Young's Literal Translation of the Bible

Robert Young's famous translation of the New Testament Gospels, in which each passage is written to reflect its exact and literal meaning, is presented here in this attractive edition.

For his translation of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Robert Young used two resources:

The Textus Receptus (TR) are manuscripts in Greek whose origins date to antiquity. Collated and published by the Renaissance theologian Erasmus, these texts were used in translations by Christian luminaries such as William Tyndale, Robert Estienne and the scholars who composed the celebrated King James Bible. Prior to their arrangement by Erasmus, the Greek texts had been faithfully copied by monk scribes through the generations.

Majority Text (MT) - or the Byzantine text - are the commonest form of text used for describing the character of the New Testament. This textual criticism was cross-referenced by Young, that he could present his own work in the most consistently literal manner possible. Many of the analyses underpin the Greek Orthodox translations of the Gospels and New Testament, and date to the time of the Byzantine Empire.

The four books of the Gospels are translated such as to reflect the meaning behind the original words. Many Greek and Hebrew terms which are oblique or mystifying are rendered in English, making Young's work an excellent supplement to Bible study. Given the structure of the languages Young studied, the sentences are not arranged as we would expect of English - however all make sense, and the narrative flow is uninterrupted.

This premium edition of Young's translation has every single verse of the Gospels highlighted in bold, facilitating quick and easy referencing. Furthermore, the print is sized at 12, and the text is arranged in dual columns in the same manner as a Bible. Thus students of this excellent work may read and absorb the contents, arriving at an understanding of the cultural and linguistic history of the Holy Bible.

Robert Young taught himself how to read and speak several languages, and through his lifetime published several books relevant to the Old and New Testaments. A Scotsman, he undertook years of study in Edinburgh, where he was able to access a wide variety of old texts in ancient scripts