The Source New Testament With Extensive Notes On Greek Word Meaning

Over the past year I have been working through The Source for my daily NT readings. I have read through the Gospels twice and the letters and Revelation once with additional reading also. How can anyone not be utterly and incredibly impressed with Dr Ann Nyland's achievement? She says that she has referred to thousands of recently discovered Greek manuscripts in translating the NT from the Koine Greek which it was originally written in. Many of these manuscripts are only now being translated into English. The additional notes are an important part of the text because there she explains many decisions she has had to make over how to translate certain words. Some may quibble with the exact english word she uses, especially for English english, but that is a small bother.In lots of places she translates words in ways which I think are helpful. Hypocrites (with explanation in Gospels, commentaries still describe it as what we would think of as a hypocrite but it does seem reasonable to me that it might not mean what we think it means and I love the way she translates it! ), Big Shots, Roman whip of leather straps etc (eg Mt 23:34 etc), civic benefactor (Rom 5), slave servant (where the OT background is sort of between slave and servant), angel = messenger … many more. Like John 2:4.She tends to avoid Christian jargon on every possible occasion which I am sure is right. Christ = the Anointed One (though this almost certainly by Paul’s time was more or less part of Jesus name, rather like a surname and I find gets a bit tiresome to be honest), evangelise = speak out good news or similar, and many others. She does use the word ‘apostle’. She also leaves ‘porneia’ untranslated but gives notes to explain. Church becomes Assembly and so on which more accurately reflect the way everyday language was used in the Greek writings.There are some really key comments which affect our understanding of the text. For example the word in Greek for 'head' as in 'Head of the Body' does not mean the one in charge but the source (see Eph 1:22) (anything to do with the book title?). Also the genderless words adelphos, anthropos etc. Her paper on this is replete with documentary evidence and well worth looking at.There are still (!) one or two questions over certain words, like 'fade away' 2 Cor 3:7 where Guthrie in his new BECNT he translates it 'inoperative' and the NET translates it 'ineffective'. Guthrie refers to a 2010 paper (p.212) where it is said never to mean 'fade away' but 'make inoperative' or or 'ineffective'; phrases like 'faith in Jesus' or 'the faithfulness of Jesus'. She knocks this one on the head at Rom 3:22 n.9, but sadly give no further explanation, which considering disagreements between, say, Wright and Hays on one side (the latter) and the traditional reading and Dunn on the other, is a pity. Also in John she writes 'believe me' (etc) rather than 'believe in me' which I think is extremely helpful and much more direct. Recent discussions may encourage us to translate the word 'show allegiance to' but time will tell (as in Salvation by Allegiance Alone, Matthew W. Bates).Curiously to my mind 'meek' in Mt 5:5 becomes 'those who are not angry or prone to temper' especially since elsewhere it becomes 'gentle' (eg Mt 11:29) but in the context of Ps 37 maybe it is an acceptable way of putting it; the NET Bible translates Ps 37:5 'the oppressed' and in Mt 5 'the meek'. In passing, why 'guest house' not 'upper room' (Lk 22:11, also Mk 14:14)? Kenneth Bailey has helpfully discussed this in his Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes. Tradition maybe, though the word can mean this (see p.110 n.6).Particularly interesting are her comments in the text through 1 Cor 7, 9, 11, 14 where she indicates that Paul is answering questions or comments from the Corinthian Church. This is crucial nowadays with e.g. the question of women's roles in Church (assembly) meetings. If Fee had seen this, or taken note if it, it would have saved pages and pages of discussion in his NICNT! Not to mention numerous books and papers bin the academic and Christian world no doubt. It might have helped her case if she had discussed why she translates the 'e' as a disjunctive particle. Oh well we can't have everything.She, IMHO, helpfully breaks up some of Paul's lengthy sentences into shorter ones, as say, the obvious Eph ch.1, and I liked the clear short statements in Eph ch.2. I found one sentence in his letters completely unintelligible but I will leave you to find that one.In Rom 1:18-32 I think that Dr Nyland is trying to move away from any reference to homosexual behaviour, not to my mind entirely successfully, though she does quite rightly indicate that the whole passage is primarily about idolatry.All in all I have really enjoyed using The Source and will continue to use it. It would be a useful exercise to use the NET Bible notes alongside it I suppose but I have not got round to that yet. It seems to me a tragedy that Dr Nyland's astonishing achievement has been ignored so widely (the main apparent reason can be found elsewhere; I have found no references at all to it in the literature that I have seen, anyway). I have written what I know is a rather lengthy review in the hope that I will stimulate many many more Christians and others to buy and use it. I recommend it very highly. It is fascinating and a real eye-opener to the original meaning of the text. I would say that there are no great doctrinal issues here though. I have given all my offspring a copy. I have prepared a short document with (the few) printing errors which follows. Highly recommended. Small mistakes, grammatical errors and printing errors I have noticed in The Source:Mt12:48 opening speech marks missing21:39/40 extra ‘so’p.58 23:10 n.4 an ‘a’ missing in transliteration25:25 this verse repeats v.24 and 25 is missing.p.63 n.3 ends with a comma; is this the end of the note?Mkp.72 1:6 n,1 Mt 3:4 not 59.8:16 ‘each’ missing before ‘other’Lk2:19 is the ‘up’ correct?3:17 close speech marks missing11:4 ‘an ordeal’ (not a ordeal)Jn1:23 perhaps the Isaiah ref missing (Is 40:3)6:45 similarly Is 54:13Acts2:2 ‘violent’ repeated13:11 ‘the sun’ repeated13:52 ‘with’ missingp. 256 how many? 12 – 1500? (one too many zeroes)Rom7:15 & 19 should be ‘practise’ not ‘practice’1 Cor6:2, 14:36 etc it might be helpful to readers to explain what you mean by the ‘η / ‘é being a disjunctive particle.15:23 n.1 should read Mt 24:3 (ie colon missing)2 Cor2:17 repetition of ‘like so many’3:7 ‘fade away’Gal1:13 should be ‘practising’ with an ‘s’Col1;18 ‘he’ missing? Ie ‘he became’2:18 n.1 (p.390) and ‘e’ missing in transliteration of threskeia, ‘n’ missing off embateuon1 Thesschap5 note 2 (p.399) wrong Greek form of the word (epistatai is repeated)Heb4:14 ‘agreement’ repeated4:15 ‘harassed’ not ‘harasses’5:7 n.10 ‘h’ missing in transliteration11:36 ‘off’ not ‘of’ ie off the flesh1 Petchapter 5 n.6, usually or always?1 Jnchapter 3 n.8, ref is Jn 8:44 not 8:14Rev5:12 comma missing after ‘strength’16:14 n.1 ‘i’ missing in the transliteration ‘daimonion’

I first heard about this translation from a friend of my daughter. The footnotes are very helpful indeed, and the translation makes a fresh reading experience of well known Bible verses. There are also some very interesting twists in the Greek that are either flattened out or simply untranslated in standard Bible translations. This is not a Bible for someone unused to academic texts (or for a new Christian); but having said this, it is definitely NOT a theological tome. The translation is very readable, and I have recommended it to friends and family alike.

If you are serious in bible study, a student, priest, teacher, preacher this is so helpful, not only does it highlight poor and miss-translation in the past but based on sound new findings and research but it opens up the text to fresh interpretation that is both challenging and helpful - stop basing sermons etc on commentaries which are years and years old! Make sure you get the full text with all the footnotes and endnotes not just the text alone.

A spot of Googling suggests this author has some axes to grind, but they rarely intrude into her notes and are pretty obvious when they do. Meanwhile her knowledge of Koine Greek as she was spoke puts many experts to shame - the hype on the back cover seems very close to the truth. Should add I have lived in Greece and became reasonably fluent in modern Greek, studied classical at Uni and follow Randall Buth's work with interest. To repeat - invaluable aid to getting that last 10% of meaning from the text

I am finding this book as an excellent help in understanding the true meaning of the New Testament with extensive information on the Greek language of that time.

The extensive footnotes throughout show the thought that has been put into this translation of the greek. I was quite delighted to find at least one verse which doesn't seem to make any sense in the NIV translation has found its meaning again in this version. I would hesitate to use it in complete replacement of my NIV new testament as I feel a few words have been translated a bit too literally. However I use it constantly together with my NIV when looking up bible verses and reading through the new testament.I would highly recommend this as essential reading to any Christian. It's very important for us to understand as much of the bible as we can, even if some of the footnotes are a bit hard to muscle through when you're not trained in classical greek.

Love this translation! Great insight into Greek words and good background to give it a little more context.

Every serious student of the Bible should have a copy of this translation!!!! Most modern translations are so agenda-motivated that it makes me nauseated! I have master's degree in linguistics and I appreciate and laud the humongous labour that has been invested in this translation.

Love reading this!! It makes a whole lot more sense than any other version I’ve read. She has detailed foot notes and other extra info that she only gives you the facts. She does not put her opinion in it at all. She doesn’t make guesses about certain words or what they refer to. She translates directly and then gives reasons why she translated that way by giving examples of other things written during the same time frame. Like I said, all facts and no guessing. Love it!!

Nunca pensé demasiado en lo que contenía el griego original en el Nuevo Testamento. Sin embargo, cuando se despoja de las agendas religiosas, los comités y la ideología, de repente emerge un Nuevo Testamento brutalmente honesto y extremadamente hermoso. Este maravilloso traductor es un experto en idiomas griegos. Si quiere saber lo que realmente dice su Nuevo Testamento, ¡compre este libro!

Totally delighted ! It is fascinating to learn enhanced meanings (and corrections) to favourite scriptures. Deep gratitude to Doctor Ann N. from Kevin Aryeh Hatikvah Smith aged 96, in 2093 Sydney. []

Dr Nyland has done a phenomenal job of translating the New Testament. Its written in such clear and easy language, a child can understand it. And her footnotes render immense depth and context to the passages. I love this book so much, I have bought a copy for 3 family members and some friends - they're all crazy about it too!