Young's Literal Translation
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| Young's Literal Translation | |
|---|---|
| Full name: | Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible |
| Abbreviation: | YLT |
| Complete Bible published: | 1862 |
| Translation type: | extremely literal |
| Copyright status: | Public domain |
| Genesis 1:1-3 | |
| In the beginning of God's preparing the heavens and the earth — the earth hath existed waste and void, and darkness [is] on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God fluttering on the face of the waters, and God saith, `Let light be;' and light is. | |
| John 3:16 | |
| For God did so love the world, that His Son — the only begotten — He gave, that every one who is believing in him may not perish, but may have life age-during. | |
Young's Literal Translation is a translation of the Bible into English. The translation was made by Robert Young, compiler of Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible and Concise Critical Comments on the New Testament, and published in 1862. Young produced "Revised Versions" of the translation in 1887 and 1898.
[edit] Translation Philosophy
The Literal Translation is unusual in that, as the name implies, it is a strictly literal word-for-word translation of the original Hebrew and Greek texts. The Preface to the Second Edition states,
- If a translation gives a present tense when the original gives a past, or a past when it has a present; a perfect for a future, or a future for a perfect; an a for a the, or a the for an a; an imperative for a subjunctive, or a subjunctive for an imperative; a verb for a noun, or a noun for a verb, it is clear that verbal inspiration is as much overlooked as if it had no existence. THE WORD OF GOD IS MADE VOID BY THE TRADITIONS OF MEN. [Emphases in original.]
Therefore, Young uses the present tense in many places in which the King James Version and other sources use the past tense, particularly in narratives. For example, the Literal Translation's version of Genesis begins as follows:
-
1 In the beginning of God's preparing the heavens and the earth — 2 the earth hath existed waste and void, and darkness [is] on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God fluttering on the face of the waters, 3 and God saith, 'Let light be;' and light is. 4 And God seeth the light that [it is] good, and God separateth between the light and the darkness, 5 and God calleth to the light 'Day,' and to the darkness He hath called 'Night;' and there is an evening, and there is a morning — day one. 6 And God saith, 'Let an expanse be in the midst of the waters, and let it be separating between waters and waters.' 7 And God maketh the expanse, and it separateth between the waters which [are] under the expanse, and the waters which [are] above the expanse: and it is so. 8 And God calleth to the expanse 'Heavens;' and there is an evening, and there is a morning — day second. 9 And God saith, 'Let the waters under the heavens be collected unto one place, and let the dry land be seen:' and it is so. 10 And God calleth to the dry land `Earth,' and to the collection of the waters He hath called 'Seas;' and God seeth that [it is] good. 11 And God saith, 'Let the earth yield tender grass, herb sowing seed, fruit-tree (whose seed [is] in itself) making fruit after its kind, on the earth:' and it is so. 12 And the earth bringeth forth tender grass, herb sowing seed after its kind, and tree making fruit (whose seed [is] in itself) after its kind; and God seeth that [it is] good; 13 and there is an evening, and there is a morning — day third.
[edit] External links
- Young's Literal Translation, complete text online
- Downloadable PDF of Young's Literal Translation
- Youngs's Literal Translation, Baker Book House 1955 Reprint. at The DCL.
