Foreword
We understand that there are two different types of Bible readers, those who have already reached their conclusions and are searching for scriptures to prove their case and cause, and those who just want to know what the Bible actually says. This Bible is being translated for the sake of those who believe that they still have something to learnÉ as do we. We aren't trying to start some new religion or promote someone's established doctrines; we are just searching for the truth and trying to find out what Bible writers actually wrote.
Our Own Style
Let us start by apologizing to grammarians who will object to this Bible's flagrant violation of established old rules for written English. English is a living language where the rules of speech are constantly changing. Yet, some prefer to try to define proper English by ancient rules and standards. This isn't the way English works, just look at its history.
As an editor of the Oxford Collegiate Dictionary once explained it to us, proper English is always the language as it is currently spoken, written, and pronounced by the majority of the people. So, this translation of the Bible has been written in the commonly spoken vernacular of our time, which doesn't follow the written rules of fifty or one hundred years ago. That isn't a radical departure for the Bible, since MANY the early disciples of Jesus wrote their words in the common language of their day, and they spoke it with a Galilean accent (see Matthew 26:73).
You will find the style we are using unique, for it can't be found in standard English style books. Rather, we have designed it to better reflect the style of the Bible, which is a collection of songs, poetry, narrations, historical accounts, and prophecies. So, you will find frequent use of contractions and dangling prepositions throughout, just as they are used in everyday American English.
Please recognize that there are no rules to English writing style as many believe, there are just guidelines which change each year and every day. So, we are breaking no rules of English grammar by using our own unique style.
As the result, you will also find punctuation marks (especially quotation marks) deliberately limited so they don't distract from the reading. We know that this is unusual, but one of the problems with translating the Bible is that there are often quotes within quotes, and even quotes within quotes within quotes, resulting in large amounts of distracting and confusing strings of quotation marks and sub quotes. So, we have replaced all quotation marks with sub quotes (they are cleaner). Then, where there is a quotation within a quotation, we put in italics; and where there is a quotation within a quotation within a quotation, we revert to standard font. Yes it is different, but we hope you'll find it easier to read.
This doesn't mean that this Bible takes flagrant liberties with the meanings of the original words. It doesn't. If you don't like some of the words chosen herein, after a thorough examination you may find this translation provides a more accurate understanding of many of the original meanings.
Understand that our goal is to produce a Bible that is easy and pleasing to read, while conveying a very accurate meaning. For this reason, you will often find redundant words and expressions either minimized or deleted to reduce unnecessary clutter. Also, where words or phrases would be unclear to most readers, we try to choose other words or phrases to better clarify the meaning in American English; and to show that the word or phrase has been changed, we usually show the new word or phrase in brackets [ ]. This may seem unusual to some, but it is necessary to convey accurate thoughts while maintaining honesty in translating. So, words in brackets [ ] should be read as part of a sentence, because they have been added or changed to clarify the meanings in the American-English language. However, you may not choose to pronounce the word {Look!}, which is a common but often distracting Hebrew exclamation that we usually put in brackets { }.
You will notice that the paragraph and sentence structures have also been modernized to comply with today's editing rules, or modified to make reading easier. This isn't a violation of license, because the Christian Bible writers wrote with no punctuation marks, spaces, or paragraph breaks. So, punctuation, word spacing, sentence breaks, paragraph breaks, paragraph numbers, and verse numbers were all approximated and added later, and there appear to be many errors when this was done. These errors include putting paragraph and chapter breaks in the middle of sentences or thoughts (see 1 Timothy 3:1 as an example). Also, some of the ancient sentences can go on for paragraphs, making them difficult to read, so, we have tried to break them into smaller sentences.
Another unique feature of this Bible is that in portions that were originally written in a poetic style (such as the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, etc.), we have tried to maintain the original richness of the texts by translating them poetically wherever possible. This has required some rearrangement, as well as additions and deletions of extraneous words, but you will find that we have faithfully maintained the meanings of the texts.
We realize that most readers will dislike this poetic style, as it was originally spoken by God and Jesus, because many employ it just to prove some doctrine or point. However, that isn't the reason why the Bible was provided for us; it was written in the beautiful language of God and Jesus to be read, enjoyed, and to teach us.
You will also find certain verses just missing in this Bible. The reason for this is that many verses have been added to the Bible over the centuries. How do we know this? They don't appear in ancient Bible texts. So, where there is some question, suspect verses haven't been included in this translationÉ sorry if they were your favorites.
Major Word Changes
Although we are sure that all translators have recognized the need to clarify the meanings of some old, familiar Bible words, but haven't done so fearing rejection of their versions by people who prefer familiarity to a proper understanding, we are less worried about that here. For that reason, many familiar Bible words (such as spirit, soul, Devil, Satan, angel, cross, and many others) are translated closer to their original meanings in the attached pages. In fact, where words are closely associated with religious dogma, every attempt has been made to select synonyms in order to provide the reader an unbiased look at what was really said.
We have also included the English rendering of the Divine Name Jehovah wherever the common Jewish substitution 'the Lord' was made when referring to the Divine Father. The reason for this change is to help readers understand which Lord (the Father or the Son) appears to be implied by the verses.
We realize that many may object to this change. However, Jesus and his apostles (as Jews under Law) worshiped that God, and so they likely spoke His Name. For this reason, it is argued (and successfully to us) that the original manuscripts included the Name, and the generic term 'the Lord' was substituted in later years, which is what also happened to the Name in later versions the Ancient Scriptures of Israel (Old Testament).
Unfortunately, the name Jehovah (which was used by almost all religions and Bible translations prior to the 20th Century) has fallen into disrepute in recent years, because one modern religious group has included it as part of their name. And as the result, many think that because we've used God's Name, this Bible is a product of their religion... it isn't. If you would like to read the many reasons for our making this change, please see the linked commentary Jehovah.
Although the Divine Name was probably pronounced Ya-h'wĕh in Hebrew, remember that the names of Jesus (Yĕh-sous) and his disciples such as Peter, James, and John (Petro, Ya-ka-bu, and Yo-han-oi) are also commonly mispronounced in English, as are almost all Bible names and terms. So, we have followed the rule of using the common English pronunciation here.
Another word (which is usually thought of as a name) that we have changed, and which many will likely object to, is the title Christ. This wasn't part of Jesus' name; it refers to what he was. Christ is a Greek word (meaning olive oil) that was simply transliterated into English. So, you will find the Greek word Christos (pronounced krees-toss – which implies anointed, judged, or decided) translated into its closest actual English meaning, 'the Anointed One,' herein.
Note: Israelite kings were selected by being 'anointed' with oil (it was poured over their heads). Jesus was selected by being anointed with God's Holy Breath. So, anointing means the person was chosen. Translating the word as 'Christ,' is no translation at all, just a corruption of the Greek word. And since its true meaning is unfamiliar, the term Christ is usually misunderstood as being Jesus' last name.
The same is true of the terms Devil and Satan. These aren't proper names; they are just titles that were used to describe the Evil One. And the Greek word aggelos, which is commonly rendered as 'angel' in other translations, just means 'messenger,' so it is translated that way here. Whether it is a human messenger or one sent from God, should be decided by the reader, not by some translator (see Acts 12:15 for an example).
A Different Reason for Reading the Bible
All Bible translators have their detractors. In fact, many in past centuries have even been killed for their efforts, so we expect criticism and opposition. However, all of that and the years of effort that we have put into this work will be worth the price if we can promote more Bible reading; and that is the primary goal of this translation (not just quotation of verses). So, if you are just planning to see how some of your favorite verses read herein (to see if you agree with and like the wording), you may be disappointed. The verses haven't been translated on a standalone basis for quotations (as in other translations), but to properly convey the thoughts of complete sentences and paragraphs.
Our hope is that this translation will help all who read it to pass beyond the barriers of tradition, dogma, and doctrine, by providing some flavor of the true meanings of words and thoughts as they were originally spoken by Jesus or written by his disciples, or the patriarchs, or the Prophets. We also hope that the ease of reading in our common language can make sitting down and studying the word of God something that you will make time to do. Honestly, reading (and thinking about) even the longest of Bible books usually just takes a small amount of time. We know, because we are doing it daily.
We also urge you to try out the Bible links (click on them) to gain a better understanding of important Bible verses and words. And if you, as the result of your personal research, find any of the information in these links to be wrong or misleading, we invite you to send us an e-mail explaining in detail why you feel we have reached a wrong conclusion. Please allow us the benefit of any doubt, and believe that we are sincerely trying to assist in helping people to understand the Bible better and that we have nobody's religious doctrines or dogmas to support.
Different Source for the OT Text
By the way, in the portion of this Bible that we have dubbed The Ancient Scriptures of Israel (Old Testament), you will notice that many names of people and places are spelled quite differently than you may be accustomed to. This is because we are using the Greek Septuagint as its source. We believe that the Greek spelling more accurately reflects the names and their actual pronunciations, because the Greek alphabet (unlike ancient Hebrew) has vowels. And you will notice that we have spelled the most commonly-recognized names the way that they are found in Bibles based on the Hebrew text, so that readers who are familiar with the common English spelling will know who and which place is being spoken of.
Our Qualifications
We have received numerous letters from readers demanding more information about the qualifications and religious affiliations of those who have worked on and contributed to the creation of The 2001 Translation - An American English Bible. An honest answer is that there have been numerous contributors (more than 50) since we started this project in the late 1990s, and we have never asked their qualifications or religious backgrounds. Rather, we have allowed the veracity of their work to speak on their behalf.
For those who put more trust in claims of education and degrees, let me point out that we see many people who have the highest qualifications saying stupid and ignorant things about the Bible in the media (e.g. the TV program 'Secrets of the Bible'). Also; despite the prestigious backgrounds of many other Bible translators, we still find hundreds of obvious mistakes and even forgeries in their work.
However; we, in our years of translating, have come to put greater trust in the things that we have learned and continue to learn from the Bible. So we urge those who question our qualifications to send us the results of their research where they can prove what we have written to be wrong.
Although most people have already reached their own conclusions about the teachings and promises of the Bible, we have tried not to allow such pre-formed conclusions to influence our translating. For, to be a good bible translator requires that you start out with an open mind, so you don't translate the Bible to say what you believe (as all Bible translators have done in the past). And although we who have worked on this massive project thought that we truly started out with an open mind, after translating and editing the entire Bible, we find ourselves even less dogmatic and sure than we were in the beginning, because the Bible raises more questions than it answersÉ so we urge you to keep an open mind too.
The Curse on Bible Translators
Many times we've read commentaries and received letters from readers that warn of the Bible's curse on its translatorsÉ some even implying that we have already been cursed for our zealous efforts in trying to render an accurate reading of God's Word. For we were warned at Revelation 22:19: 'And if anyone removes any of the words of this scroll of prophecy, God will take away his share from the trees of life, and from the things that are written in this scroll concerning the Holy City.'
So, are we violating this rule when we translate the Bible, and are we bringing this curse on ourselves?
The fact is; The Bible has been translated continuously since the Third Century B.C.E., starting with the translating of the Septuagint into Greek. And though Jesus and his Apostles likely spoke in Aramaic, their words were very soon translated into the language of their day (Common Greek) for the people of the nations to readÉ and by the way, the ancient Hebrew texts had likely already been translated into Aramaic for the Jews to read in the language of Jesus' day. In fact; the Bible is the most translated book in the world, so all the peoples of the world can read itÉ and no two read exactly the same!
So the question we would ask is: Would you have ever read the Bible (or even known about it) if it had never been translated into your language?
Understand that translating between languages always creates changes, because the true meanings of foreign words and the nuances of expressions are frequently distorted in translation. So, even when translating is done with all diligence and purity of heart (and sometimes it isn't), words are frequently added, changed, or lost. But would you suggest that we burn all Bibles except those that can be proven to be faithful renditions of the actual words in the original language? We think notÉ because there are no such Bibles.
We might also ask: Who is more culpable before God; the millions of Christians who do little research but tell others what the Bible 'really means,' or those who spend countless hours researching the texts, the words, and the meanings, and then try to assemble them to be read as they were originally written?
What we find among those who suggest that we are tempting the Bible's curse by translating it, is a certain hypocrisy. For what they often really mean is that they are satisfied with the words of some Bible translation they are familiar with, and which they use to teach the things they've been taught by others. And when someone (through intensive research of Bible words and a study of ancient manuscripts) can prove their beliefs to be wrong, they in effect say: 'You are cursed for changing the words of my favorite Bible translation.'
Sorry, but because it is new, this probably isn't your favorite Bible translation. However, because of its accuracy and easy reading, we hope that it soon will be.