I hope this question is appropriate for this board.

I have a Moroccan friend who is curious about the life of Our Lord. I am wondering how I could obtain an Arabic New Testament for him. Where could I get one (via mail order to the US)? Are there 'easier' and 'harder' translations? Is there a Moroccan form of Arabic?

Sorry for my naivete, but he is a dear soul and I would like to find something that would help him.

Thank you

dear Mr Manner:

your local Bible Society would have a new testament in arabic easily.

in the nonce you/he can try the Bible gateway and look up any particular verse in the Arablic on line bible:

http://www.biblegateway.com/

There are different types of Arabic (I know that the Arabic spoken in Israel/Palestine and Syria is different from the Arabic spoken in Egypt). I'm not sure about the Arabic in Morroco. I've heard that Egyptian Arabic is becoming the "lingua franca" (as it were) of Arabic because of its widespread soap operas!

Perhaps some of our Melkite members can be helpful re the language issue.

The spoken Arabic differs between those countries, and yes, the spoken Arabic of Egypt is understood everywhere else due to the popularity of its music and film.

Written Arabic, however, is uniform. So the Bible would be read and understood by all.

The daily readings from various rites are available in Arabic here: http://alingilalyawmi.org?language=AR .

That said, would just giving someone the New Testament -- or pointing them to it -- do any good?

Thank you to both of you for your help.

Just as in other languages there are Arabic translations that are somewhat 'archaic' or,at least, archaizing. The one I prefer for contemporary style is that published by by the Dar ul-Kitab il-muqaddas fi s-Sharq al-Awsat (Middle East Bible Society). It is inexpensive, well-produced and readily available through the American Bible Society in NYC. The first copies I bought cost less than nine dollars. The one I have before me was listed at $11.95. Today's price cannot be that much more. I believe it's called Today's Arabic Version (TAV) 0r Today's Arabic Bible (TAB) in English. This edition is, as is customary, fully vocalized.

If you're going to choose one for yourself, I'd suggest choosing the one that is used liturgically in your tradition. That way the phrases will be familiar to you, and when you quote a phrase or a story -- or even the name of someone from the Bible -- you'll be doing it in a form recognisable to your hearers.

The Jerusalem Bible, managed by the Jesuits in Lebanon, is close to the versions used by most of the Arabic-speaking Churches, and is indeed used by several of them.