About our Online Modern English Bible
Translation and Manuscript Information
Our Online Modern English Bible is derived from the public domain World English Bible (WEB).
About the WEB:
The WEB was translated into modern English by over 50 evangelical scholars from multiple denominations. The Old Testament texts were based upon the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, which was produced from the Leningrad Codex, the oldest complete codex of the Masoretic Text that has survived intact to this day. The BHS is widely regarded, by both Christians and Jews, as an accurate edition of the Hebrew scriptures, and is the most widely used edition among biblical scholars today.
The New Testament texts are based primarily on the Byzantine Majority Text (MT); however, both the Textus Receptus (TR), and the Nestle-Aland/UBS text (NU) were also consulted. The MT is the text type found in, by far, the largest number of surviving Greek manuscripts. The NU (like the MT) is an eclectic Greek text, that is, the translations were selected and compiled from multiple manuscripts. The MT was compiled from the Byzantine (or Constantinopolitan) manuscripts and the NU from the Alexandrian manuscripts. The TR is the Greek text which was used as the translation base of the KJV and most other NT translations during the era of the Reformation. The NU is the translation base for the NIV and many other modern English translations. Differences between these texts, though numerous, are a small percentage of the total text, and often make no difference in meaning. No variation affects any essential doctrine that cannot be supported with other Scripture passages where there is no dispute over the wording. Many of the variations are noted in the footnotes.
Our Translation Modifications to the WEB:
All modifications are offered with much prayer for guidance. Since no translation is truly final, we often tweak the text as new scholarship development and other modern techniques and discoveries become available. We attempt to maintain a good balance between a literal word-for-word translation and a readable modern translation that retains the original thoughts of the author. We generally use the Masoretic Text and the NU manuscripts, along with many of the excellent lexicons available today. We also welcome comments and suggestions from Hebrew and Greek scholars for consideration (an email link is provided at the bottom of each page). This can also be used to report typos, formatting problems or any other issues.
Our Additional Features:
In addition to updating some of the translation, we're re-formatting paragraphs for easier reading. We're also adding outline headers, translation and additional study notes (in hover text boxes), and links to additional commentary articles.
Important Note: These additional features (context headers, study notes etc) are included as aides in studying the Bible, but should not be considered on the level of authority as the Scripture itself.
We're writing and uploading introductions to each of the 66 books and the 9 sections of the Bible and cross-linking between the book and intro. Approximately forty intros have been completed and several more are in progress as of the spring of 2019. In the future, we hope to inter-link the Online Bible with some of our other sections.
Programming Note regarding Chapters and Verses:
Chapters and verses for all Bible books are generated via "JavaScript" language. This is done for two purposes. First, bookmarks generated by this script allows for linking to any verse from anywhere on the site or from others. Second, it allows for reading the Bible with verses hidden, as some folks like to do (just disable scripts in your browser - see below). Chapter numbers were first added to Bible translations in the thirteenth century and verse numbers in the sixteenth. Thus, when interpreting Scripture, we should minimize the relevance of chapter and verse divisions and evaluate each entry in the context of surrounding scripture and the whole.
The default setting for most modern browsers is for scripts to run (by default, some versions of IE prompts the user before turning on scripts). You must allow scripts to run in order to view the chapter and verse numbers. There are no other scripts or ActiveX controls running on these pages.
To read our Online Bible without verses, simply turn off or disable JavaScript in your browser. Please consult your particular browser's help file for instructions on enabling or disabling scripts.
Thank you and please contact us if you have any questions.