By Mark D. Taylor, NLT Bible Translation Committee

The writers of the New Testament letters make several references to hospitality. They use two closely related Greek words: the noun philoxenia (pronounced phil-ox-en-EE-ah) and the adjective philoxenos (pronounced phil-OX-en-os). Both terms are compounds formed from the Greek words philos, meaning “love,” and xenos, meaning “stranger.” A third Greek word that is used is xenodocheō (pronounced xen-o-dock-EH-oh), which comes from two words that mean “stranger” and “welcome.”

Here’s how the NLT renders these terms:

Romans 12:13: When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality
1 Timothy 3:2: A church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach.
1 Timothy 5:10: [Regarding a widow who is put on the list for support by the church] She must be well respected by everyone because of the good she has done. Has she brought up her children well? Has she been kind to strangers and served other believers humbly? Has she helped those who are in trouble? Has she always been ready to do good?
Titus 1:8: [Regarding an elder in the church] Rather, he must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must love what is good. He must live wisely and be just. He must live a devout and disciplined life.
Hebrews 13:2: Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!
1 Peter 4:9: Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

As you can see, the NLT uses the traditional term hospitality in Romans 12:13 and Hebrews 13:2, both of which use the noun philoxenia. In 1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:8, and 1 Peter 4:9, where the adjective philoxenos is used, the NLT provides contextual descriptions of what it means to be hospitable: having guests in our homes and sharing a meal or a place to stay. In 1 Timothy 5:10, where xenodocheō is used, the NLT translators convey the general concept of being welcoming or kind to strangers. This variety reflects the NLT’s meaning-for-meaning philosophy of translation. All these Greek terms point to the notion of hospitality, but the translation team often fleshed out the meaning of these Greek words with expressions that show what it means for followers of Christ to live our lives in a hospitable way toward others.

In Matthew 25:34-40, Jesus himself gave his followers numerous examples of hospitality:

Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.”

Then these righteous ones will reply, “Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?”

And the King will say, “I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”

Jesus viewed the practice of hospitality as a key component of being his follower. And in our world today, these instructions from the Bible hit close to home. We are to be kind to strangers, which applies both to neighbors we don’t yet know and to foreigners, refugees, and immigrants—in other words, everyone we encounter. May we compassionately live out these instructions in our daily lives and through our interactions with others.

There are more than one hundred passages in the New Testament that include quotations from the Old Testament, along with hundreds more that contain allusions. Where a quotation occurs, the New Living Translation (NLT) always sets it apart in some way, either as poetry or by using quotation marks. For instance, Romans 9:17 sets off the Old Testament passage in quotation marks:

¹⁷For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.”*

The asterisk at the end of the quotation shows the reader that there is a footnote at the bottom of the page. The footnote identifies the Old Testament passage quoted in the Romans passage:

9:17 Exod 9:16 (Greek version).

Now let’s look at this passage in Exodus 9:16, along with some surrounding context (9:13, 15-16):

¹³Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. . . . ¹⁵By now I could have lifted my hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the face of the earth. ¹⁶But I have spared you for a purpose—to show you my power* and to spread my fame throughout the earth.’”

We might expect the wording to be identical between Romans 9:17 and Exodus 9:16. But the Romans passage says, “for the very purpose of displaying my power in you,” and the Exodus passage says, “to show you my power.” The difference arises because the Romans passage is translated from a Greek text into English, while the Exodus passage is translated from a Hebrew text into English. But note the asterisk after the word power in the Exodus passage. It points to a footnote at the bottom of the page. The footnote reads:

9:16 Greek version reads to display my power in you; compare Rom 9:17.

The “Greek version” referenced in the footnote is the Septuagint—an ancient translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek. In this instance, it is clear that Paul was quoting from the Septuagint translation when he quoted Exodus 9:16 in his letter to the Romans. So the footnote in the NLT shows how the Greek version would be translated into English. It is essentially the same wording as is found in Romans 9:17. By comparing the two passages, the perceptive reader can see that there is a difference in wording in the OT text and the NT text, but the footnote in the Exodus passage shows that Paul was quoting from the Greek version.

So whenever a New Testament passage is quoting from the Greek Septuagint, the NLT indicates that the quotation stems from the Greek text. The NLT also provides a translation of the Septuagint reading in the footnote at the corresponding OT passage. This allows the careful reader to see the relationship between the Greek text in the NT and the Hebrew text in the OT. Likewise, the reader can see how the Septuagint—the Greek translation of the OT passage—relates to the Greek text in the NT passage.

Many readers ignore the footnotes when they read the Bible text, but the NLT footnotes provide “road maps” to help readers follow the relationship between New Testament passages and the Old Testament passages they draw from or quote.

Read carefully! In addition to revealing things about the ancient texts that have brought the Scriptures to us, the Old Testament quotes in the New Testament reveal much about God’s grand narrative of redemption and how the coming of Jesus the Messiah fulfills the hopes of God’s Old Testament people—and the hopes of us all!

By Jonathan W. Bryant, PhD, Senior Editor, Tyndale Bibles

The title Yahweh Tsebaoth occurs around 250 times in the Old Testament, mostly in the prophetic literature. The expression may be familiar to many with a church background because of its appearance in the second verse of the well-known hymn by Martin Luther A Mighty Fortress:

Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing,
were not the right Man on our side,
the Man of God’s own choosing.
You ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabaoth his name,
from age to age the same;
and he must win the battle.

The King James Version (KJV) rendered this title “Lord of hosts.” This rendering has been followed by a number of translations, including the ESV, NASB (1995), HCSB, NRSV, and NKJV. But what does “Lord of hosts” mean? Today, the English word “host” can have numerous connotations, from someone who seats you at a restaurant, to someone who’s running a Zoom meeting, to someone who facilitates your stay at an Airbnb. Some readers may recognize that “host” can sometimes mean “a large number,” but a large number of what?

The Hebrew term tsebaoth (sometimes rendered sabaoth) is a plural form of the noun tsaba, which is a military term referring to a group that is organized for battle (i.e., what we might call an army). For example, in Numbers 1, Moses and Aaron are assigned the task of numbering all those in the community of Israel who are able to go to war, the tsebaoth (the “troops” or “army”). Hence, the title Yahweh Tsebaoth conveys the notion that God is the Lord of armies.

That could simply mean that God is sovereign over any human army that might form. Indeed, the Old Testament frequently alludes to the fact that God orchestrates human armies to serve his purposes (for example, using Assyria or Babylon for his judgment on other nations). However, he is also Lord over the supernatural realm as well, including having command over a vast angelic army. We see hints of this in Scripture. For example, in 2 Kings 6, we read about Elisha the prophet being pursued by an Aramean army. When Elisha’s servant expresses hopelessness, Elisha prays for the man’s eyes to be opened, and he then sees a vast army of horses and chariots of fire. When Jesus commands Peter to put away his sword in Gethsemane, he states, “Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?” (Matthew 26:53). And in the book of Revelation, there are many references to the Lord’s armies, ready to do battle against the cosmic forces of evil.

The widespread use of the title Yahweh Tsebaoth in the Old Testament seems to point to this aspect of God’s sovereignty—the command of angelic armies. As such, the NLT translators have rendered the title “ Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

Interestingly, some other major translations have moved away from the language “Lord of hosts.” The CSB uses “Lord of Armies,” and the updated NASB (2020) uses “Lord of armies.” The NIV goes with a more general “Lord Almighty,” aligning well with the approach of the Septuagint (a Greek translation of the Old Testament), which often translates Tsebaoth with pantokratōr (“almighty” or “all-powerful”).

The NLT has rendered the title in a way that accurately reflects the meaning in its ancient context in a way that readers today can understand.

May we keep in mind that God is sovereign over what we currently see and also over forces that we cannot see. What an astonishing reality that this God cares about each of us!

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 result, readers had to make their own interpretation regarding sentence structure. Of course, the syntax of the strings of words gave clues as to sentence structure and who was speaking.

The King James Version added periods, commas, question marks, semicolons, and colons to the English translation, which were all very helpful. But it did not use quotation marks, as they weren’t in common use in the 1600s. The New King James Version (NKJV) used all those same elements of punctuation but also added quotation marks, which made the flow of the text easier for contemporary readers to understand.

For the most part, the placement of quotation marks is very intuitive. But sometimes the translators have to decide where a quotation ends. Look, for example, at John 3:10-21. In Jesus’ interaction with Nicodemus, we see that one of Jesus’ speeches begins at verse 10. But is Jesus still talking in verses 16-21?

The translators of the Revised Standard Version (RSV) used a closing quotation mark at the end of verse 15, though they added a footnote that said, “Some interpreters hold that the quotation continues through verse 21.” But the translators of the New Revised Standard Version did not use an ending quotation mark after verse 15. As a result, they indicate that Jesus was still speaking in verses 16-21. Similarly, the English Standard Version (which is a revision of the RSV) includes verses 16-21 as words of Jesus.

The 1984 edition of the New International Version (NIV) included verses 16-21 as words of Jesus. But the 2011 edition of the NIV stops Jesus’ speech at the end of verse 15. The NIV translators concluded that verses 16-21 were part of the apostle John’s narrative, but not part of Jesus’ speech.

The translation team for the New Living Translation wrestled with this same issue. Should verses 16-21 be included as part of Jesus’ speech? Our conclusion was these verses should be treated as words of Jesus. This all becomes very obvious in a red-letter Bible. The text of verses 16-21 is presented either in black type or red type depending on the translators’ decision as to whether Jesus is still speaking in these verses.

In the final analysis, the meaning of verses 16-21 does not change. Whether these are the words of Jesus or of the apostle John, the message is very clear. The NLT renders verses 16 and 17 in this way:

¹⁶ “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”

These familiar verses provide a wonderful promise of redemption for all who believe in Jesus as the Son of God.

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 this?

Terms like thee and thou and thy sound very old-fashioned to us today, and they are. But there is a simple linguistic explanation for them. And to understand that, we need to brush up on our pronouns and how they are used.

We use first-person pronouns when we are speaking about ourselves: “Before I went to the store, my wife told me to get milk. She said that we needed milk for our breakfast.”

We use second-person pronouns when we are speaking to another person: “My wife said, ‘When you go to the store, remember to take your phone.’”

We use third-person pronouns when we are speaking about another person: “She went to the store to get new shirts for herself and her kids. They all needed new clothes.”

In English, we use the pronoun you to refer to a single person or a group of people. We also use you as both the subject of a sentence and the object of a sentence. But both Hebrew and Greek differentiate between singular and plural and between subject and object.

In the Elizabethan period and earlier, English used those same distinctions. So when the King James Version was translated during the first decade of the 1600s, it was natural to use a number of different second-person pronouns. Here’s a table that shows the pronouns used in the English of the Elizabethan period (when the KJV was being translated):

Here’s an example of how the various second-person pronouns are used in the KJV translation of Matthew 5:27-29:

 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.  And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

But modern translations use you and your in each of these instances. Here is the same passage as found in the New Living Translation (NLT):

“You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”

The Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible is in some sense a successor to the King James Version. It was published in 1952, which was within the lifetime of some of us, and of course we didn’t use “thee and thou” language except when we were reading the KJV. So the RSV translators broke with the KJV tradition, and they used the familiar you for both singular and plural, both as subject and object.

So the RSV translates Matthew 5:27-29 this way:

 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.”

But look at what the RSV does in Psalm 5, where the psalmist is speaking to God the Father:

¹ Give ear to my words, O Lord;
give heed to my groaning.
² Hearken to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to thee do I pray.
³ O Lord, in the morning thou dost hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for thee, and watch.

Since the church had been accustomed to using “thee and thou” language for centuries, and it had come to be considered a kind of holy language, the RSV translators felt that they needed to retain “thee and thou” in certain passages where people are speaking directly to God.

Some people suggest that the KJV’s use of “thee and thou” language reflects a higher view of God and his Word—as though it sounds more holy—but the use of such language is simply the product of the time period in which the translation was produced. As always, translation work is most effective when it communicates in language that readers can readily understand—which changes over time.

Even though the KJV can be challenging to read and understand, pastors in thousands of churches still use it as their standard translation for preaching, and many people have memorized passages from the KJV. It is filled with beautiful language and has been tremendously influential and important in the history of English Bible translation.

Most important of all is that, regardless of translation, people are indeed reading the Bible, God’s message to all of us. Our prayer is that readers of the NLT, like the seventeenth-century readers of the KJV, will encounter God’s Word afresh, in language they can understand.

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, and sexual relations, stems from the instructions given in Leviticus 16 (see also Leviticus 23:26-32; Numbers 29:7-11). On that day, the high priest was to enter the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle (and later, the Temple), and offer purification for the sanctuary, the priests, and the entire community. In this way, the people, marred by sin, would be atoned (or made right) before God.

Leviticus 23:26-32 outlines what the observance of this day was to look like for the people of Israel. The description of some of these practices can sound confusing to our modern ears, so translators take various approaches to help readers understand the meaning of the Hebrew wording in this description.

For example, in Leviticus 23:27, in the instructions given to the people, the KJV reads, “Ye shall afflict your souls.” The ESV picks up this language: “You shall afflict yourselves” (see also NKJV). Are readers to understand that these ancient Israelites were doing physical harm to themselves (the most natural understanding of “afflict” today)? The Hebrew verb used here is ‘anah (ah-NAH), which appears more than eighty times in the Old Testament. This term can have numerous connotations but generally refers to being in a bent down or low position. It can be used to speak of a physical, crouched-down or bowed-down position. In a non-physical sense, it can refer to being humble, subjected, or oppressed. So if the action is done to oneself, as here, it essentially means to make oneself humble or weak. But many people today are likely to get the wrong impression with the term “afflict.” Some translations have rendered the term “humble yourselves” (for example, NASB, NRSV). The NLT translators opted to go with “deny yourselves,” which gets at the general sense of humble submission but also conveys the idea that there is an active rejection of desire (mainly for food), which is behind the meaning of “affliction” as used in the KJV. Most modern translations also include a footnote to suggest that this “denial” or “affliction” is practiced chiefly in abstaining from food (i.e., fasting).

Another English term often used in this passage that may not be readily understood by modern readers (particularly those without a church background) is the word “atonement” itself. In Leviticus 23:28, the Hebrew verb kaphar (kah-FAR) is used to describe what happens before the Lord on the Day of Atonement as the high priest performs his duties. This Hebrew term, which means “to cover” (see Genesis 6:14, where Noah’s ark was “covered” [i.e., waterproofed] with tar or pitch), is taken up in a metaphorical sense throughout the Old Testament to refer to the “covering” or appeasement of sin. God provided the people with a way (through sacrifices and the Day of Atonement) for their sin to be forgiven and their relationship with him to be restored. This is what our English term “atonement” means. But in the interest of making this concept more understandable for modern readers, the NLT translators rendered the wording in Leviticus 23:28 as “making you right with the lord your God.”

These are two examples in which the NLT renders the contextual meaning of Hebrew terms but does so in language that is readily understood by modern readers. As we reflect on the Day of Atonement as described in Scripture, let us pause to let the reality sink in that Jesus, our great High Priest, has provided atonement, making us right with God, through his once-for-all sacrifice on the cross (see Hebrews 10:1-18).

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 have chapter breaks, verse numbers, paragraph breaks, or punctuation. In fact, the earliest Greek manuscripts didn’t even have spaces between the words. All those features have been added by Bible copyists and scholars through the centuries.

The standard Greek text used by most students today, published by the United Bible Societies (UBS), includes chapter and verse numbers and a minimal level of punctuation. The scholars who compiled that Greek text have also inserted section headings in the text, but translators have to make their own judgment as to the placement of paragraph breaks and section headings.

An example where translations differ comes in the section break at Ephesians 5:20-21. The syntax of the Greek text suggests that verses 18-24 comprise one long sentence, yet the UBS text introduces a paragraph break and a new section header beginning at verse 21. Some translations (e.g., RSV, NIV²⁰¹¹, NLT) follow the UBS text and introduce a section header prior to verse 21. Other translations (e.g., NASB, NIV¹⁹⁸⁴, NKJV, NRSV, ESV) introduce a section header prior to verse 22. We can see the difference when we compare this passage in the NLT and the ESV:

Why the difference? It relates to the translators’ understanding of what Paul is saying in verse 21. Is the concept of “submitting to one another” the end of a thought and therefore the end of a major section, as in the ESV? Or is verse 21 the beginning of a new thought that is continued in verses 22-33? If the section break comes before verse 22 rather than before verse 21, it implies that submitting to one another (v. 21) is somehow unrelated to the instruction for wives to submit to their husbands (v. 22).

The NLT translators see verse 21 as an introduction to the relationships within a marriage. Believers are to submit to one another (v. 21). This thought is then fleshed out in terms of the relationship between wives and husbands. Wives are to submit to their husbands as to the Lord (v. 22), and husbands are to love their wives, just as Christ loved the church (v. 25).

We must remember, though, that the section headings in any translation have been created by the translators as a tool to help readers understand the flow of the text. Those headings were not in the original Hebrew or Greek texts.

This is just one small glimpse into the kinds of decisions that Bible translators make as they prepare the text for print. Translators take their work very seriously since they are dealing with God’s message for all people in all cultures and languages. May we as readers also take the text seriously as we read it and apply it to our own lives.

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 known to that audience but for which the target language (e.g., English) doesn’t have an equivalent word. The concept may be present in the target language, but to adequately put the ancient concept into words requires more explanation than a single word can give.

The Greek word paraklētos (pronounced pah-RAH-klay-tahs) provides one such example. This noun (which appears in John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7; 1 John 2:1) is related to the frequently used verb parakaleō, which at its core means “to call to one’s side.” This “calling” can be for various purposes (e.g., encouragement, an appeal or entreaty, exhortation, or comfort), so the verb can be rendered in various ways in the New Testament, depending on the context. The noun paraklētos similarly means something to the effect of “one who is called to the side of another to provide aid.” To translate this meaning into a single English word proves difficult.

A further complication that emerges in translating paraklētos is that, as a reference to the Holy Spirit, it has been treated as a title (some simply prefer to use the transliterated term Paraclete). Modern English translations have thus generally attempted to render paraklētos with a singular, titular term in English. But note the variation of terms used among popular English translations in, for example, John 14:26:

• NIV: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—
• NLT: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.
• ESV: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
• KJV: And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
• NKJV: And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
• CSB: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.
• NRSV: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.
• NASB: I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever;

The NLT translators opted for the English term advocate, as a general way of referring to someone who is “called to come alongside.” While advocate may sound like an attorney for some readers, other terms like comforter or helper can narrow the sense to coming alongside simply for encouragement or material aid. Similarly, counselor carries for many the sense of either verbal advice or a therapeutic connotation. The overarching notion of “coming alongside another to provide aid” can involve numerous purposes, so any singular-word rendering is likely to leave readers with an understanding of the Holy Spirit that is at least somewhat incomplete. As a way of accounting for this, the NLT translators opted to include a footnote that provides multiple alternative options for translating paraklētos, along with noting the transliterated Greek term Paraclete. See, for example, the NLT rendering of John 14:16 along with the textual footnote:

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,* who will never leave you.”

                14:16 Or Comforter, or Encourager, or Counselor. Greek reads Paraclete; also in 14:26.

This textual note (which also appears at John 15:26; 16:7) acknowledges the complexity of rendering this Greek term with a single English term and allows the reader to see a fuller picture of what may be involved in the Holy Spirit’s work as described by John.

May we recognize in our own lives the presence and work of the Holy Spirit—the One Who Has Come Alongside Us. Jesus has not left us alone but has sent his Spirit to dwell in us.

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. But “covenant” is an extremely important word in biblical theology, so English translations, including the NLT, generally retain it.

When Jesus instituted the new covenant at the Last Supper, the Gospel writers used the word diathēkē:

After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant (diathēkē) between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.” (Luke 22:20)

But what did Jesus mean by saying that he was instituting a new covenant? For context, we have to go back to the covenants of the Old Testament. The Hebrew text uses the word berith (typically translated “covenant”) to describe the nature and terms of God’s relationship with his people. God established multiple covenants in the Old Testament. We see the first covenant in the story of Noah:

I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. (Genesis 9:13)

God later established a covenant with Abram (Abraham):

So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River.” (Genesis 15:18)

This covenant with Abraham (and his descendants) forms the basis for God’s intervention on behalf of his people in the Exodus:

God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Exodus 2:24)

Following the Exodus, God established another covenant with his people through Moses:

Then Moses took the blood from the basins and splattered it over the people, declaring, “Look, this blood confirms the covenant the Lord has made with you in giving you these instructions” (Exodus 24:8).

Finally, God established a covenant with David, promising that his descendants would reign forever:

But the Lord did not want to destroy David’s dynasty, for he had made a covenant with David and promised that his descendants would continue to rule. (2 Chronicles 21:7; see 2 Samuel 7:1-17)

Throughout the Old Testament the term berith (“covenant”) is used to describe the relationship between God and the people of Israel. As the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek in the Septuagint, the translators employed the Greek term diathēkē, which can refer to an agreement, a will, or a testament, to render berith. So diathēkē was a familiar term to the Jewish people of Jesus’ day. With this background, Jesus indicated that his death (his blood) would institute a new relationship with his people. This notion is explicated in depth in the letter to the Hebrews, for example, in Hebrews 9:15:

That is why he [Christ] is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.

We are very familiar with the term testament (another possible rendering of diathēkē) because we refer to the two parts of the Bible as the Old Testament and the New Testament (though they could also be called the Old Covenant and the New Covenant). The King James Version uses the very term “new testament” in Jesus’ words at the Last Supper:

Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament [diathēkē] in my blood, which is shed for you. (Luke 22:20)

The NLT translators have opted to use the term covenant in line with the familiarity of the Old Testament covenants and its importance as a theological term.

May we be people who fully enter into a covenant relationship with God by accepting Jesus’ gift of an abundant life, which he freely offers to us.

by Jonathan W. Bryant, Senior Editor, Tyndale Bibles

The Greek word Christos appears in the New Testament over five hundred times—not surprising given the association of the term with the New Testament’s central character, Jesus. Upon seeing the English transliteration of the word (Christos), it might seem obvious that English translators would simply use the term “Christ” as a translation. But some translations, including the New Living Translation, have opted not to use “Christ” in all instances.

The term christos (originally an adjective meaning “anointed”) appears in nonbiblical Greek literature, but it took on a particular meaning in Jewish literature in relation to the Hebrew term mashiach, which also means “anointed.” This Hebrew term could be used in relation to an individual who was anointed with oil and thus set apart for a special office, such as a priest or a king (for example, David, as seen in 2 Samuel 23:1). As the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek in the Septuagint, the translators employed the Greek term christos to render mashiach.

During the period between the Old and New Testaments, messianic expectations became more developed, as seen, for example, in the communities that produced the literature now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Scripture passages such as 2 Samuel 7:1-17, Isaiah 11:1-5, Daniel 7:13-14, and Zechariah 3:8 offered hope that God would send a great “Anointed One” who would deliver his people. Such ideas and texts stood in the background of Jewish thought in the first century AD when Jesus entered the scene. Jesus’ early Jewish followers began to identify Jesus as the mashiach, the Messiah (see, for example, Peter’s confession in Mark 8:29), undoubtedly using the term mashiach (or the related Aramaic term meshicha). As Jesus’ followers began to record in the Greek language the stories of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection, they used the Greek term christos.

The NLT translators opted to translate christos as “Messiah” throughout the Gospels and Acts when the context assumes a Jewish audience (see, for example, Mark 8:29), while translating the term as “Christ” whenever a predominantly Gentile audience can be assumed (which is typically the case in the Letters and Revelation; see, for example, Romans 5:9). By doing so, the NLT retains the connection between the Greek term christos and the Hebrew term mashiach, treating the English words “Messiah” and “Christ” synonymously since both terms have the same meaning. There is actually a precedent for using the terms interchangeably in the New Testament itself. The Gospel writer John twice used the Greek term Μεσσίας (Messias), which is simply a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew mashiach, placed once on the lips of the disciple Andrew (John 1:41) and once on the lips of the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at a well (John 4:25). In both cases, Jewish messianic expectations are in view; and in both cases, the interchangeability of Messias and Christos is highlighted.

As the Good News concerning Jesus spread across the Roman Empire, the term Christos essentially became a proper name for Jesus among his followers (who themselves came to be known as Christianoi, “Christians”; see Acts 11:26). The connection between the term christos and the expectations regarding a coming mashiach (“Messiah”) would have been clear to most Jewish believers.

As we reflect on this term, let us remember how Jesus, the Anointed One, fulfilled the promises of the Old Testament. His coming was according to God’s plan, spoken through the prophets. And as the Anointed One, he perfectly fulfilled the roles of both king and priest, ushering in the Kingdom of God and allowing us access to his throne.