Editing Richard Simon (section)

===New Testament===
In 1689 appeared Simon's companion ''Histoire critique du texte du Nouveau Testament'', consisting of thirty-three chapters. In it he discusses: the origin and character of the various books, with a consideration of the objections brought against them by the Jews and others; the quotations from the Old Testament in the New; the inspiration of the New Testament (with a refutation of the opinions of Spinoza); the Greek dialect in which they are written (against [[C. Salmasius]]); and the Greek manuscripts known at the time, especially [[Codex Bezae]] (Cantabrigiensis).

There followed in 1690 his ''Histoire critique des versions du Nouveau Testament'', where he gives an account of the various translations, both ancient and modern, and discusses the way in which difficult passages of the [[New Testament]] have been rendered in the various versions. In 1693 was published the ''Histoire critique des principaux commentateurs du Nouveau Testament depuis le commencement du Christianisme jusques a notre temps''. ''Nouvelles Observations sur le texte et les versions du Nouveau Testament'' (Paris, 1695) contains supplementary observations on the subjects of the text and translations of the New Testament.

In 1702 Simon published at [[Trévoux]] his own translation into French of the New Testament (the ''version de Trévoux''). It was substantially based on the [[Latin Vulgate]], but was annotated in such a way as to cast doubt on traditional readings that were backed by Church authority. Again Bossuet did what he could to suppress the work.<ref>[http://www.la-bible.net/page.php?ref=bible16_20_4 la-bible.net]</ref> Despite changes over two decades in how Bossuet was able to exert influence through his circle of contacts, he again mobilised against Simon beyond the boundaries of his diocese.<ref>{{fr icon}} Fabrice Preyat, ''Le Petit Concile de Bossuet et la christianisation des moeurs et des pratiques littéraires sous Louis XIV'' (2007), p. 252; [https://books.google.com/books?id=p4GQtS8mVegC&pg=PA252 Google Books].</ref>