Introduction

Purpose, Vision, and Philosophy

There are already so many translations of the Greek New Testament. Another may seem like one more strand of hay in a haystack. I can't argue with that. What I can tell you is that this translation was not designed for mass-market distribution. This is for the scholar, the student: those discipling in Jesus Christ.

After studying Koine Greek, I realized how smoothed over most mass-market translations are. A serious student of God's Word must make frequent trips to the concordance and lexicon for exact meaning. It is a travesty the Scriptures themselves require extra biblical support.

The goal of this translation is twofold. First, I intend to eliminate the need for a concordance and lexicon while reading the text by footnoting relevant information from the original Greek that cannot be conveyed in English. Second, the translation itself is as exact as it can be to the Greek. Too many translations compromise the Greek for the sake of the English, instead of the other way around. That does not happen here.

Many times, I am asked why I would study the Greek when there are so many translations already in English. The best metaphor I can offer is this: reading the New Testament in its original language is like watching TV in color for the first time. You do not miss anything with a black and white set, but the vibrancy of color is undeniable. My hope in writing this translation is to convey some of the Greek vibrancy to the readers who have never seen it.

Divine Words and Human Words

Typically there are two types of text laid out on the pages of the translation. At the top are the actual words of the Bible, which are the God-breathed words to His chosen authors. Below that in a different font, are the study notes which define multifaceted Greek terms and grammatical constructions which cannot be translated into English, and Old Testament verses quoted by New Testament writers. These are human words and do not supersede the inspired word. They are there to give deeper insights to those who do not read the Greek New Testament but do not wish to lose the emphasis of the authors. At no time are the footnotes to take the place of the upper text: the perfect revelation of God.” Also included in the upper text are section headings which I added to give context to a group of verses; they are not found in the original Greek.

Doctrinal Perspective

The doctrinal perspective of the ELV (Essentially Literal Version) is completely agnostic. The translation is the exact rendering of the Word of God without doctrinal prejudice. It does not set out to agree with or corroborate any doctrine known to the author at its time of translation. The footnotes are directly out of the lexicon and not skewed towards one theology or another. The purpose of the translation is not to enforce doctrine but merely to provide a solid foundation from which to extract it.

Unique Features

Sometimes the upper text may be both underlined and in bold font. Underlined text is always in the imperative mood (see next section for an explanation on the mood of a verb). Bold font may have multiple meanings. First, in the instance of the highest level of negation, the do not is bold to highlight a verb in that particular construction. Next, due to the ability of Greek to place words anywhere in a sentence, a word that begins a Greek verse may not be able to begin the English translation of that verse, however, I do not want to lose the emphasis the author placed on a particular word in the original Greek, so it is bold to show the emphasis is present in the Greek. Lastly, first and second person personal pronouns are sometimes used to emphasize an action or the object of an action in the Greek. Any occasion where this occurs, the pronoun is bold to make the reader aware of its presence.

To show honor to Christ, two more features have been implemented. First, I have capitalized any term referring to Jesus, especially the third person pronoun “He”. Other terms may include: One, Savior, King, Teacher, etc... This also has the added benefit of clarifying the text during dialogue, where “he” may refer to the speaker or to Christ. Second, I have offset the words of Christ in red. While it is unnecessary to state that no part of the Bible is more holy than another, highlighting the words of Christ simplifies the process of looking for a specific teaching of Jesus within a larger block of text.