It has been about forty days since I last hit “publish” on some thoughts about a new Variorum, and in the mean-time, off and on, I’ve been working on a specimen of Genesis 25. In the process, I’ve revised my game plan a bit.

The base text, I think, should take full advantage of the fairly wide range of public domain translations that now exist. Of particular note is the Berean Standard Bible, which I am delighted to learn was placed into the public domain in 2023. And so my current plan is to begin with the Hebrew text, produce a stab at a translation myself, and then revise it by carefully comparing it with the following translations:

• KJV. The King James Version, as found in the Variorum.
• ASV. The American Standard Version of 1901.
• JPS (1917). The Jewish Publication Society Version of 1917.
• AmT. The American Translation of the Old Testament, edited by J. M. Powis Smith, 1927.
• BBE. The Bible in Basic English, 1965 printing.
• WEB. The World English Bible, an arguably ongoing project, as found currently on ebible.org.
• BSB. The Berean Standard Bible, as found at ebible.org.

It seems to me about time that a really systematic evaluation of the public domain translations was begun. This evaluation in itself should produce quite a bit for the notes.

On top of that, I’d like for each chapter to make a run through the 1888 Variorum notes, a 1909 printing of Kittel, and the notes found in the various translations themselves.

I’m currently working on this for Genesis 25, and hope to have something to show for it soon.