox retired from Oxford to a Shropshire convent (as chaplain) in 1939 to do his translating. He says he did not ask himself "How shall I make this foreigner talk English?" but "What would an Englishman have said to express this?" Hence he searched less for the right word than for the right turn of phrase. Like all modern translations, Knox's substitutes pedestrian clarity for the poetic imagery and sweep of the older versions.

Some comparisons:

P: King James: And suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men. Douay: And suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will. Knox: Then, on a sudden, a multitude of the heavenly army appeared to them at the angels' side, giving praise to God, and saying, Glory to God in high heaven, and peace on earth to men who are God's friends.

P: King James: For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. Douay: We see now through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known. Knox: At present, we are looking at a confused reflection in a mirror; then, we shall see face to face; now, I have only glimpses of knowledge; then, I shall recognize God as he has recognized me.

Translator Knox, son of a low church Anglican bishop, wrote Latin and Greek epigrams at ten. At Eton he edited the school humorous magazine, The Outsider. At Oxford he was famed for his wit and for the huge, odorous tobacco pouch which won the nickname Cloaca Maxima (principal sewer of ancient Rome). After a few years as Anglican chaplain at Oxford's Trinity College, Knox was converted to Roman Catholicism, ordained to the priesthood. He returned to Oxford as Catholic chaplain, where he has continued to turn out books, witty poems, and anchovy toast for Sunday tea. Discussing his impending New Testament translation with some undergraduates, Monsignor Knox was asked: "When it is published will it say on the title page, 'Translated by R. A. Knox, author of The Viaduct Murder?' "

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