Thank You, both for your earlier reply and your well wishes. Greatly appreciated.

I’ve found online free bible database software as well as “Young’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible”, 1898.

Is it relatively safe for this to be the only translation I work from in my studies (almost sounds like a silly question to me, but I thought I’d ask)… or should I begin trying to acquire one or more of the other translations, or even begin to educate myself in Greek and Hebrew?

My wife has some experience with modern Greek, I have some small experience with a semetic language – Arabic, having studied at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA., so I guess I have some resources and a little aptitude… just wondering whether or not in your opinion a neophyte transcriptionist- translators effort would actually serve to help me better understand the scriptures, or if it would be better to merely defer to the English body of work in the list you presented of good bible translations?

I took the liberty of CC’ing this inquiry to the same people you’ve shared our earlier exchange, and encourage any of your friends and associates to weigh in with their opinions also.

Much thanks to all,

K____

Hi K____,

I do not claim to be a Greek or Hebrew scholar. I do not believe that our salvation requires that. I do believe though that we ought to “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not be ashamed but rightly dividing the Word of truth.”

The only tools I had until recently were a KJV Bible, a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, and a Wigram’s Englishman’s Greek, and a Wigram’s Englishman’s Hebrew concordances. Now I use the same materials, but in computer form known as e- sword. The reason for the KJV is only that it is the most popular and most widely used Bible in history. The reason for the Strong’s Concordance is that Wigram’s is keyed to Strong’s numbers. The single most helpful computer study aid I have is e- sword which you can download for free through my web site. It is full of different translations and different commentaries. I find that I use the commentaries very little. What I do use very much is the Strong’s numbers which give me every entry for any Greek or Hebrew word. E- sword will do more for you than all the other translations and commentaries combined.

If you are willing to take the time to look at every entry for any word in the original Greek and the original Hebrew, you will then know the difference between how the translators have mistranslated that word and the true meaning of that word.

Download e- sword, and let me hear from you.

Mike