Living Oracles for Today (A new version based on the fourth edition )
An independent modern edition by Phillip Clay in 2019-20 to provide a more direct translation.
I am convinced that transliteration in our New Testament translations impedes our understanding of God’s message for us. Every current translation follows the long tradition of transliteration impacting some important teachings such as immersion. The Living Oracles from 1835 is an excellent skillful effort which I have built upon, with the intention of providing an accurate and useful text with fewer transliterations and increased clarity of original word meanings. We should not need to recall or be instructed that an angel is a messenger, that an apostle is a delegate, that baptism is immersion, that Christ means anointed, or that a prophet is a forthteller for these meanings were clear to the readers in the first century church. Many scholars criticized Living Oracles based on their belief on “Baptism”. They should have directed their criticism to the inspired writers of the original manuscripts, and look at the Greek text for themselves.
Perhaps this version will increase the recognition and use of Living Oracles which is not well known today. Obvious typographical errors in the electronic version, antiquated spellings, and archaic 19th century words have been replaced aiming for the vocabulary of a high school reader. The great learning and extensive vocabulary of the Living Oracles scholars tends to exceed our ability to understand. A few notations on money, measure, translation details and period words have been added in parenthesis. I did not attempt to bring all the text into modern ways of expression as in the New American Standard or International Version. Most of the original work remains with perhaps only a few words in each chapter carefully edited although some books such as Luke had more variance from the interlinear which required more vigorous editing. I have kept part of the original title out of respect for the noteworthy work of the restoration scholars and in acknowledgment that these are sacred inspired utterances (logion (log’-ee-on) of God . (See Acts 7:38, Romans 3:2, Hebrews 5:12, 1 Peter 4:11) The electronic source material is not under copyright and is not published but archived on the web. The changes in this version do bring a unique voice to the text. Christians well acquainted with current translations may balk at first yet my hope is that they will hear with appreciation the less encumbered and more literal message. Doubters can look for themselves that this version does closely follow interlinear versions. This version like the previous is not as smooth flowing as the New International Version which takes a phrase translation approach. Living Oracles uses a word translation technique much like the New American Standard Version. I have prayerfully tried to let God’s message come clearly through.
Names are important in scripture and it is sad and insupportable that we have learned so many altered names. In particular I have used the name of our Lord and his title in the form he was given in life as well as adjusting the English spelling of many other Hebrew names. Hebrew words previously erroneously rendered Ju in English have been restored to the Hebrew related Y associated with the Old Testament name of God (Yahweh). Some readers may not be aware that there is no J in Hebrew or Greek. These names at first may look different to our eye but hopefully this will allow us to become more familiar with the Jewish heritage of Christianity. Readers will quickly become accustomed to this approach. It is true that the Greek versions use Hellenized names. The names as actually recorded in the Greek New Testament are very unfamiliar to us and if used here would not be very understandable. (For example: Iesous (ee-ay-sooce’)and Hesaias (hay-sah-ee’-as).) Consider friend how many times we are told to venerate the name of God or our savior, and yet we are unfamiliar with those names because of traditional translation.
I referred to several sources including Thayers, William F Arndt, interlinear versions including Textus Recptus, Nestles Greek New Testament with translation by Litt, and many modern translations for clarity when needed to obtain the original meaning of words. I have used the convention of church to refer to the universal assembly and congregation for the local body. Italics in the text indicate words added for clarity and not translated directly from the Greek. New hyperlinks have been created for the table of contents that navigate to the main sections in this document. I have added many verse numbers and started new paragraphs for easier navigation. Pages numbers did not seem to be helpful and so have not been used. The book titles and dates are helpful although they are translator added. I have kept the section titles from the fourth edition.
I have moved the prefaces, and commentary of the Fourth edition Living Oracles to the back of the document along with my own notes. The original Appendix of the fourth edition is provided as a separate document as it has not been significantly edited.
Living Oracles for Today (LOFT) is under copyright. © 2020 Phillip L. Clay. Permission is granted for use with citation including printing a single copy for personal non-profit use. All other rights are reserved. Please contact me for other permissions.
May the Lord’s church be blessed and all those seeking our savior.
You can find a very valuable version of Living Oracles at https://www.stepbible.org/ From Tyndale House, Cambridge UK. This professional site has many versions that are searchable, with pop up interlinear references. Living Oracles is called LO..
In respect I have attempted to consult with the Lee and Vicky Snyder and Ernie Stefanik (2008).
PLC