Short Comments on the ALT Bible

Short Comments on the ALT:
2000

The following are e-mails I received in 2000 commenting on the Analytical-Literal Translation (ALT). The e-mailers' comments are in black and enclosed in "greater than" and "lesser than" signs. My comments are in red.

>Bro. Gary,

May I suggest something on Acts 2:38 in the ALT?

2:38 Then Peter was saying to them, "Repent, and let each of you* be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ, for [or, because of] [the] forgiveness of sins, and you* will receive the free gift of the Holy Spirit.

Where you have [or, because of] for a possible translation of eis I don't believe that this could be correct because "repentance" is required BEFORE forgiveness. Perhaps you could say [or, into]. See the Greek wording in Matt. 26:28.

God Bless,
Bro Greg
10/12/2000<

I've struggled with how to translate that verse. The rendering "because of" would fit if the words "forgiveness of sins" is looked upon as what Jesus did in general (i.e. made propitiation for sins) and not the specific forgiveness of the person, or if the last phrase is taken to be referring to only the second phrase.

Or, the words about baptism could be taken as a parenthetical comment given the form of the verb is different. So the last phrase then would only be referring to the first phrase about repentance. In that case, "for" would make sense.

That said, I did have "to" as a second alternative translation, but I deleted it since having two alternative translations was rather awkward. Moreover, even though "into" is the most common translation of eis, it really makes no sense in this context. But "for" is used quite often to translate eis, so using it here is possible. And "because of" (or "at") fits at least at Luke 12:32, so it's not a stretch to use it here as well.

Subject: Praying for you.

Interesting project. I believe that the updated NASB is the most accurate, much better than the KJV-versions, but you seem to be on a worthy, scholarly pursuit....I hope you are up to it, because God is bound to shake you up some along the way! But isn't it wonderful to be studying the Word of God so closely!

I reserve my opinions at this time since I simply found this tonight. I do hope that this project of yours proves to be excellent and helpful to the Body of Christ. Hey, so I have my opinion about the best version....oh well.....I like studying the major ones side by side for insight and discovery, but I respect any honest attempt to get at Scriptural truth with integrity. Go for it, and maybe, one day, I will be picking it up on the shelf to see what may be gleaned. Who knows.....

Don
6/13/2000<

Thank you for the kind comments and for the prayers.

>Dear Mr. Zeolla,

I am writing to request permission to copy your ALT from the computer to a hard copy. I have found your translation for the most part to be very good....

Thank you.

> I am a teacher and part-time preacher of the Gospel. It would be an honor to use your translation while I teach. It is through your translation that a better understanding of what was meant to be said can be expressed.<

I am very thankful that you are find the ALT to be beneficial to your Biblical studies. And I would be honored for you to use the ALT in your teachings.

> As I am unaware of a book with the ALT I was hoping you would give me permission to copy the entire translation. My hope is to divide the page in half with the ALT on the left and a wide margin of 3" to make notes.

Please sir allow me this opportunity. I give you my word as a Christian that it is for my purpose only. Others will only see it when in Bible study or observing it on the website. Thank you in advance for your consideration into this matter.

Michael
1/24/2000<

You are correct that the ALT is not yet in hardcopy format. There is a reason for this, the ALT is a work in progress. It is no where finished yet.

That said, yes, you have my permission to print up a copy of the ALT for your personal and teaching use. In fact, I would appreciate you letting others know about the ALT. But do note that the ALT is, as I said, in progress. There will be many changes made to it as time goes on.

In particular, books indicated as still being at "stage one" have only undergone a computer update of the archaic words in YLT. It is books at "stage two" that I have gone over in detail. So only these are even close to being in a "finished" state. And even then, I will still be making changes to them as I continue to do word studies and the like on other books. I am trying to be consistent as possible in my translations of words throughout.

That said, you might want to print up only books that are at "stage two." Ones at stage one will be changed considerably in the future. Or you can go ahead and print it all up, then print up the updated books as they are posted. It's up to you. I just want to be sure you understand the stage of development the ALT is in so you don't waste any unnecessary ink or paper. Also note, at the bottom of each page is the date I last updated that book. So you can tell if you have the latest copy or not.

Note: The same permission to print-up individual books or the entire NT of the ALT for personal use or teaching purposes is granted to anyone who should so desire. Just please note the above points about the ALT being a work in progress. See the Copyright Page for further details in this regard.

>Dear Mr. Zeolla,

>I was wondering if you were thinking of making ridged use of the Granville Sharp rule in the ALT? <

I hadn't really thought of it. It would seem YLT (which I updated for "stage one") did follow it, so I will probably follow suit.

> And oh I purchased the NASB 95 a couple of months ago and I really think that the Lockman Foundation did an excellent job and just in going over the NT it does appear as though the CT is losing its hold on them.

In the name of our God and Savior Jesus Christ,
Gabriel
1/5/2000<

Yes, the NAS95 is a very good translation. It is one of the versions I am consulting in working on the ALT. But from what I have seen, it does follow the CT. It may appear a little closer to the MT than the NAS77 simply because the most recent edition of the CT (UBS 4) which the NAS95 followed is slightly closer to the MT than the older UBS 3 text, which the NAS77 used.

Note though, the NAS95 does deviate from a strictly literal translation in some places. This has become apparent in working on the ALT. In fact, in a few places where I give an alternate "fig" (i.e. figurative) translation in brackets for the literal translation in the text, the "fig" reading is actually taken from the NAS95.

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