Wanted to give you a quick head’s up about a promotion that Logos Bible Software is doing. For a limited time they are giving away a free Cornerstone Commentary – no strings! They will be publishing the entire series eventually (it’s not complete yet, these things take time. You try getting a bunch of scholars to get their work turned in at the same time – it’s not like we can give them an assignment for their term papers. Well, maybe it is and this is completely breaking down but be that as it may – it takes time).

Logos will be bundling the commentaries together into a couple of groups. Currently they are in pre-pub for a set of 9.

Also, don’t miss their new blog here. Also, don’t forget that they are producing a version of the NLT Study Bible that you can order here or find at your local Christian bookstore.

By the way, I finally have the deluxe editions of the SB on my desk and I gotta say they look great. Now I have to figure out which one I want. I am dying to talk about it more, but I will leave that to Sean and his Seminar on the Study Bible TONIGHT. I have seen him explain it and work through a couple of passages on several occasions now and he will not disappoint. I can’t not say anything though. I am not a study Bible guy usually. Give me a text Bible, a good Concordance, like say this one, a couple of commentaries for the book or books I am reading (how do you do Mr. subliminal in a blog? – cough*Cornerstone*cough – his keyboard muttered in a different font) and maybe a backgrounds book. That being said, I want this Bible. I probably won’t carry it to church because 1) it’s big, no two ways about it, and 2) it would be too distracting during the sermon and while I am pretty good friends with the pastor of my church I don’t think he would be too appreciative. I can be pretty discrete though . . .

Labels: Cornerstone Commentary, Kevin O'Brien, Logos, NLT, NLT Study Bible

As many of our readers are already aware, the NLT has undergone some changes over the years. The NLT was released in 1996 as a new translation, but it underwent a significant revision in 2004, often referred to as the NLT Second Edition (NLTse). In 2007, some further revisions were introduced, but this update was not nearly as comprehensive as the 2004 edition.

Labels: Keith Williams

The latest randomly-chosen winners of the Hardcover NLT Study Bibles are: Steven R. Robertson, Scripture Zealot, jbwiebe, Seraph, Rich Shields, Elvin, h bar, Alicia, Ron, blackreformingkid, and eloratan. (Eloratan, if you're reading this, please email me your name and postal address). Congratulations!

Labels: Laura Bartlett

In the past there was a tradition of not listing the names of the translators of the Bible. After all, translators didn’t write the Bible; they simply render into a modern language what is there in Hebrew and Greek (with a bit of Aramaic). Humility would seem to call for anonymity.

So why does the NLT list the names of its ninety translators? It’s not to stroke the egos of the scholars. Indeed, I get embarrassed when people ask me to autograph their NLT because they see my name up front.

The main value of knowing who translated the Bible you are reading is to let you know the theological perspective of the work. (Yes, it is also to tell you that the people who did it are highly trained specialists in the language and literature of the Old and New Testaments). But what difference does the theological perspective of the translator make?

A big difference. After all, as I like to say, a translation is a commentary without a note. Well, not quite, but what I mean is that to translate requires interpretation and interpretation means that exegetical decisions have to be made. Much of the Bible is crystal clear and easily rendered into a modern language like English, but not all of it.

Let me give an example from the very first verses of Genesis (1:1-2) and let’s do so by comparing the NLT and the NRSV.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. (NLT)

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep…” (NRSV)

Notice the difference? In the NRSV at the time (when) God created the
heavens and earth, the earth was formless and void. In other words, it was
already there and ready for God to use. The NLT hints at a creation from
nothing. There was nothing and then God created a formless earth which he
then shaped into the habitable planet described in the rest of Genesis 1.

Here’s the rub. This important theological point cannot be solved by reference to the rules of Hebrew grammar. They both can be defended. The NLT (and other translations by evangelical scholars) base their rendering on other, later Scripture passages that clearly teach creation from nothing. The NRSV rather takes its cue from the cultural environment. The surrounding cultures (Egyptian, Canaanite, Mesopotamian) all describe primeval waters from which creation derives.

This is just one striking example, but it does indicate that you should know something about where your translation came from. It is also a good idea to use multiple translations when doing serious study, but more about that in the future.

Labels: Tremper Longman

Welcome to our newest NLT Blog team member, Dr. Tremper Longman. Dr. Longman is the Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies and the chair of the religious studies department at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.

He is the senior translator of the Wisdom Books in the New Living Translation and the General Reviewer of Job-Song of Songs and author of many notes and articles in the NLT Study Bible. He is also the author of the commentary on Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs in the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary series.

We’re so glad to have Dr. Longman aboard. We look forward to the ways that his contributions will inform and shape our discussion here about the NLT and bible translation.

Labels: Laura Bartlett

In the recently-released CBA (Christian Bookseller Association) chart of best-selling Bible translations in July, the NLT topped the chart as the Bible translation with the most units sold in the month! This is the first time, to our knowledge, that the NLT has been #1 on this list. (The NLT was #2 on this list in June.)

This is pretty exciting news for us, though we do keep it in perspective, knowing that these numbers fluctuate fairly often. Part of the reason for the jump is due to the sales of one of our new Bibles--Operation Worship (NLT), which released this summer.

Several bloggers have commented on the momentum and growing usage of the NLT:

Bryon was the first (that I'm aware of) to link to this list.

Rick Mansfield, in a post last month called "The Rise of the New Living Translation" observes that "signs are starting to point to the New Living Translation as a major contender for the spot of top English translation that the NIV has held onto for the last two decades." He quotes Wayne Leman, who said "A major translation comes along every few generations and it can become a default translation. The KJV was one of these. The RSV was one, at least for NCC churches. The NIV was one. Now, [in my opinion], the NLT is one."

Brad says "It seems that the Study Bible and the NLT in particular is becoming the translation of choice for a lot of people."

ElShaddai Edwards observes in his post "Changes in the Bookstore" that the NLT is increasing in placement and location in his local Christian bookstore: "Surprise, surprise, the second largest layout was for the NLT, with 3 display units. They’d moved the NLT from the back wall (where the NIV is now) to the left side wall (high visibility too)" He comments "I can’t deny that I’m pleased to see the NLT get so much exposure. I’m become convinced that functional translations are as every bit authoritative a Bible as formal translations or even the original Greek/Hebrew texts. " A couple of commenters confirm that they've observed this trend in their local bookstores as well.

TC Robinson writes a post called "The Second Coming of the NLT has taken the Bible World by Storm!"

David Ker posts on buzz about the NLT in the blogosphere and CD-Host comments that "Virtually ever blogger I read has upgraded their evaluation of the NLT and/or NTLSB in the last quarter." In another post, David talks about the number of bloggers promoting the NLT. Rick Mansfield comments on that post that " the NLT is definitely gaining momentum and readers "

In a very well-commented post, iMonk says: "And then we have the issue of who translated the New Living Translation. Careful there young, restless and reformed. Some of your favorites have been doing some dynamic equivalence translation behind your back." (iMonk isn't saying anything about the momentum of the NLT, he's just saying.)

Other Buzz:

The July 2008 edition of the Christian Reformed Church reported that the 2008 synod declared that the NLT is one of the translations that may be used in that denomination's worship services.


Harold Smith, editor-in-chief and CEO of Christianity Today, International, in an announcement last month that the New Living Translation will be the default translation on CTI's websites, says "I’m especially thrilled that we can, together, provide broader distribution and more creative access to a quality translation that will bring God’s living Word to bear on more and more people.”

Labels: Laura Bartlett

Mark D. Taylor

As a dynamic-equivalence translation, the NLT translates the Hebrew and Greek text in natural, understandable English. This means that we try to avoid technical terms that the average reader would not understand.

Two such technical terms not used in the NLT are "propitiation" and "expiation." The Bible Translation Committee chose not to use these terms because the average reader does not understand them. In fact, I'd guess that only 1% of the population could define the terms "propitiation" and "expiation" with any degree of accuracy.

The table below shows how four translations handle the Greek term hilasterion:

Romans 3:25
KJV	RSV	ESV	NLT
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation . . .	whom God put forward as an expiation . . .	whom God put forward as a propitiation . . .	For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.
Hebrews 9:5
KJV	RSV	ESV	NLT
And over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercyseat;	above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat.	Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat.	Above the Ark were the cherubim of divine glory, whose wings stretched out over the Ark's cover, the place of atonement.

These are the only two NT passages that use the Greek word hilasterion. But the word is used frequently in the Greek translation of the OT, where it refers to the cover of the Ark of the Covenant. English translations of the OT render the Hebrew term as "mercy seat" (KJV, RSV, ESV), "atonement cover" (NIV), or "the Ark's cover--the place of atonment" (NLT).

In Heb 9:5, the term hilasterion is used in the literal sense--describing the Ark's cover.

In Rom 3:25, Paul uses hilasterion as a metaphor. "God presented Jesus as the hilasterion." But what does this metaphor mean? Jesus was the "atonement cover." He was the "place of atonement." He was himself "the sacrifice for sin," the means of atonement between God and humanity.

Does the English word "propitiation" communicate this nuance of meaning? Perhaps to 1% of the population. To the other 99%, it communicates very little meaning at all.

That's why the NLT uses words that communicate clearly to 100% of the readers: "God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin" (Rom 3:26).

By the way, Scripture Zealot has a post on this very subject called Romans 3:25, Propitiation and the NLT (in which he quotes the first-edition text of the NLT).

Labels: Bible Translation, dynamic equivalence, formal equivalence, Hebrews 9:5, Mark Taylor, NLT, Romans 3:25

So I have taken more than a few days to respond to all of the comments. My apologies. I have been thinking a lot about the responses to part 1 and have re-worked my approach a couple of times. There is so much going on here that it will certainly take more than one post to chase all of the threads. Here are some of the posts that I am considering:

· Of price points and print runs
· What makes a large print Bible a large print Bible?
· Red letter?! We don’t need no stinking red letter!
· To sew or not to sew, that is the question
· I can’t think of a clever title for a post on paper right now, it’s Friday and frankly, I’m distracted by the fact that Dr. Who is a re-run tonight and that Blackhawks tickets go on sale this coming Monday – opening night here I come.

While the above are important, it would seem that the biggest issue for many of you is the issue of an edition for the “gatekeepers” – most notably for pastors and for teachers who will influence the use (and purchase) of the NLT by others. For the record, I completely agree with you and we want to create Bibles that work for you. We are also very aware of the influence of pastors and teachers as a company. Large portions of our marketing are targeted at gatekeepers. We have not always been where in the product development arena, but we are working on it. Further, it doesn’t make sense for us to create Bibles that don’t actually get used or aren’t useful. We can sell them for while, but sooner or later the newness or the coolness wears thin. If the NLT hasn’t been read then did it really do any good?

Part of my difficulty in writing this post is that on the one hand I don’t want to just say “I can’t really tell you anything specific, but trust me there’s a lot more to it” and at the same time there are a whole lot of numbers that could show the realities and difficulties in producing some of the Bibles that we would like to produce, but simply posting those numbers could also get me in a lot of trouble internally (and one my fellow bloggers in three levels up the company ladder from my boss . . .).

So at the risk of being too mysterious, there are certain hard costs involved in the production of any new Bible which quickly run into multiple tens of thousands of dollars (and that’s for the simple ones, a study Bible like the NLT Study Bible for instance goes a lot further north in a hurry) before you even print anything.

So for every Bible we create we have to reach certain realistic sales thresholds in order to simply break even on the development, let alone the costs of the inventory. Obviously we have more than a few that not only reach breakeven but which are also profitable. The reality is, however, there are more that don’t. And this holds true for publishing in general as well. More books fail than ever make a profit.

I am sure that all of this sounds like a cop out and you can feel a very big “but” coming. Not so. I asked the question of what you want because we need to know and it's my job to figure out how to make the most useful Bibles possible. We won’t always be able to accommodate your desires, but if we can find a way to do so and make it a viable venture then I am all for it.

We are actively working on several products which may well be solutions to many (though maybe not all) of your desires. I can’t go into specifics on these right now, but I can say that several of the issues that have been brought up in the comments relating to this and other posts on the NLTBlog are part of the discussions. As these products get nearer to release, you will hear more about them.

I did, however, want to give a couple of specific replies to your comments:

Shorter print runs and higher prices for editions like Select. It is true that we can do shorter print runs of individual products and charge higher prices for them. The equation is a bit more complex, however. In the case of the Select Bible, we took an existing product and modified it. We literally took unbound bibles (called “sigs” – short for signatures, which actually refers to the way that sections of a book come off the printing press, but I digress), had covers hand-made in Mexico, sent to the printer in the US and attached, imported deluxe boxes from Hong Kong . . . you get the idea. This was the only way to be cost effective in the production of this Bible. And Iyov, you’re right it’s not even close to a best seller. We still have some left from that original printing. More on this issue in a future post. (And by the way license deals are most certainly a part of what we do).

Cd-Host: the idea of bundling software for distribution on a computer is something that I hadn’t thought about and which I find intriguing. Rest-assured, software is high on our list of things to do, so you will be seeing more from us in the future.

Thomas, the “build a Bible” concept has actually been tried. I don’t think it worked out so well for the publisher. That being said, at some point, it will probably become a viable option.
Rick, you are right, we need to figure out a way to get page samples on the website. I have passed on that request and the issue of linking together various bindings of a given product. In the meantime, here is a list of the bindings available in the large print personal size. I will have a text sample as a part of my post on large print Bibles.

Hardcover: 978-1-4143-1405-1 retail: $24.99
Black Imitation leather (heavy paper, not the synthetic leather made from polyurethane): 978-1-4143-1403-7 retail: $29.99
Burgundy Imitation leather: 978-1-4143-1404-4 retail: $29.99
Black bonded leather: 978-1-4143-1401-3 retail: $39.99
Burgundy bonded leather: 978-1-4143-1402-0 retail: $39.99
Brown and Tan TuTone leatherlike: 978-1-4143-1871-4 retail: $39.99

More to come, and keep the comments and suggestions coming!

Labels: Kevin O'Brien

Craig Blomberg has an insightful post for anyone who has ever wondered about how a committee Bible translation works. Dr. Blomberg was part of the team that worked on the New Living Translation in the 1990s. Here is what he says about his work on the Gospel of Matthew:

With the New Living Translation, the Bible was divided into sixths, with a scholar appointed general editor over each large chunk. Then individuals books of the Bible (or small collections of books) were parceled out to three experts (I worked on Matthew), who compiled long lists of suggestions for revising Ken Taylor’s original
Living Bible Paraphrased. We ranked these in terms of priority, sent them to the general editor over our part of the Bible, who synthesized a selection of them, interacted with a Tyndale House stylist, and sent a draft back to us for us to repeat the process. Eventually the full translation emerged.

Dr. Blomberg is describing the process for creating the 1996 edition of the NLT text. The 2004 second edition was another stage in the development of the NLT, and I suspect other members of our blog team who were actually involved in those events (I didn't come on until 2005, and I am not a participant in Bible Translation Committee discussions) might write a thing or two about that on this blog in the future. But I am getting off topic.

It may be surprising for some to read that Dr. Blomberg has been involved in translation work for the NLT, HCSB, ESV, and now serves on the committee responsible for the TNIV. In fact, he is one of several excellent scholars who have participated in multiple translation projects. Just comparing the list of the ESV's Translation Oversight Committee with the full list of the NLT Translation team reveals 25% overlap (three of the 12 ESV committee members participated in the NLT: Paul House, Robert Mounce, and Gordon Wenham). Expanding to the list of ESV translation reviewers would reveal significantly more overlap between the two teams. Similar overlaps can be observed between the NLT team and the NIV/TNIV Committee for Bible Translation (Blomberg, Douglas Moo, Larry Walker).

These scholars believe it is important to produce translations that are true to the original Greek and Hebrew, and meaningful for those who read it. They work very hard to ensure that God's Word is faithfully communicated in English. And they do this for each translation they contribute to, whether it be the "essentially literal" ESV, the "optimal equivalence" HCSB, the "balanced" TNIV, or the "dynamically equivalent" NLT.

In this vein, I would also like to point to another comment Blomberg makes later in the post:

More than ever, I have an intense appreciation of how much easier it is to
criticize a translation than it is to produce one that will be both as clear as
possible and as accurate as possible.

That is unequivocally true. There will always be facets of the original text that are captured better by one translation or another, and it is easy to point out where the NLT (or TNIV, or ESV, etc.) has "missed" something. Instead, why don't we celebrate the wonderful work that these scholars do and appreciate the fact that we have multiple excellent, peer-reviewed Bible translations in English?

Thanks for your work on Bible translation, Dr. Blomberg. Thanks to all of the scholars that have dedicated their life to helping everyone understand God's Word more clearly.

Labels: dynamic equivalence, essentially literal, ESV, HCSB, Keith Williams, NLT, TNIV, translation

Sorry for our extended absence! The site has been down for the last two days due to a power outage here at Tyndale House Publishers. On Monday night, a pretty nasty storm made its way through the Chicago area, and our offices in the western suburbs lost power.

For some reason, the electric company prioritizes residential addresses when working to restore power (imagine that!), so we pretty much had to close up shop for two business days because we didn't have sufficient power to run the HVAC and computer networks. Since we host this blog here at Tyndale, that meant the blog (and all of our other sites) were down as well.

The good people at ComEd have restored our power, we are back in the office, and our websites are coming back online. We'll resume our regular posting soon.

Labels: Keith Williams

The seven winners for last week of the hardcover NLT Study Bibles are : Dan Masshardt, Greg, drmellow, Juan Martinez, Dave, Jimbo S. and CD-Host. All were randomly chosen (by the random number generator on my nerdy graphing calculator). Only six and seven people (respectively) entered for the last two days, so chances of winning these days are pretty high! To enter, just ask a question about the NLT Study Bible in the comments of last week's post.

We want these questions because Sean Harrison (General Editor of the NLTSB) will be answering questions live in two online seminars this month. If you're still deciding whether or not to buy an NLTSB, want a tutorial on how to use your NLTSB, or are just interested in learning more insider information about it, sign up for either of the free webinars, taking place on August 7 at 11AM CST and August 28 at 7pm CST.

Labels: Laura Bartlett, NLT Bibles

Is the NLT (or any dynamic equivalent translation) good for serious Bible study?

I have often heard people say that the NLT is great for daily reading, but it shouldn't be used for serious Bible study. Why? There are probably several reasons, but I think one major factor behind this thinking relates to word study.

Word Studies
David Ker made this comment on Rick Mansfield's recent post on the NLT:

"I wonder how easy it would be to use as a preaching/teaching Bible. Because preachers and teachers tend to do a lot of word studies they might feel lost using NLT."

I think the primary factor in helping pastors and Bible teachers use a translation for word studies is related to the tools available for word study, not the translation itself. (This is something that Rick also points out in the comments on that post.) When I was first learning Greek and Hebrew, I did most of my word studies using the KJV and NASB. Why? Because the bible software program I was using was set up to make the connections between these translations and the original language explicit. And when I didn't have my computer handy, Strong's Concordance made the KJV an easy choice for word study.

The NLT is well on its way to having these kinds of tools available. James Swanson, a senior editor for Bibles and Bible reference at Tyndale, has been working tirelessly to support the creation of these tools. Jim is the one who created the Tyndale-Strong's numbering system that is in use for the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary series and will be the basis for printed tools, as promised in the front matter of each CBC volume.

Aside on the Tyndale-Strong's numbering system
What exactly is the Tyndale-Strong's numbering system (hereafter TS)? It is an adaptation of the Strong's numbering system to include more up-to-date lexical research than was available when Dr. James Strong originally created his system.

The Strong's numbers have proved tobe an invaluable tool for helping English-speaking students of the Bible get access to the words used in the Hebrew and Greek originals. But, from a scholarly perspective, it does have some problems. Sometimes, he lumped words together because they share the same Hebrew root, even though they are used as different words. There are also cases where homonyms were lumped together rather than being treated as distinct words. Some other issues could be mentioned, but Tyndale decided that there was no need to completely throw out his system and reinvent the wheel. Instead, the TS system retains all of Strong's original numbers, and adds new entries where necessary without affecting the Strong's numbers at all. Most often, this is done by adding letters to the numbers, so 1350 would become two entries: 1350 and 1350A.

In this way, the TS numbers will still be useful for connecting with older tools that use the Strong's system exlusively, but Tyndale's forthcoming word study tools will be able to connect with more up-to-date lexical scholarship via the new system with its finer distinctions.

The tools will be out there, and I really think that word study can be very illuminating when focusing on a dynamic translation. The NLT brings out shades of meaning in ways that more concordant translations can sometimes obscure. Which is more helpful in illuminating the shades of meaning in a word like the Greek sarx, a translation that always offers the English "flesh," or a translation that renders it differently according to how it is being used in context?

This year, a taste will be available with the original language word study system in the NLT Study Bible. In the NLT Study Bible, readers will have the opportunity to do limited word studies without needing to go to any other tool. By following the word study chain throughout the Old or New Testament, they will be able to see a single Hebrew or Greek word in multiple contexts and examine how it is translated in each verse. In some cases, we went beyond just words and tracked some important phrases, like 'arek 'appayim in the Old Testament. This tool, and the accompanying index with an explanation of how to do word studies (and how not to do word studies) and brief lexicon, will whet the appetites of serious Bible students to go even farther with effective word study. And it highlights the fact that the NLT is indeed uf great use in original language word studies.

Is the NLT good for serious study?
For word study, absolutely. The tools that are already published, and more that are coming in the future, will make the process of doing serious study with the NLT easier for busy pastors and Bible teachers. And the translation philosophy behind the NLT will help to highlight some of the differences between the English we speak today and the languages of the Bible, helping pastors and Bible teachers to do good word study and accurately communicate the meaning of the Scriptures.

But there is more to serious Bible study than word studies, and I'm sure people have other objections to the use of the NLT for "serious study," and I'd love to think about them and discuss how we can address them.

What other objections do you have to using the NLT for serious study? Post them in the comments and I'll address them in a future post.

Labels: Keith Williams, NLT, serious study, word study

Mark D. Taylor

I thought it might be helpful if I commented on the NLT's frequent use of "Hebrew" and "Greek" footnotes. Both of my examples are from the second edition text (2004 or 2007).

Example 1: In Gen 6:2, the NLT text reads, "The sons of God saw the beautiful women* and took any they wanted as their wives." (The asterisk, which is found in most editions of the NLT, points to a text note. But the NLT Study Bible does not use asterisks, since all of the NLT text notes are incorporated into the study notes.) The NLT text note reads, "6:2 Hebrew daughters of men; also in 6:4."

The purpose of the text note is to give the reader a glimpse into the Hebrew text behind the English word "women." Most English translations simply translate it literally: "daughters of men." But there are varying interpretations as to what this Hebrew expression means. After long and vigorous discussion, the Bible Translation Committee decided to select one of several possible meanings for the text of the translation. But we wanted our readers to know that this is an interpretive rendering--and other translations may well go different directions. The phrase "also in 6:4" simply means that the same Hebrew phrase occurs in 6:4, where the NLT again renders it "women." (The expanded note in the NLT Study Bible fleshes out various possible meanings of "sons of God" and "daughters of men.")

Example 2: In Matt 1:1, the NLT reads, "This is the record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David* and of Abraham." The footnote reads, "1:1 Greek Jesus the Messiah, son of David."

Again, most translations simply use a literal rendering for huiou Dauid as "son of David." But in contemporary English, the word "son" almost always means a male descendant in the immediate next generation. If my grandfather had ever referred to me as "my son Mark," it would have been confusing. My grandfather's son (in the immediate next generation) was named Kenneth, and Kenneth's son (in the immediate next generation) is Mark. The NLT translators were concerned that the reader might misunderstand the term "son of David" as referring to a literal father-son relationship between David and Jesus. So we rendered the Greek phrase as "a descendant of David."

On the other hand, however, "Son of David" has messianic overtones, as is clearly seen in Matt 21:9; 22:42; etc. So our footnote at Matt 1:1 alerts the reader to the fact that the Greek term behind "a descendant of David" is more literally rendered "son of David." (The study note in the NLT Study Bible explicitly mentions the connection between the phrase "son of David" and the "Messiah.")

One advantage to these notes, we think, is that pastors or Bible study leaders who are using the NLT can simply point to the footnote to show the more literal rendering. Then they can expand on the various nuances of meaning of a term such as "son of David." And hopefully they won't be tempted to say, "The NLT is a little too expansive here, because the Greek really means 'son of David.'" (But then they would go on to explain that "son of David" doesn't really mean "son of David" as we would normally use the expression in English!)

So the "Hebrew" and "Greek" footnotes are fairly simple, but they carry a lot of freight!

Labels: Bible Translation Committee, Mark Taylor, NLT, NLT Study Bible, translation issues