Category: NLT Resources

By Mark D. Taylor, NLT Bible Translation Committee The words of a Bible text are vitally important, but there are other elements that play a role in how we understand the meaning of any text. Think, for instance, of punctuation. The original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts of the Bible did not use punctuation. As a […]

by Mark D. Taylor, NLT Bible Translation Committee We all know that the King James Version (KJV) uses “thee and thou” language, and we intuitively know that the words thee and thou both mean “you.” But it might surprise you to realize that the KJV also uses the word you in many passages. Why is […]

Hebrew:  עָנָה נֶפֶשׁ (‘anah nephesh), כָּפַר (kaphar)English:   deny yourselves, make right by Jonathan W. Bryant, PhD, Senior Editor, Tyndale Bibles In late September or early October, the Jewish people celebrate Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This holiest day of the Jewish calendar, in which the Jewish people abstain from various practices, including eating, drinking, […]

by Mark D. Taylor, NLT Bible Translation Committee If you compare two or more Bible translations, you will occasionally find differences in the breakup of paragraphs or major sections of the text. What’s going on? For starters, we need to recognize that the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts upon which our translations are based did not […]

Greek:      παράκλητος (paraklētos)English:     Advocate, Helper, Counselor by Jonathan W. Bryant, PhD, Senior Editor, Tyndale Bibles Sometimes when a word is being translated from one language to another, it can be difficult to find a direct correspondence in a single word. In such cases, the word in the source language (e.g., ancient Greek) carries a meaning […]

Greek:      διαθήκη (diathēkē)English:     covenant, agreement, will, testament by Mark D. Taylor, NLT Bible Translation Committee The Greek word diathēkē (pronounced dee-ah-THAY-kay, with a soft TH, as in “thaw”) appears thirty-three times in the New Testament. In English translations, it is usually rendered as “covenant,” even though that word is not used much in everyday speech. […]

Greek:      γραμματεúς (grammateus); plural γραμματεῖς (grammateis)English:     scribe; teacher of the law; teacher of religious law by Mark D. Taylor, NLT Bible Translation Committee The Greek noun grammateus (plural grammateis) is used sixty-three times in the New Testament, almost always in reference to members of a group of Jewish religious leaders. The one exception to this […]

Greek:      σάρξ (sarx)English:     flesh, human body, earthly body, sinful human nature by Mark D. Taylor, NLT Bible Translation Committee The New Testament’s use of the Greek word sarx is both straightforward and complicated. The NLT uses a variety of words to translate sarx. In this article, these different English translations of sarx are marked with […]

Immerse: The Reading Bible was awarded the ECPA Bible of the Year Award in the Bibles Category at the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) annual Christian Book Awards. “This honor for Immerse is so exciting,” said Tyndale Bible Publisher Amy Simpson. “Understanding the Bible changes everything, and as a Bible built for reading, Immerse has […]

by Mark D. Taylor, NLT Bible Translation Committee Greek:      κοιμάω (koimaō) English: fall asleep; die The verb koimaō is used eighteen times in the New Testament. The literal meaning of the word is “to fall asleep.” An example of this usage is found in Luke 22:45, where Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane: […]