The Modern Literal Version Of The New Testament came about because of a desire to let the public have the American Standard Version on computer disks; the King James Version was available in 1987. The ASV has been for years the translation held by most scholars as being the most accurate version ever made and the standard by which others should be judged. It is also known as being the version with the least amount of doctrinal or denominational bias. After some consideration, it seemed better to make a literal modern English revision of the ASV and then place it in the Public Domain. A group of scholars, who believe in the total authority and inspiration of the Bible, were assembled to undertake the revision.The original intention and guidelines for the MLV were:
1. To retain the literalness of the original ASV.
2. To boost the accuracy of the original in the places where there were inconsistent translations. This can be done by trying to translate the same Greek word into as few different English words as possible and trying not to translate different Greek words into the same English word(s)1. Also careful attention is to be paid to synonyms, antonyms and compound words. The New Testament contains approximately 5100 different Greek words, almost 600 are proper names, 1200 are compounds of two words that could be rendered the same as if the two words were not in compound form. It is hoped that this translation will be so faithful to the original language in English that it could be used as a medium from which to translate a foreign language New Testament. Many languages of the world have no translation available. Missionaries fluent in both languages could translate from the MLV, until a better translation from the Greek is available.
3. In places where a literal translation could not be understood or was an idiom used by the common Greeks, the literal Greek would be footnoted. Example: "unto the ages" an idiom for "forever". See also James 1.23 & footnote. (These are not as common as many people would have you to believe).
4. To keep the number of footnotes down to about what the KJV had originally or less.
5. Translate the original languages, word for word into English. In so doing, this translation is the Word of God, not our opinions of what God said.
6. Use supplied words and mark them as such, as opposed to paraphrasing (Dynamic Equivalence or whatever other excuses are made for paraphrasing).
7. Do not attempt to make the MLV a translation which is perfect everyday English, but try to make it understandable to the majority of English speaking people. (Verses in the MLV may start with conjunctions like 'and,' 'but' or 'for'. This was a good way to split 50+ word sentences in Greek to English. Large amounts of punctuation was also removed.)
8. To remove many of the archaic words where there are perfect English equivalents.
9. Translate certain verses, that have been misinterpreted for years by many religious groups, as close as possible to the original language.
10. To arrange the subject-verb order into English.
11. To give Jesus Christ back his "deity" which the higher textual criticism has removed over the years.
12. To follow the Majority of manuscripts.
13. Use "do" & "did" in questions with the word "not" to make the MLV more readable English.
14. Show testament parallels by placing the O.T. reference at the end of the quote and mark the quote with a single quote mark (').
15. Further break down of chapters into more paragraphs. [Some chapters may require a footnote like Acts 1 & 2.]
16. Render the money system as transliterations and place it in the Appendix.
17. Show Gospel parallels, including a Harmony in the Book of Mark.
18. Show AD dates and when epistles were written and show locations in the Book of Acts.
19. Insert a chronological chart throughout the Gospel of Mark and Acts, so that a person can read the entire New Testament in chronological order.
20. Many of the 1st person active tense verbs are to be rendered "is VERB-ing" to help show continual action. Many people wrongly say the "-eth" ending used in older translations meant continual action. It was simply the way they spoke in the 1500's to the 1800's.
21. Use "may" or "might" for the subjunctive mood where the ASV used "should" and "shall."
22. Use "will" for all future tenses. Though not Proper English, it is the way most people speak. "Shall" is retained in questions.
G. Allen Walker, secretary for the New Testament Committee. Jan.15, 1987, revised July 6, 2000
The above was the original preface to the MLV. The translation was never completed. Only about 3500 of the 5100 Greek words were checked or revised. But even at that the MLV is still the most accurate translation available in English. From the notes, approximately 5000 corrections were made to the American Standard Version New Testament. It will be released in two forms, a Study Version and a Reader's Version. The study version is currently at http://www.christianlibrary.org/bibles/bibles.mv. It will still undergo some typo and footnote corrections. Copyright on this translation is as follows:
Copyright 1987, 1999, 2000 by G. Allen Walker. This translation may be used by any individual, congregation, denomination or church for personal use only. It may not be sold or included with any other item that is sold including CD ROMs or software packages. Distribution is free to the receiver. The URL www.christianlibrary.org must be included on the printed or electronic text. This preface must be included. Verses or chapters may be quoted without permission provided: "(MLV)" or "Modern Literal Version" appears either at the end of the quote or in a footnote at the end of the paragraph, chapter, article, as appropriate. To reproduce one whole book of the MLV NT or over 1000 verses requires permission. This version may not be reproduced on other web sites without permission.
If you would like to publish the Modern Literal Version in any form please contact me at US (740) 695-1520.
In Christ,
G. Allen Walker, Secretary of the New Testament Committee, June 9, 1999.<1> Some Greek words actually have more than one meaning and the context determines which meaning should be used. No language can be treated like a math equation. The New Testament is its own best commentary provided you can see the correlation between words and verses.
APPENDIX
The MLV is a "word for word" translation of the Original Greek New Testament according to the Majority Text. It does not use paraphrasing, dynamic equivalence or any other fancy wording to describe paraphrasing. Any form of paraphrasing would make the opinions of the translators your "Word of God." Punctuation and capitalization are not inspired and have been kept to a minimum. Chapter and verse numbering, though not inspired, are retained.This translation leaves present tense unchanged. The Greeks wrote in present tense to give the reader the feeling of "being there."
Words of Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit are in Red.
< > Are footnotes and appear at the end of the chapter.
{ } Contains the reference to the Old Testament. It may be an exact quote, a paraphrase by the inspired writer or simply the location of the historical event. Single quotes are used at the beginning and end of actual quotes or paraphrases of such.
italicized words These are words added by the translators. They do not have a Greek counterpart. The articles "a" "an" are always supplied though not marked.
Acts of is supplied to Greek Plurals that have no English Plural. Example literal "discernings" would be rendered "acts of discerning" in the MLV. "Acts" does not in anyway mean "Acting."
Admonish means to "instruct with warning."
Angel a transliterated word, in other words not translated, the English equivalent would be "messenger." Only context can determine if the messenger was from God or man or the Devil.
Apostle a transliterated word, in other words not translated, the English equivalent would be "one sent" with the meaning of "one sent on a mission."
Assarion is a copper coin worth about 2 Leptons or enough to buy a couple of mouthfuls of food (a pigeon, 2 sparrows).
Baptism a transliterated word, in other words not translated, the English equivalent is "immersion" or "dipping." For a Bible definition read Romans 6:1-6.
Believe on literally in the majority of all places it or any variation of it occurs means "believe upon".
Believe in literally in the majority of all places it or any variation of it occurs means "believe into". Similar expression to Mat 28:19 "... into the name... ".
Belt or belt, impossible to tell from context if it is a simple belt or a complex series of leather straps used to hold tools, weapons, money, and even protect the body like minor armor. The girdle (belt) was worn across the waist or across the chest.
Charity in the MLV does not mean just "money." It may include money but it means "good, mericiful or kind acts."
Centurions were military commanders over 100 soldiers.
Chief-captains were military commanders over 1000 soldiers.
Congregation was the original translation by Tyndale and then later changed to 'church' by the Catholics and perpetuated by the Church of England in the King James and American Standard Versions. The word could be translated 'assembly' also, and many have done such. The word, even in the Bible, carries no special reverence. It is used to describe Jews, a mob, a local congregation, and the congregation of believers world wide, Mat. 16:18. Using "called out" would be like saying a "pineapple" is an "apple produced by a pine tree."
Cohort military term to describe a group of 600 soldiers.
Containers used with the volume they contain is the way the MLV translated various Greek words as opposed to footnoting and transliterating them. Example "Cor" from a Hebrew word was translated as "peck and a half containers."
Covenant can be translated as "testament." It was translated uniformly as "covenant" because "testament" has no verb forms in English. It is the Old or New Testament, or just a simple agreement, context decides. The Old Testament Law was until the death of Jesus and the New Testament Law is after his death, Hebrews 9-10. By rights the first four books and the first chapter of Acts of the New Testament, as it is commonly called today, are really part the Old Covenant with God. See Galatians 4:4, also.
Denarius is the standard money used in the MLV, the break down is as follows:
Denarius: is money equivalent to a day's wage to the normal working class. It was a brass or copper coin with Caesar's face on it. It became worthless about 52 AD after this particular Caesar died.*for represents the Greek preposition "eis" that is literally translated as "to" "toward" "into". It never means "because of." Sometimes to substitue "leading toward" works very well to get the meaning across and has been used by many translation in some places. This preposition expresses forward action in the Greek verb where the English word "for" can be used with verbs of actions past or future. All Greek words in the Modern Literal Version that mean 'because' are translated as 'because'. (SEE the exception below.)
2 Drachma: is worth about 4 denarius, translated as "four-denarius."
Assarion: is about 2 leptons.
Lepton: 2 leptons is about the cost of a dove or about a couple of mouthfuls of food.
Mina: equals about 200 denarius. 80% of a year's salary in modern terms.
Quadran: the cost of a dove or about a couple of mouthfuls of food or 2 leptons.
Slater: a coin equal to 2 drachma or 4 denarius, translated as "four-denarius coin."for* represents the Greek word "gar." It is a conjunction with no exact English equivalent. It is a mild form of "because." (To best describe "for," the conjunction, is "We put people in jail for murder." To best describe the preposition's use is "We put people in jail to murder." )
Fornication any premarital or extramarital sexual acts between two or more people. Does not mean in any way "lust." It means physical sex, including all variations of physical sex. People who have claimed scriptural divorce using Matthew 5:28 need to read the rest of the Bible.
Furlong is 1/8 of a mile in English. But in the MLV it is a "Stadium" which is 1/8 of a Roman mile 607 ft. (53 ft. less than an actual furlong).
Gird to put on your belt, the final act of dressing yourself for public or for a job.
Gospel means literally good news. It is also used to mean Jesus and his teaching in general. (1Cor. 15:1-4; 2Thes. 1:8, etc.)
Harlot a sexual promiscuous individual or a prostitute, primarily female. Context is not always certain which meaning should be used.
Hosanna Hebrew word meaning "Save me, I pray." or "Please deliver me."
Immerse* or "dipping" is a translation of the Greek word "baptizo" and its variations. Baptize has been retained by most translations (see Baptism above) due to denominational influences. This word has a perfect English equivalent and so will be used. For a Bible definition read Romans 6:1-6. The Greek word was common to the Greeks and is used to describe a "bath" "washing dishes" "ceremonial washing" and "Christian baptism." See Footnoting in Mark 7, Romans 6, Mark 16:16, Colossians 2:12-14, etc.
Jude, Judas are both from the same Greek word. Judas is retained except in the title of the Book of "Jude". Judas the Apostle (son of James) could be the same as Judas Jesus' half brother, the brother of James, the writer of the Book of Jude but probably not.
Leptons Two leptons is about the cost of a dove or 2 sparrows, about a couple of mouthfuls of food.
Like* literally is "as." Common to their language, slang in English.
Love* is the all giving all loving love. The Greeks had different words for love. This word is "agapaw" "agapao" in Greek.
Mina equals about 200 Denarius. 80% of a year's salary in modern terms.
Offend, Offense literally means 'caused to stumble' or a 'cause of stumbling.'
Only begotten which literally means "only born of" or "only born by" would be a contradiction in the Bible since "we are all sons of God through Christ Jesus." Its Greek synonym is "firstborn" which too is a contradiction since Abraham had two sons and the "only born of" was the second son. Others have used "one and only," "only," "only born." All of these are contradictions also. One other translation used "only unique," but this removes the "born" part. The way to think of this is that the physical "firstborn" had special rights or privileges. "Only special born" would then settle all instances in the New Testament and would still fit the Greek. It is the figurative "firstborn" in respect to special privileges or rights.
Pentecost a tranliterated word literal means "50th" as in 50th day after Passover.
Quadran is about the cost of a dove or about a couple of mouthfuls of food.
Quarternion is a group of four soldiers
Satan a transliterated word, translation would be "adversary" or "enemy."
Spirit, is retained in capitalized form from the ASV. If you as the reader believe Spirit is not the Holy Spirit just ignore the "S."
Talent is about 58-80 pounds of silver. Equal to about 1 to 1.5 million dollars in US money today. Has nothing to do with ability.
That* Greek "ina" "hina" which literally means "in order that" but is too wordy for some verses.
You* represents the Greek word or word form that means plural "you" in English.
Your* represents the Greek word or word form that means plural "your" in English.
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