Tuesday, September 22, 2009

A Note on Bible Versions

A Note on Bible Versions:

All biblical texts in this study (i.e. the Revelation of Y'shua the Anointed) are from the Noahide Nazarene Bible (NNB) unless otherwise noted.

Also, as stated before, I am currently updating all of the posts from this study with the new Bible version, but the remainder of this study will NOT be posted here. For the rest please go to my new Blog: http://noahidenazarene.multiply.com and PLEASE invite me as a contact.

BOTH blog sites will remain active.

I love the Authorized King James Version of the Bible (KJV) and consider it to be the preeminent translation of the preeminent biblical source materials (the Textus Receptus or Received Texts).

However as so many readers say they find the language of the KJV prohibitive to their studies, I have searched high and low for a suitable, accurate and reliable modern English translation and I believe I have found one.

The World English Bible: Messianic Edition (WEB-ME) is a widely respected modern update of the American Standard Version (ASV) that holds closely to the Majority Text. The Majority Text is a collection of all existing Greek manuscripts. Because most of these manuscripts are of the same period as the Textus Receptus they are in the main quite similar and complimentary. This family of texts agrees with one another in most cases and much more often than either agrees with the source materials that have given rise to heretical modern versions like the New International Version (NIV) and so on.

Information on this public domain translation of the Bible (WEB) is available HERE.

The Noahide Nazarene Bible (NNB) revision is mainly being developed for my own studies and use. I will never attempt to market it, however I do plan to post it my website once I am finished with my revision of it. The NNB is almost identical to the WEB editions. The main differences have to do with the rendering certain significant terms into English. For instance:

    The WEB-ME correctly presents the name "Jesus" as Yeshua -- his actual name. The NNB has this name as Y'shua. Both are correct, but Y'shua is a bit closer in my opinion.

    The title Christ means "anointed" while the title Moshiach (Messiah) means 'anointed king' or 'anointed ruler' or 'anointed high priest' etc depending on the context.

    Neither christos nor mashiyach automatically refers to "the Messiah." Christ and Moshiach are not therefore exactly synonymous terms despite common usage. The WEB-ME edition renders Christ as Messiah based on the Nicean beliefs of its main translators. There is nothing wrong with this as such but it is not completely accurate either.

    For instance of King Cyrus we read at Isaiah 45:1 "Thus says Yahweh to his anointed [i.e. mashiyach in the Hebrew]..." Neither Cyrus nor most of the others who are referred to as mashiyach were the Moshiach. Therefore for accuracy, "anointed" is used in most cases rather than "Christ" just as "anointed" is used in the Hebrew scriptures rather than "Moshiach" in most cases.

    A few others changes are being made as appropriate. For instance in a few cases the KJV is clearer than the WEB version (for instance using the name "John" rather than Yochanan) and so on. All such changes are being done with the utmost concern for textual accuracy.

I feel very confident about this new translation (both the WEB and the NNB) and recommend comparing their texts with the Authorized King James Version. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

I hope my using this modern English version will enhance your studies. If you notice any discrepancies between the translations I would appreciate a head's up. As always, I sincerely invite all correspondence whatever your views.

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