New-American-Bible-NAB
Short answer: The New American Bible is a Catholic English translation of Scripture produced under the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, first published complete in 1970 and substantially revised as the New American Bible Revised Edition in 2011. It includes the deuterocanonical books and extensive footnotes and introductions. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, "Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness," and this describes the nature of Scripture itself rather than any one translation. The passage grounds the authority of the biblical writings in God's breathing-out of them. It does not name a translation, a publisher, or a study-notes tradition, and it does not settle which books belong in the canon. Those questions are answered by other lines of evidence.
What the New American Bible actually is
The New American Bible is a translation project, not a single book. Work began in the mid-twentieth century under the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, an American Catholic catechetical body, and the complete Bible appeared in 1970. A revision, the New American Bible Revised Edition, was published in 2011 and is widely used in Catholic lectionaries, seminaries, and personal study. Its translators were Catholic scholars working from Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts.
Two features define it in practice. First, it includes the deuterocanonical books, which Catholic Bibles treat as canonical and most Protestant Bibles place in a separate section or omit. Second, it carries substantial introductions, footnotes, and cross-references. Those notes reflect Catholic interpretation and are not part of the sacred text. A reader who treats the notes as Scripture has confused the translation with the thing being translated.
This distinction matters because discussions about the New American Bible often conflate three things: the biblical text, the translation philosophy, and the editorial apparatus. Only the first is directly addressed by 2 Timothy 3:16-17. The verse speaks about Scripture, not about the marginal notes in any edition.
What 2 Timothy 3:16-17 does and does not say
The verse begins with a claim about origin. Scripture is God-breathed, which means it comes from God's own speaking rather than from human invention. It then makes a claim about use: it is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. The purpose clause in verse 17 gives the goal, that the person who belongs to God may be complete and equipped for every good work. The emphasis is on sufficiency for the work God calls his people to do.
What the passage does not do is name a translation. Paul wrote to Timothy about the sacred writings Timothy had known from childhood, which in context were the Old Testament Scriptures plus the growing body of apostolic teaching. He was not commenting on the relative merits of English versions that would appear nearly two millennia later.
What the passage also does not do is settle the canon question. It says every Scripture is God-breathed; it does not list which writings count. That question is answered by historical evidence about what the church received, and faithful Christians have differed on the deuterocanonical books since the Reformation. Honest readers should acknowledge that difference rather than pretend the verse decides it.
The canon question behind the translation
The most visible difference between the New American Bible and most Protestant translations is the treatment of the deuterocanonical books: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and additions to Esther and Daniel. Catholic Bibles include them as canonical. Protestant Bibles historically placed them in a separate section called the Apocrypha, and most modern Protestant Bibles omit them.
This is a genuine disagreement about which books God gave to his people, and it predates any modern translation. The early church used the Septuagint, a Greek Old Testament that included these books. Jerome, translating into Latin, distinguished them from the Hebrew canon. The Reformers followed Jerome's distinction. The Council of Trent, in the sixteenth century, defined the longer list as canonical for Catholics.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 does not adjudicate this dispute. It establishes that whatever is Scripture is God-breathed. It leaves the identification of the canon to the church's historical reception, and readers on both sides can affirm the verse fully while disagreeing about the table of contents.
Translation philosophy and the pursuit of accuracy
The New American Bible is generally a formal-equivalence translation, meaning it tries to follow the structure and wording of the original languages more closely than a thought-for-thought rendering would. It is not a strict word-for-word interlinear, and no readable translation is. Every translation involves decisions about idiom, gender, poetry, and sentence structure.
This is not a flaw unique to the New American Bible. It is the nature of translation. Hebrew poetry does not rhyme in English. Greek participles do not map neatly onto English verbs. A translator must choose, and different editions choose differently. Readers who want to evaluate those choices should compare several translations rather than rely on one.
What 2 Timothy 3:16-17 establishes is that the underlying Scripture is God-breathed. It does not promise that every translation will render every nuance perfectly. The doctrine of inspiration attaches to the original writings and to the message God intended, and the church has always needed careful translation work to make that message heard in new languages.
How the Bible describes its own permanence
Scripture repeatedly claims a permanence that outlasts the world it describes. Isaiah 40:8 says, "The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever." The contrast is deliberate: everything human fades, and God's word does not. Matthew 5:18 makes a similar point in Jesus' own words, that not the smallest letter or pen stroke will pass from the law until all is accomplished.
These texts do not say that any particular printed edition will never go out of print. They say that God's word endures. Translations will be revised, editions will be superseded, and languages will change. The New American Bible Revised Edition replaced the 1970 edition for many readers, and that is a normal event in the life of a translation.
What endures is the word itself. Psalm 119:105 calls it a lamp to the feet and a light for the path. The metaphor is practical: Scripture guides the person walking, not the person admiring a bookshelf. The permanence of the word serves the daily need of the pilgrim.
The living and active word in Hebrews
Hebrews 4:12 describes Scripture in terms of power rather than mere information. It is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The image is surgical and uncomfortable. The word does not merely inform; it exposes.
This has a bearing on how any translation should be read. If the word is alive, then reading it is not an academic exercise in comparing editions. It is an encounter. A reader can own nine translations and never be pierced by any of them. A reader can own one and be laid open. The number of editions is not the measure of faithfulness.
At the same time, the verse dignifies careful study. A sword that divides joints and marrow requires precision, and precision requires attention to what the text actually says. Translation work and interpretation are not opposed to the living power of the word. They serve it.
The private interpretation question
2 Peter 1:20-21 says, "knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation." The context is about the origin of prophecy: it did not come by human will, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. The point is that Scripture's origin is divine, not that individuals are forbidden to read it.
This verse is sometimes cited in debates about who may interpret the Bible. It is worth reading carefully. Peter's concern is the source of prophecy, not the restriction of readers. He is defending the reliability of the apostolic message against those who would treat it as human opinion. The verse supports the doctrine of inspiration.
At the same time, it warns against self-generated readings that ignore the church's long labor of interpretation. A reader who invents a meaning no one has ever seen is not being spiritual. The New American Bible's annotations reflect one tradition of interpretation; other traditions differ. Careful readers consult more than one.
How to use the New American Bible well
If you read the New American Bible, read it as a translation of Scripture, and read the notes as notes. The footnotes can be helpful for historical background, geography, and Jewish custom. They can also reflect theological commitments you may not share. Treating them as part of the sacred text is a category mistake that 2 Timothy 3:16-17 does not authorize.
Compare it with other translations. Reading the same passage in a formal-equivalence version and a more dynamic one can reveal what the translators were deciding. This is not distrust of any edition; it is the ordinary way careful readers have always worked, going back to the Hebrew and Greek where possible.
Finally, read for obedience. The stated purpose of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is that the person of God may be complete and equipped for every good work. A translation serves that end when it is read, believed, and obeyed. It fails that end when it becomes a subject of argument rather than a lamp for the path.
Biblical fidelity check
2 Timothy 3:16-17 establishes that Scripture is God-breathed and sufficient for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. It does not establish which books are in the canon, which English translation is best, or whether study notes should be trusted. It describes the nature of Scripture as God's own speech and its purpose in equipping God's people. Those who use it to settle translation debates are asking it to do something it never claims to do.
A common misreading is to treat the verse as if it said every translation is equally God-breathed, or as if it said the New American Bible's footnotes carry the same authority as the text. It says neither. The God-breathed thing is Scripture, the writings God gave through his prophets and apostles. Translations and annotations are human work that serves that Scripture. They can be faithful or flawed, and they should be evaluated on that basis, not confused with the original gift.
Other passages that speak to 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Several passages deepen the theme of Scripture's authority and endurance. Psalm 119:105 calls God's word a lamp to the feet and a light for the path, describing its daily guidance. Isaiah 40:8 contrasts the fading grass and flower with the word of God that stands forever. Hebrews 4:12 presents the word as living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword. And 2 Peter 1:20-21 grounds prophecy in the Holy Spirit's carrying of human speakers. For further study in the same vein, see 1 Peter 1: Living Hope Through Trials, 1 Peter 3: Suffering, Submission, and Hope, 1 Peter 4: Suffering, Love, and Stewardship, and 1 Peter 5: Humility, Shepherding, and Standing Firm.
Frequently asked questions
Is the New American Bible a reliable translation?
It is a serious translation produced by competent scholars and used widely in Catholic churches. Its formal-equivalence approach generally follows the original languages closely. Reliability, however, is not a yes-or-no label. Different translations serve different purposes, and no single version is best for every reader. The wisest practice is to read the New American Bible alongside at least one other translation so you can see where renderings differ and ask why.
Why does the New American Bible include books other Bibles omit?
It includes the deuterocanonical books because the Catholic Church treats them as canonical. Protestant Bibles historically placed these books in a separate Apocrypha section, and most modern Protestant editions omit them. The difference goes back to debates about the Hebrew canon and the Septuagint, and it was formally sharpened at the Reformation. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 does not settle the question; it says whatever is Scripture is God-breathed.
Should I trust the footnotes in a study Bible?
Study notes can be useful for background, but they are not Scripture and carry no divine authority. They reflect the theological commitments of their editors. Read them the way you would read any teacher: thoughtfully, critically, and in submission to the text they claim to explain. When a note seems to override what the passage plainly says, the note is the problem, not the passage. Compare across editions and traditions.
