To recap: I was recently struck by the idea of producing a new Variorum Bible, modeled on the 1888 example (About). It occurred to me that the 1888 effort took for granted the definition of “Bible”, something I would like to see a digital edition avoid (Preliminary Thoughts on the Variety of Bibles). Then I did a quick experiment in rewriting a chapter from the 1888 edition in a more internet-friendly format (Preliminary Thoughts — An Experiment with Formatting).

Looking over that experiment, I think a few things need to be changed for a new run at the issue of producing a Variorum Bible. First, there is the issue of translation. In 1888, the Variorum Bible functioned, among other things, as an argument in favor of the RV and an argument against retaining the KJV text. Nevertheless, the actual body text of the V.F.B. was KJV, and so to some degree it exists as a resource in conflict with itself.

There is currently no English Bible that enjoys the status the KJV enjoyed in 1888, and so it is not necessary to enthrone an outdated text in the body and then take shots at it from the footnotes. Instead, we may simply take any public domain translation that is respectable in terms of modern scholarship, and then both the main text and the notes can be filled with what the V.F.B. preface would call “a conspectus of the really tenable opinions”.

This leads us to our next problem: there is no public domain translation that is respectable in terms of modern scholarship. The 1901 ASV sat quite well in the mainstream of its day, but has been superceded by a variety of translations now under copyright. The 1920’s saw the production of an American Translation by the University of Chicago, but it does not seem to be in much use in the academic world today, in addition to being at least a century behind the latest scholarship. There is also a translation known as the World English Bible, which is an updated of the ASV, but which has its own idiosyncrasies.

I think we will have to simply muddle along as well as possible, making a base text as we go through a judicious comparison of the ASV, WEB, and American Translation. For our stock of alternative readings and renderings, we may use what is already in the Variorum Bible, supplemented with materials gleaned from the American Translation appendix, the footnotes of the Biblia Hebraica Kittel, and details we might pick up through various commentaries and a comparison with existing translations.

When it comes to the notes themselves, we would do well to remember that the internet is not made of paper: we are not operating under the space constraints that force the apparatuses of V.F.B., B.H.K., and so on to be so cryptic and abbreviation. We have the option of explaining what we mean, and where an issue requires really extended treatment, we can always right an essay about it and link out to it from the notes.

It’s like to take a first run at the issue by putting together a draft form of Genesis 25 as it might appear in the new project.