![]() Now, there’s nothing wrong with this, so long that we realize that’s what we’re doing. Not so much the unfamiliar foreign-language words. Of course, when we “read” an interlinear bible, we’re not really reading the original. There’s something to be said for seeing the unchanged original. The downside is you don’t actually get to see the original-language text: You see it out of order, jumbled up to match the English. And it turns their translation into the baseline-into the authority-instead of the original-language text. What’s the purpose of the reverse interlinear? The publishers wanna show off how “literal” and “accurate” their translation is. Beneath each English word is the original-language word it was translated from-and sometimes Strong numbers, pronunciation, etc. Oh, the reverse interlinear: Unlike a proper interlinear, where the top line is the original-language text, a reverse interlinear is an English translation-like the CSB, ESV, NASB, or William D. (Man alive, do I not miss the ’90s.) If you want an internet interlinear bible, you’ve got BibleHub, or Scripture4All’s PDFs, or NLT Interlinear’s New Testament, or Bible Gateway’s Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament. It’s why I spell ἀγάπη/“love” as agápi instead of agape.) Sometimes the parts of speech-noun, verb, adjective, or participle singular, dual, or plural past, present, future, or timeless masculine, feminine, or neuter subject or object ablative, absolute, construct, dative, genitive, instrumental, locative, nominative, or vocative.Īnd of course computer bibles make everything clickable. When I transliterate words, I go for pronunciation. (Unfortunately, transliteration tends to follow a custom, and custom doesn’t adequately tell you how native speakers pronounce the word. Sometimes a transliteration-the same word written in our Latin alphabet so we can read it. Sometimes its Strong number, so you can look it up in a Strong’s-keyed dictionary. The better ones will include further information. Most interlinear bibles only include a word-by-word translation. But I’ve bought family members The New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament, which has worked for them. The NIV interlinear bibles I bought were in print, although the New Testament has since gone out of print. The illustration above comes from Olive Tree Bible Software. It erases some of the barrier between you and the original languages.īut there is still a language barrier. If you can’t-if you know a few original-language words, but certainly can’t read Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek, and wish you had more access to those languages-that’s what an interlinear bible will do for you. That’s why I’ve gotta turn off that software or close that book, and go back to a Hebrew-only text.īut that’s me, and anyone else who can read biblical languages. ![]() Whenever I open up an interlinear text, that’s always what I catch myself doing. Yeah, I had to admit he was absolutely right. Yet I’d imagine to myself, “But I know Hebrew.” I’d go right back to reading English instead of Hebrew. The interlinear would be my crutch, and as my memory of Hebrew decayed-as it will, when you don’t practice-it’d become more and more of a crutch. Wouldn’t have to remember any word-prefixes or word-endings. It’s like having an answer key: I wouldn’t have to practice my vocabulary. ![]() My eyes are gonna drift down one line to the English translation. Then I went to university, minored in biblical languages, and my Hebrew professor told me I had to get rid of my interlinears.īecause, he explained, it’s a “cheater bible.” Every time I pick it up to read Hebrew, I’m not really gonna read the Hebrew. Also got the NIV interlinear New Testament to go along with it. Ten years later I bought the NIV interlinear Old Testament, which was still a bit expensive: I paid $50 in ’90s money, plus shipping. ![]() Low demand, y’see.) Something like $80 in 1980s money. Wanted to buy it immediately, but the sucker was expensive. Looked like yea:Īcts 2.42-44 presented interlinear-style. But its secrets were unlocked with a word-by-word translation, displayed beneath every Hebrew word. Never knew such a thing even existed, but I wanted it immediately: It had “the original Hebrew”-the Masoretic text of the scriptures, in a language I couldn’t read at all, ’cause I hadn’t even learned the alphabet yet. (Remember those?) This one happened to have an interlinear Old Testament mixed in among the bibles. I was killing time in a Christian bookstore. Bible which presents the same text in different languages printed on alternate lines.įirst time I stumbled across an interlinear bible was back in high school. INTERLINEAR BIBLE in.ter'lin.e.er 'bi.bel n. For those who want the illusion of being able to read the original. ![]()
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