My favorite interlinear

This volume is an updating of The NKJV Greek-English Interlinear New Testament. I do not own this current volume but I own the older version. So my review below is based on the older version.

I own several interlinears, but the NKJV Interlinear is without a doubt my favorite. There are several reasons for this. First and foremost, this interlinear uses the Majority Text (MT) while my other interlinears use the Textus Receptus (TR) or the Critical Text (CT, i.e., the NA/ UBS text). I strongly believe the MT is superior to either of these texts. I detail my reasons for believing so in my book Differences Between Bible Versions.

In fact, I felt so strongly in this regard that I used the MT when I translated my Analytical-Literal Translation of the New Testament (ALT). Now my ALT is based on Robison and Pierpont’s MT while this interlinear uses Hodges and Farstad’s MT. But the differences between these two MTs are minor, so I was able to use this interlinear extensively when I was working on my ALT.

This interlinear includes two English translations, a strictly literal translation and an “idiomatic” one for places where a literal transition is excessively awkward. I used a somewhat similar approach in my ALT. The main text is strictly literal, but I also included within brackets a figurative rendering for excessively awkward literal translations. And this interlinear gave me some ideas on where and what figurative renderings to use.

This interlinear also includes small superscripts numbers by words that put them in correct English order. This again was helpful in my translation work. I tried to follow the Greek word order as much as possible. But at times, this is just too awkward, and these superscript numbers helped me to determine where it was necessary to deviate from Greek word order.

This interlinear also includes short word studies and textual variants in the margins, and Scripture references for OT quotations. These aids further add to the value of this volume and were helpful in my translation work.

I also include Scripture references for OT quotations in my ALT. And in my Companion Volume to the ALT I include an extensive Glossary and translations of textual variants. And this interlinear was helpful in my producing these materials.

I utilized many different aids in working on my ALT and the accompanying Companion Volume, but this interlinear was one of the most valuable references I used. So I highly recommend it.

The NKJV Interlinear was out of print for some time, but it is good to see Thomas Nelson came out this updated version.