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Notesaboutthetranslation
TheWorldEnglishBibleisanupdateoftheAmericanStandard
Version(ASV),publishedin1901.Acustomcomputerprogram
updatedthearchaicwordsandwordformstocontemporary
equivalents,andthenateamofvolunteersproofreadandupdatedthe
grammar.
TheNewTestamentwasupdatedtoconformtotheMajorityText
reconstructionoftheoriginalGreekmanuscripts,thustakingadvantage
ofthesuperioraccesstomanuscriptsthatwehavenowcompared
towhentheoriginalASVwastranslated.
ThestyleoftheWorldEnglishBible,whilefairlyliterallytranslated,
isininformal,spokenEnglish.TheWEBisdesignedtosoundgood
andbeaccuratewhenreadaloud.Itisnotformalinitslanguage,just
astheoriginalGreekoftheNewTestamentwasnotformal.TheWEB
usescontractionsratherfreely.
TheWorldEnglishBibledoesn’tcapitalizepronounspertaining
toGod.Theoriginalmanuscriptsmadenosuchdistinction.TheGreek
manuscriptswerewritteninalluppercaseletters.Attemptingtoadd
insuchadistinctionraisessomedifficultiesintranslatingdual-meaning
Scriptures.
BecauseWorldEnglishBibleusestheMajorityTextasthebasisfor
theNewTestament,youmaynoticethefollowingdifferences
incomparingtheWEBtoothertranslations:
TheorderofMatthew23:13and14isreversedinsome
translations.
Luke17:36andActs15:34,whicharenotfoundinthemajority
oftheGreekManuscripts(andarerelegatedtofootnotesinthe
WEB)maybeincludedinsomeothertranslations.
Romans14:24-26intheWEBmayappearasRomans16:25-27
inothertranslations.
1John5:7-8containsanadditioninsometranslations,including
theKJV.Erasmusadmittedaddingthistexttohispublished
GreekNewTestament,eventhoughhecouldatfirstfind
noGreekmanuscriptsupportforit,becausehewasbeing
pressuredbymentodoso,andbecausehedidn’tseeany
