Bible Study Tools

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ENGLISH READERS GOOD BIBLE TRANSLATIONS "THE NEW TRANSLATION" (OF J N DARBY) The scholar F F Bruce rated this as the best translation in English. Years ago, I was in the downtown Los Angeles office of the late Walter Ebeling, professor of theology at Talbot Theological Seminary. We were discussing the editor of the Scofield Reference Bible. "He got all that truth from the Plymouth Brethren!", said Ebeling. While he was speaking, I noticed a copy of the Darby Translation (a product of the "Plymouth Brethren") on his desk. This very literal translation of the Bible came from the pen of John Nelson Darby. Darby studied law at Trinity University in Dublin, became an Anglican clergyman, and, later, renounced the clergy as an unscriptural institution. He associated himself with the Brethren Movement and became one of its most prominent teachers. He became known as the "father of dispensational theology." Darby used his knowledge of languages to make Bible Translations into French, German, and English. For his English translation, he chose Elizabethian English. It is an excellent translation but we wish he had chosen modern English. The Darby Translation's "Full Notes" edition even has a critical apparatus (like Greek New Testaments). A critical apparatus is found at the bottoms of pages and cites manuscripts and other authorities for and against a particular reading, using a system of codes and symbols agreed upon by scholars. This book belongs on your shelf - or even better - in your lap. The "New Translation" was published in the late 1800s. Any common law copyright has long expired and the work is in the public domain. It has no Library Of Congress registration and you won't find it in "Books In Print". One place you can get it is: Bible Truth Publishers Post Office Box 649 Addison , IL 60101 630-543-1441

"THE NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE - UPDATED" This is published by the Lockman Foundation, a fundamentalist Christian enterprise, and is licensed to several other publishers. This is an excellent literal translation of the Bible in modern English. Beware of "stripped-down editions. These variants (even some of the well-known "Study Bible" editions) have had material removed from the margin, specifically: manuscript variation notes and alternate translation possibilities. We suggest Christians adopt this as their basic Bible Translation in English.

SO SO BIBLE TRANSLATIONS "THE KING JAMES VERSION" The "Authorized Version" has such a cloud of emotion swirling around it that it has formed its own cult. Among its worshippers are some Baptists in the Florida panhandle who think that it is "inspired of God". We would like to tell you that it is NOT inspired of God. Being almost 500 years old, it is does not benefit from modern critical scholarship, It knows nothing of the codex Sinaiticus and the Dead Sea scrolls. J N Darby who translated the "New Translation" mentioned above, used the King James in his English language public ministry. He had to. It was the only game in town. The new assemblies of the Brethren Movement used it naturally without any formal decision to do so - It presented itself. One of Darby's greatest services was the publication of his "New Translation". Now the assemblies of Brethren has some

scholarship. Bible students no longer automatically accepted a King James passage, now they looked up the same passage in Darby and found an excellent literal translation of it AND some scholarly comments about variant readings. Paradoxically, Darby loved the King James Version but, as a scholar, analyzed its faults and published them in the introduction to his New Translation. King James cultists would not enjoy reading Darby's Introduction. One unpleasant fact they would learn is the King James is not based on the Textus Receptus. It is 13 years older than the TR.

BAD BIBLE TRANSLATIONS "THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION" This is published by Zondervan Publishing Company (to their everlasting shame). The N I V is built upon the translating theory of Dynamic Equivalence, popularized by the ecumenist Eugene Nida of the American Bible Society. Dynamic equivalence produces a paraphrase. Dynamic Equivalence does not produce a translation of the WORDS of the Bible but of the IDEAS in the minds of the translators after reading the words of the Bible. The N I V translators may mouth allegiance to the hallowed doctrine of the PLENARY VERBAL INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES but their work product shows their hypocrisy. The serious Bible student needs a literal translation of the word of God, not a paraphrase. Such a translation respects the fact that the words of the original were God breathed. A conscientious translator will bring INSPIRED WORDS into English as best he can. The goal is getting the Christian's mind up against what God said, not what the translator thinks. Beautiful flowing English? Who has time for such nonsense?

GOOD CONCORDANCES "THE STRONGEST NASB EXHAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE" Zondervan Publishing Company (whom we do not respect because of their New International Version), has taken over the publication of this study tool from Lockman Foundation This is one of the "high performance" concordances of the Bible that uses the Strong's Numbering System. With this valuable tool, you can look up the the underlying Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek works for passages of interest. Further, it is keyed to the page and quadrant numbers of "A HEBREW AND ENGLISH LEXICON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT" by Brown, Driver, and Briggs. If you use the New American Standard Bible - Updated, go out and buy a copy of this book. You will not regret it. Donald R Slaughter Director General The Bible Army