Holy Bible: The Weymouth New Testament (1903)

The Weymouth New Testament (1903)

The Weymouth New Testament, published in 1903, is a pioneering modern-speech translation of the New Testament. It was the work of Richard Francis Weymouth, a distinguished English schoolmaster and classical scholar. His translation was posthumously published, representing the culmination of his lifelong study of the Greek text.

Weymouth's primary aim was to render the New Testament into the clear, natural, and dignified English of the contemporary educated reader. He moved decisively away from the 17th-century cadence of the King James Version, seeking what he termed 'idiomatic translation.' This meant accurately conveying the meaning of the original Greek in modern English idiom, prioritizing clarity and readability over strict verbal correspondence.

A key feature of his work was its reliance on the Greek text compiled by Hermann von Soden, which Weymouth considered the most accurate available. His translation is noted for its explanatory paraphrases, often expanding concise Greek phrases into fuller English clauses to ensure the sense was unmistakable. For example, the simple greeting 'Grace to you and peace' becomes the more expansive 'May grace and peace be granted to you.'

The Weymouth New Testament holds a significant place in the history of English Bible translation as a forerunner to the 20th-century wave of modern-speech versions. It demonstrated that fidelity to the original could be combined with contemporary language without sacrificing reverence. While later translations like the Revised Standard Version or the New International Version have superseded it in common use, Weymouth's work remains a respected and readable early model of bringing the biblical text into the vernacular of its day.