A New Addition to Olive Tree’s “Explore the Bible” Article Series
We want to call your attention to an ongoing series of articles from Olive Tree called Explore the Bible on your PDA or Smartphone. These articles have been coming out for a few months now; there are nine to date, and a tenth coming soon. You may read these articles at olivetree.com or download them at no charge to your handheld computing device. The purpose of the articles is to help our customers get the most out of their electronic Bibles and Bible study software by presenting examples of real Bible study using Olive Tree Bibles and tools. A second, but not secondary, purpose is to nurture in readers a love and respect for the Bible and its message. Articles address such topics as The Blessings of Daily Scripture Reading, Using Cross References to Let the Bible Speak for Itself, The Why and How of Bible Searches, and Meditating on God’s Word. Some of the articles include helpful screen shots to assist readers.
The newest article, released today for reading online, will be ready to download to your device in a few days. It is entitled Appreciating Greek with Wuest’s Translation. Kenneth S. Wuest’s New Testament: an Expanded Translation is unlike any other translation I know. Olive Tree is delighted to be able to provide this outstanding tool to our users. We like it so much that we have devoted an entire article to explaining how the translation works.
The Expanded Translation is a bold attempt by a noted Greek professor and scholar to render a more precise sense of the original by using as many English words as are necessary to convey the New Testament writers’ intended meaning; hence, it is an “expanded” translation, not, strictly speaking, a paraphrase. Greek students will immediately recognize echoes of the principles of Greek they learned in their study of the New Testament language. In fact, reading Wuest’s translation is like taking a refresher course on what makes Greek Greek and not English. Non-Greek-readers will be pleased to find a translation that lets them in on Greek patterns of thought and discourse without the need to actually learn Greek. This was exactly the translator’s desire: he wanted to share the richness of the Greek New Testament with those who might not have the opportunity to learn the language themselves. He intended that his translation would complement other fine translations and would be a window into Greek nuances that are difficult to render in English.
We hope you will enjoy this article, along with the other articles in our series; even the more, we recommend to you Wuest’s Expanded Translation itself for use on your PDA or smartphone. So that you will not be left without a taste of this unique translation, here are the familiar final verses of Romans 8 (verses 36-39) as Wuest translates them. Notice especially his treatment of the present tense, with its durative force, and the perfect tense to show completed action:
“Even as it stands written, For your sake we are being put to death all the day long. We were accounted as sheep destined for slaughter. But in these things, all of them, we are coming off constantly with more than the victory through the One who loved us. For I have come through a process of persuasion to the settled conclusion that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things about to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”