Bible and text

The most striking quality of the Bible as a book is its variety. Any bookshop that sells Bibles is likely to have a dozen or more translations on offer, ranging from the King James Bible or Authorised Version of 1611 to, at the time of writing, the Revised English Bible. If the bookshop specialises in theology, there is also likely to be a Latin Bible (St Jerome's Vulgate), the New Testament in Greek and the Old Testament in Hebrew. The last two are the original-language versions of the Bible, though they often do not represent what was originally written or told. As well as these originals and translations, there will be a variety of printed forms catering for different demands of use or price or size: pocket Bibles and pulpit Bibles, study Bibles and gift Bibles, children's Bibles, Bibles arranged for reading in a single year, and so on. There will also be editions of individual parts of the Bible. There may even be Bibles that are not in book form, such as Bibles on audio cassettes.

If, as so many people now are, one is a stranger to the Bible, the effect can only be confusing. Seeking a way through the confusion, one may turn to the shelves of books on the Bible, only to be faced with another seemingly infinite variety. Almost swamped, one's attention may be caught by a few works, say, The English Bible: A History of Translation or The Literary Guide to the Bible.