The Bible: An American Translation (AAT) is an English version of the Bible consisting of the Old Testament translated by a group of scholars under the editorship of John Merlin Powis Smith,This group of scholars consisted of Theophile Meek, Leroy Waterman, Alex R. Gordon, and Powis Smith himself. the Apocrypha translated by Edgar J. Goodspeed, and the New Testament translated by Edgar J. Goodspeed. Editions
This translation has been made available in a number of editions as shown here:
+ Editions of The Bible: An American Translation Bible Researcher website, 20th century page, Goodspeed and Smith Edition Year Editors Publisher The New Testament: An American Translation 1923 Goodspeed University of Chicago Press The Old Testament: An American Translation 1927 Powis Smith University of Chicago Press The Bible: An American Translation 1931 Powis Smith and Goodspeed University of Chicago Press The Short Bible: An American Translation 1933 Powis Smith and Goodspeed University of Chicago Press The Junior Bible: An American Translation 1936 Goodspeed Macmillan The Apocrypha: An American Translation 1938 Goodspeed University of Chicago Press The Complete Bible: An American Translation 1939 Powis Smith and Goodspeed University of Chicago Press The Apocrypha: An American TranslationContains an introduction by Moses Hadas 1959 Goodspeed Vintage Books
In the preface to the 1931 edition, Powis Smith and Goodspeed wrote, "The rapid advance of learning in recent years in the fields of history, archaeology, and language has thrown new light upon every part of the Bible. At the same time our changing English speech has carried us farther and farther from the sixteenth-century diction in which all our standard versions of it are clothed. Yet the great messages of the Old and New Testaments were never more necessary than in our present confused and hurried life. We have, therefore, sought to produce a new translation of them, based upon the assured results of modern study, and put in the familiar language of today."The Bible: An American Translation, p. v
Reception and legacy
The initial reaction to the use of this translation, rather than the King James Bible of the 1600s, was poor, Cambridge University Press, “Monkeying with the Bible”: Edgar J. Goodspeed's American Translation, article by R. Bryan Bademan dated June 18, 2018 but the idea of a 20th century Bible version was accepted over time. JStor, Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Winter 2006), pp. 55-93, “Monkeying with the Bible”: Edgar J. Goodspeed's American Translation by R. Bryan Bademan,
A similarly named Bible translated by William Beck, was published in 1976.Bible Researcher website, William Beck’s “Bible in the Language of Today” (1976) This was a reaction against the Revised Standard Version.Concordia Theological Seminary website, The Springfielder, January 1976 Volume 40, Number 1 Page 19 Dr William Beck’s American Translation of the Old Testament, by Raymond F Surburg
See also List of English Bible translations
References
External links The New Testament: An American Translation (1923) The Old Testament: An American Translation (1927) The Bible: An American Translation (1931) The Short Bible: An American Translation (1933) The Junior Bible: An American Translation (1936) The Complete Bible: An American Translation (1939) The Bible: An American Translation (1947 printing) The Apocrypha: An American Translation (1959)