Parallel Bibles and Interlinear Translations

Parallel Bibles

Bagster, 1841. The English Hexapla, exhibiting the six important English Translations of the New Testament Scriptures, Wiclif 1380, Tyndale 1534, Cranmer 1539, Genevan 1557, Anglo-Rhemish 1582, Authorised 1611, the original Greek text after Scholz, with the various readings of the Textus Receptus and the Principal Constantinopolitan and Alexandrine Manuscripts, and a complete Collation of Scholz's text with Griesbach's edition of 1805, preceded by an historical Account of the English Translations. London: Samuel Bagster & Sons, 1841.

The anonymous "Historical Account of the English Versions of the Scriptures" which appeared in the first edition of Bagster's Hexapla is a substantial scholarly treatise (160 folio pages) by Samuel P. Tregelles. Unfortunately, in later editions of the Hexapla, Tregelles' treatise was replaced by a much shorter (and rather bombastic) essay, written at a more popular level.

Cambridge, 1885. The Parallel Bible. The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments: being the Authorized Version arranged in parallel columns with the Revised Version. Cambridge: The University Press, 1885.

Chadwyck-Healey, 1996. The Bible in English: Twenty-One Different Versions of the English Bible from the Tenth to the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Chadwyck-Healey, 1996. CD-ROM.

This CD includes the full text of the following versions: West Saxon Gospels (10th Century); Wycliffe (Early and Late versions: 14th Century); Tyndale (Pentateuch, Jonah & NT: 1530-1534); Coverdale (1535); Great Bible (1540); Matthew's (1549); Bishops' (1568); Geneva Bible (1587); Rheims-Douai (1582-1610); King James (1611); Daniel Mace New Testament (1729); Challoner (1750-1752); Wesley New Testament (1755); Worsley New Testament (1770); Webster (1833); Sawyer (1858); 20th Century New Testament (1904); New English Bible (1970); Good News Bible (1976). The CD is quite expensive (over $2,000), currently being marketed only to colleges for their online research databases.

Comfort, 1974. Philip Comfort, ed., The Eight Translation New Testament. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1974.

Parallel texts of the King James version, Living Bible, Today's English Version, New International Version, Phillips, Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible, and New English Bible. Appended is a very useful "Guide to the Ancient Manuscripts: A Guide to Understanding Marginal Notes on Different Readings in the New Testament Manuscripts," by Philip Comfort, which gives manuscript citations and evaluations for all variant readings mentioned in the marginal notes of the eight versions.

Kohlenberger, 1995. John R. Kohlenberger, ed., The Precise Parallel New Testament: King James Version, Rheims New Testament, Amplified Bible, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, New American Standard Bible, United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-19-528412-7.

Kohlenberger, 1997. John R. Kohlenberger, ed., The Contemporary Parallel New Testament: King James version, New American Standard Bible updated edition, New International version, New Living translation, New Century version, Contemporary English version, New King James version, The Message. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-19-528136-5.

Kohlenberger, 1997b. John R. Kohlenberger, ed., The Parallel Apocrypha : Greek text, King James Version, Douay Old Testament, the Holy Bible by Ronald Knox, Today's English Version, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN: 0-19-528444-5.

Kohlenberger, 2003. John R. Kohlenberger, ed., The Evangelical Parallel New Testament: New King James Version, New International Version, Today's New International Version, New Living Translation, English Standard Version, Holman Christian Standard Bible, New Century Version, The Message. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN: 0-19-528177-2. Includes introductory essays by Mark L. Strauss ("Understanding New Testament Translation") and Daniel B. Wallace ("The Textual Basis of New Testament Translation"), and the prefaces to the eight versions. The versions are reprinted with section headings and marginal notes of the original editions, but the editor advises that "numerous minor adjustments" were made "so that all eight translations can fit into the parallel format."

Kohlenberger, 2005. John R. Kohlenberger, ed., The Catholic Comparative New Testament. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Includes eight versions of the New Testament, some of which are of particular interest to Roman Catholics: the Rheims New Testament, New American Bible, Revised Standard Version (Catholic edition), New Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, and the Christian Community Bible.

Moody, 1966. The Four Translation New Testament: King James; New American standard Bible; Williams in the language of the people; Beck, in the language of today. Chicago: Moody Press, 1966.

Oxford, 1994. The Complete Parallel Bible: containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books: New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. ISBN: 0-19-528318-X

Weigle, 1962. Luther Weigle, ed., The New Testament Octapla: Eight English Versions of the New Testament in the Tyndale-King James Tradition. New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1962.

Full parallel texts of Tyndale 1535, Great Bible 1540, Geneva Bible 1562, Bishop's Bible 1568, Rheims 1582, King James version (represented by Scrivener's edition of 1873), American Standard Version 1901, Revised Standard Version 1960. Original marginal notes are not included, except for those of the KJV, ASV, and RSV which pertain to various readings.

Weigle, 1965. Luther Weigle, ed., The Genesis Octapla, Eight English Versions of Genesis in the Tyndale-King James Tradition. New York: Thomas Nelson, 1965.

Zondervan, 1999. Comparative study Bible: New International Version, Amplified Version, King James Version, updated New American Standard Bible. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999.



Interlinear Translations

Berry, 1897. George Ricker Berry, The Interlinear literal Translation of the Greek New Testament with the Authorized Version conveniently presented in the margins for ready reference and with the various readings of the editions of Elzevir 1624, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford, and Wordsworth, to which has been added a new Greek-English New Testament Lexicon, supplemented by a chapter elucidating the synonyms of the New Testament, with a complete index to the synonyms. New York: Hinds & Noble, 1897. Reprinted by Zondervan from 1967 to 1992 as The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament with Lexicon and Synonyms, and in 1995 as The Interlinear KJV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English, Based on the Majority Text, with Lexicon and Synonyms.

This interlinear is simply an American reprint of the Bagster edition prepared by Thomas Newberry (see Newberry 1877) with a different Introduction and with G.R. Berry's Lexicon and Synonyms added to the end.

Douglas, 1990. J.D. Douglas, The New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1990.

This interlinear presents the text of the Nestle-Aland 26th edition (with at least one discrepancy: In 2 Cor 5:3 the text reads endusamenoi "having been clothed" where Nestle 26 reads ekdusamenoi "having been unclothed"), and a parallel New Revised Standard Version text. Some Greek textual variants are given in the lower margin, but probably no more than 100 are given for the entire New Testament.

Farstad, 1993. Arthur Farstad, The NKJV Greek-English Interlinear New Testament. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1993.

This interlinear uses the Majority text of Hodges and Farstad (1982), and in the margin it presents in Greek and English the significant variations of the United Bible Societies' 3rd edition and of the readings presumed to underlie the KJV (from Scrivener's text of 1881). Word studies are also included in the margin. The New King James Version is printed in parallel. The interlinear translation is generally good, but it may be wondered why Farstad chose not to distinguish singular pronouns from plural in it. A mistranslation occurs in Matthew 21:7, where the Greek text reads he sat on them, rather than they set [him] on them.

Green, 1979. Jay P. Green, Interlinear Hebrew-Greek-English Bible. 4 vols. Wilmington, Delaware: Associated Publishers and Authors, 1976. Reprinted in one volume, 1979.

This book is now available in reprint from Hendrickson Publishers. Green's Greek text is a reprint of Scrivener's, first published in 1881. At the end of the New Testament volume, Green gives a Greek collation of readings compiled by William Pierpont, called "Majority Text Notes," which gives the readings of the majority of manuscripts where they differ from those of Scrivener's text.

Marshall, 1958. Alfred Marshall, The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament: the Nestle Greek Text with a literal English Translation. London: Samuel Bagster and Sons, 1958.

Marshall's interlinear text is the 21st edition of Nestle-Aland. No textual variants are given. This text has been reprinted with several different English translations in parallel columns, including KJV, RSV, NASB, NIV, NIV & NASB, NRSV, and NIV & NRSV. Most recently reprinted in The Interlinear NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995).

Newberry, 1877. [Thomas Newberry], The Englishman's Greek New Testament, giving the Greek Text of Stephens 1550, with the various Readings of the Editions of Elzevir 1624, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford, and Wordsworth, together with an interlinear literal Translation, and the Authorized version of 1611. London: Samuel Bagster, 1877. 3rd ed. 1896. For an American edition see Berry 1897.

This interlinear uses the text of Stephens 1550, and gives the text of the King James version in a parallel column. Newberry gives in the lower margin of each page a complete collation of six critical editions. Most of the variants which make a difference in translation are also given in English. Because of the critical apparatus, it is the best interlinear to be had. Unfortunately, because of its age it does not give information on the three most important critical texts of our century: Nestle (1898), Westcott and Hort (1881), and the United Bible Societies' edition (1975). Most of the readings adopted in these three texts are however represented in the apparatus as the readings of earlier editors.