Polycarp

Quote:

Originally posted by ReasonableDoubt: For what it's worth, The King James Only Controversy -- Can you Trust the Modern Translations -by James R. White is an interesting and inexpensive polemic against the oft rabid KJV-Only crowd.

I'll second this endorsement. It provides a thorough de-bunking of KJV-Onlyism. The problem is that I'm never able to convince a "KJV Only"-ite to read the thing. They're terrified that they might have to change their mind on the issue.

In some cases, they've been warned not to read it because it's filled with lies from the evil one (aka Satan, Beelzebub, Lucifer, the Great Deceiver, Al Pacino, etc).

[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: Polycarp ]</p>

Pantera

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1556615752/internetinfidelsA" target="_blank">The King James Only Controversy : Can You Trust the Modern Translations?</a>

But be warned - according to one of the reviews he quotes apostates and heretics like Bruce Metzger.

BLoggins02

Well I'm in Barnes and Noble the other day, and I run accross two bibles that I'd really like to buy:

1) NKJV, but the entire bible is small enough to fit in your shirt pocket. We're talking 6pt fonts here ppl (and yes, this is OT + NT)

2) A parallel translation of the NT, with Greek, literal english translation underneath, and KJV in the margins. I thought this was really cool.

CX

If you want a really useful Greek interlinear (presuming you don't study Koine Greek in which case any edition of Westcott Hort will do) I strongly recommend Dr. Bill Mounce's reverse interlinear GNT. You can get it from Amazon. Not only is it a very scholarly edition of a GNT using the most recent scholarship and manuscript evidence, but it place the greek underneath the English (most interlinears do it the other way round) with the greek word's in the English order and Strong's concordance numbers. This is truly a great tool for lexical work. Espscially for a lay person with no or limited understanding of Koine Greek.

Haran

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0310203775/qid=1012955520/sr=1-6/ref=sr_1_10_6/002-8585267-1547207" target="_blank">Bill Mounce's NIV English-Greek, Reverse Interlinear</a>

I also believe this is excellent for both those who know Greek and those who do not.

From what I have seen, it is based on the United Bible Societies' (UBS) 3rd edition Greek New Testament (GNT) and selecting the variants chosen by the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible.

Another good interlinear is:

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0842345647/qid=1012957060/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_75_1/002-8585267-1547207" target="_blank">Brown and Comfort's New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament</a>

It also makes use of the NA and UBS Greek texts and the NRSV for the English.

To my recollection, the NIV does not use the Westcott-Hort GNT, it makes use of the Nestle-Aland and UBS editions of the Greek text. The NA and UBS are close to WH, but not the same.

See <a href="http://www.skypoint.com/~waltzmn/CriticalEds.html" target="_blank">Critical Editions of the NT</a> for more info.

Actually, the NA and UBS differ on some/many of these <a href="http://www.skypoint.com/~waltzmn/WestNonInterp.html" target="_blank">western non-interpolations</a>.

I would not recommend reading the WH GNT. I would recommend the <a href="http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product/65946782?item_no=10538&event=SRC" target="_blank">NA27th</a> or <a href="http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product/65946782?item_no=56494&event=CF" target="_blank">UBS4th</a> (mostly the same) which are probably used by most biblical translations.

Frankly, the Greek is best left to students (whom professors can correct) and those who have a working understanding of the language. Simply looking words up in a lexicon without an understanding of the syntax and nuances of the language can lead to misunderstandings. If you're interested, then by all means look, but I'd caution against thinking you can translate by looking up the words...

Getting down off my soapbox... For those who don't know Greek, I would (like CowboyX) recommend the NIV, NASB, RSV, and/or the NRSV.

Hope this helps.
Haran

[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: Haran ]</p>

Haran

Here you can see the difference between a "Normal Interlinear" and Mounce's "Reverse Interlinear":

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/0842345647/reader/5/ref=lib_dp_TT01/103-8954605-5908608#reader-link" target="_blank">A page from a "Normal Interlinear."</a>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/0310203775/reader/5/ref=lib_dp_TT01/103-8954605-5908608#reader-link" target="_blank">A page from the "Reverse Interlinear."</a>

As you can see, the "Normal Interlinear" has the Greek on top with the English on bottom following the Greek word order. The "Reverse Interlinear" has the English on top with the Greek underneath following the English word order.

Haran

CX

Actually as it happens I usually refer to an edition of WH with NA26/27 variants and compare it to the 1991 Byzantine Greek Text. That combined with Strong's concordance and a lexicon based on Thayer and Smith's gives a well rounded view of the Greek text. Also a little help from my former Greek professor now and then never hurts. I admit a bias toward the Alexandrian manuscripts and especially B which is why I prefer WH despite it's lack of a critical apparatus.

CX

Actually as it happens I usually refer to an edition of WH with NA26/27 variants and compare it to the 1991 Byzantine Greek Text. That combined with Strong's concordance and a lexicon based on Thayer and Smith's gives a well rounded view of the Greek text. Also a little help from my former Greek professor now and then never hurts. I admit a bias toward the Alexandrian manuscripts and especially B which is why I prefer WH despite it's lack of a critical apparatus.

Egoinos

Just wondering, what does everyone think of the New Jerusalem Bible? Thats what I've been using, purely on the basis that it translates parakletos as "paraclete" rather than "comforter/consoler/counsellor/advocate" etc etc

Haran

Interesting... I don't think I've seen an edition of the WH anywhere (especially w/ NA26/27 variants), except maybe the library. Did you find it at a library or do you own it? If you know of a link for it on Amazon or another website, I'd appreciate it.

Also, what is the "1991 Byzantine Greek Text"? I'm really only familiar with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0840749635/qid=1013026312/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_0_2/104-1227212-8433545" target="_blank">Farstad and Hodges' GNT According to the Majority Text</a> which is, I believe, considered the best presentation of the Majority Text currently available.

Thayer is ok but very outdated. There is a better lexicon that you might consider. It's the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0226039331/qid=1013026086/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_11_1/104-1227212-8433545" target="_blank">Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature</a> and is considered tops.

For the most part, I consider the Alexandrian textual family much more convincing than the text presented by, say, Codex Bezae (D) and the "Western" Textual family.

I, personally, don't like to be without the textual apparatus, especially that of the NA. I find it extremely interesting to look over all the possible variants for any particular verse and the witnesses to those variants.

Nice talkin' to ya, CowboyX. I don't often meet someone who seems as interested in this stuff as I am.

Haran

[ February 06, 2002: Message edited by: Haran ]</p>