New Believers Bible - Flipbook - Page 137
INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW LIVING TRANSLATION
page
A64
Textual Footnotes. The New Living Translation provides several kinds of textual footnotes, all designated in the text with an asterisk:
• When for the sake of clarity the NLT renders a difficult or potentially confusing
phrase dynamically, we generally give the literal rendering in a textual footnote.
This allows the reader to see the literal source of our dynamic rendering and how
our translation relates to other more literal translations. These notes are prefaced
with “Hebrew,” “Aramaic,” or “Greek,” identifying the language of the underlying
source text. For example, in Acts 2:42 we translated the literal “breaking of bread”
(from the Greek) as “the Lord’s Supper” to clarify that this verse refers to the ceremonial practice of the church rather than just an ordinary meal. Then we attached
a footnote to “the Lord’s Supper,” which reads: “Greek the breaking of bread.”
• Textual footnotes are also used to show alternative renderings, prefaced with the
word “Or.” These normally occur for passages where an aspect of the meaning is debated. On occasion, we also provide notes on words or phrases that represent a departure from long-standing tradition. These notes are prefaced with “Traditionally
rendered.” For example, the footnote to the translation “serious skin disease” at Leviticus 13:2 says: “Traditionally rendered leprosy. The Hebrew word used throughout this passage is used to describe various skin diseases.”
• When our translators follow a textual variant that differs significantly from our
standard Hebrew or Greek texts (listed earlier), we document that difference with a
footnote. We also footnote cases when the NLT excludes a passage that is included
in the Greek text known as the Textus Receptus (and familiar to readers through its
translation in the King James Version). In such cases, we offer a translation of the excluded text in a footnote, even though it is generally recognized as a later addition to
the Greek text and not part of the original Greek New Testament.
• All Old Testament passages that are quoted in the New Testament are identified by a
textual footnote at the New Testament location. When the New Testament clearly
quotes from the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and when it differs significantly in wording from the Hebrew text, we also place a textual footnote at the Old
Testament location. This note includes a rendering of the Greek version, along with
a cross-reference to the New Testament passage(s) where it is cited (for example, see
notes on Psalms 8:2; 53:3; Proverbs 3:12; ).
• Some textual footnotes provide cultural and historical information on places,
things, and people in the Bible that are probably obscure to modern readers. Such
notes should aid the reader in understanding the message of the text. For example,
in Acts 12:1, “King Herod” is named in this translation as “King Herod Agrippa”
and is identified in a footnote as being “the nephew of Herod Antipas and a grandson of Herod the Great.”
• When the meaning of a proper name (or a wordplay inherent in a proper name) is
relevant to the meaning of the text, it is either illuminated with a textual footnote
