The New Covenant, Commonly Called the New Testament, Volume 1: The Four Gospels and Apocalypse [Newly Translated from the Greek and Informed by Semitic Sources].

New York, NY Penguin Group: Riverhead Books, 2002. Hardcover First Ed; First Printing indicated. First Ed; First Printing indicated. Near Fine in Near Fine DJ: Both book and DJ show only minute indications of use. Book shows tiny split at head of backstrip; else only barely discernible shelfwear; binding square and secure; text clean. DJ shows mild rubbing; price unclipped; mylar-protected. Overall, close to 'As New'. NOT a Remainder. NOT a Book-Club Edition. NOT an Ex-Library copy. 8vo. 576pp. Hardback with DJ. Willis Barnstone is a poet, and also renowned for his translations of Classical Greek poetry. Now he has tried his hand at translating the New Testament, which he calls The New Covenant, which is an exact translation of its Greek title: Kaine diatheke. He presents this foundational book of Christianity in a way that does full justice to its deep poetical qualities. Substantial parts of the Old Testament have long been recognised as verse rather than prose, and many translations have taken account of this. Barnstone goes much farther. In his New Covenant, which contains the four Gospels and the Apocalypse, but not the Acts and the Letters, he renders in free verse all the passages purporting to be Jesus's words -- for instance, the Sermon on the Mount. Similarly for the words of John the Baptist, and the whole of the Apocalypse (The Revelation of John). Many readers, like me, will find that the familiar texts appear in a new light. Barnstone's aim is to create in his English readers the same impression as the original Greek does to the Greek-speaking ones. Most of the many Jews in the cities of Egypt and Asia minor had at that time Greek as their mother tongue. One essential feature of Barnstone's translation of the New Covenant is to render all names of persons and places in its Hebrew or Aramaic form: Jesus (Greek Iesous) as Jeshua, Jerusalem as Yerushalayim.. He underlines that the New Covenant is a Jewish book. Jesus was of course a Jew, and so were most of the early Christians. They were an integral part of the Jewish community, by now spread over most of the Eastern Mediterranean area. Contrasting Jews and Christians was a propagandist trick of later writers, who were eager to distance themselves from other Jew .Thus they planted the seeds of Christian anti-semitism. I think Barnstone has taken the right decision on this point. The book also contains a Foreword of some 20 pages, and an afterword of 120 pages, where Barnstone places his translation in the wider context of Biblical studies. Further, the book has footnotes explaining obscurities and various points of translation. But they are never obtrusive.In his comments Barnstone avoids polemics, and reveals himself as a well-informed and urbane liberal-minded scholar. He stresses that the gospel narratives find little or no confirmation in historical accounts. Somewhat surprisingly, he goes on to say that Jesus's crucifixion by the Roman authorities must be regarded as an established fact. This is certainly the opinion of the large majority of New Testament scholars. But there is by no means unanimity on this point. However, this is a minor matter. All in all, Barnstone succeeds extremely well in making his readers approach the New Testament with fresh eyes, shifting attention from points of doctrine and historicity, on to what is common to great religious poetry all over the world: its power to inspire feelings of hope and joy, and at the same time to convey a sense of the mystery of human existence.This is a superb achievement.