A Brief Textual History

The Saṁyutta Nikāya was edited by M. Léon Feer on the basis of manuscripts in Sinhalese and Burmese scripts and published in Latin script by the Pali Text Society from 1884 to 1898. The first translation followed in 1917--30 by Mrs. C.A.F. Rhys Davids (vols. 1--2) and F.L. Woodward (vols. 3--5) under the title The Book of the Kindred Sayings. In 1999 the PTS issued a new edition of the Pali text of vol. 1 Sagāthāvagga, edited by G.A. Somaratne.

While several partial translations were subsequently made, there was no complete new translation in English until 2002, when Bhikkhu Bodhi published his The Connected Discourses of the Buddha. As with his translation of the The Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha, this constituted a major leap forward, essentially rendering the earlier translations obsolete. Unlike the Middle-Length Discourses, this was an entirely new translation. In an extensive introduction, Bhikkhu Bodhi spelled out his evolving approach to translation and presented a detailed thematic and structural analysis of the text.

Where the Pali was unclear I frequently referred to the earlier work of Bodhi, and rarely to Woodward/Rhys Davids and various translations of specific texts.