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 I had never heard of the
Interlinear KJV Parallel
Greek-English New Testament
by George Ricker Berry until I read an internet article
written by Barbara Aho that used the George Ricker Berry
Interlinear to "prove" the King James 1611 Bible is incorrectly translated
regarding the mark of the beast being "in" the hand or "in" the forehead. Mrs.
Aho seeks to convince her readers that the Greek word, "epi," (which the
King James translators usually translated as "in" in the mark of the beast
verses) should have been translated "on" because the George
Ricker Berry Greek to English Interlinear, the Strong's Concordance,
(1) and
another work says so. In fact, Mrs. Aho stated:
The King James Version,
although far superior to modern versions, does not always follow the Textus
Receptus, the Received Greek Text of the New Testament.
(2)
By this, she means the King James
Version
does not always match the English definitions provided in the George
Ricker Berry English Interlinear. Indeed it does not, and for very good reasons.
Due to the fact that most modern bible versions and
some
prominent
false
teachers of bible prophecy also teach the mark of the beast will be "on" the
hand or "on" forehead, I knew it was time to investigate the George Ricker
Berry Greek to English Interlinear. I have since learned that this
interlinear has been
used for decades in KJV Bible colleges and seminaries and is currently being
endorsed by ministries dedicated to defending the King James 1611 Bible.
The English definitions in the
George Ricker Berry Interlinear are the work of one man:
Thomas
Newberry.
Thomas Newberry
(1811-1901), was a Plymouth Brethren leader who marked his Newberry
Reference Bible (originally published in 1893) with New Age jargon, selected
the English words for the literal translation of the Stephens 1550 Greek
text (Received Text) which was published in the United States in 1897 under the name,
The George Ricker
Berry Greek to English Interlinear.
In view of the fact that
Thomas Newberry's choice of words for the George Ricker Berry English Interlinear
matches many of the words chosen by the New King James Version
editors—almost 100 years later—I am not surprised the
New King James [transitional]
Version has been so widely received among former King James 1611 Bible
readers.
The George Ricker Berry Greek to
English Interlinear is featured on Amazon.com under the title, Greek to English
Interlinear New Testament-KJV. Is the George Ricker Berry English Interlinear
as
authoritative or even more authoritative than the King James 1611 New Testament? Should the discerning
Christian use the George Ricker Berry Interlinear New Testament--KJV to verify the
accuracy of the King James 1611 New Testament? I believe that after you have
learned more about the background of the man who authored the English
definitions and examined the charts you will agree the answer is "No."
Thomas Newberry's word-for-word literal
translation from the Greek sometimes presents Bible passages in a substantially different way than the King James 1611. [See
chart] The 1611 King James Bible was translated from the
Received Text into
entire phrases and complete sentences for English readers. Literal
translations translate each word independently which can often skew the
meaning:
Literal translation refers to the result of translating text from one
language to another; translating each word independently as opposed to
translating the entire phrase. Literal translations also ignore
idioms.
For example, a literal translation of the
German word "Kindergarten" would be, "garden of children", but in English it
refers to the year of school between pre-school and first grade. (3)
A respected Baptist pastor who is
learned in Greek and regards the KJV as the word of God
kindly shared his views regarding the George Ricker Berry Greek
to English Interlinear. He told me that he used this interlinear as an aid
to help him learn Greek (years ago the George Ricker Berry was the only
interlinear available that was translated from the Received Text) but he warned
that readers without a solid Greek background are better off if they stay away
from this interlinear. This makes sense when one considers the nature of literal
translations:
The problem with this form of translation is that
it assumes a moderate degree of familiarity with the subject matter on the part
of the reader. (4)
The pastor explained that an understanding of Greek is necessary
so that one is not misled due to the way certain Greek
words are translated in the George Ricker Berry
English Interlinear. For example, the Greek word that is translated
by Newberry as "ages to ages" means one thing to a person familiar with Greek
and something entirely different to the English reader with no background in the
Greek language. To the English reader with no Greek knowledge (such as myself),
the phrase "ages of the ages" means to continue for an indefinite period of
time. To a Greek student the Greek word that was literally rendered "ages of
the ages" means eternal or everlasting. Someone with no Greek background
would not be aware of this and could easily be stumbled and even go on to
deceive others because the phrase, "ages of the ages" is used in place of the
word "everlasting" in the George Ricker Berry Greek to English Interlinear.
Indeed, a Universalist who believes that
"as Bible translations become purer, we find that references to Hell vanish from
the pages of the Bible" (5) cited the Newberry Reference Bible
in an attempt to "prove" the heresy
that eternal
punishment is not eternal. First the Universalist cited a marginal note, "the
ages of the ages" in the Newberry Reference Bible 1893:
1. And these shall_go_away into
everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
2. And the devil that deceived them was_cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone, where the beast and the false_prophet are, and
shall_be_tormented day and night forever and ever.
margin: the ages of the ages.
Next he used Newberry's marginal note to
override the plain teaching about hell in the King James 1611:
The Newberry is a KJV. The marginal notes
open many doors to see what is behind the English text. A step out of "hell"
forever. Hints are dropped that the Greek words which KJV translated
"eternal", "forever," etc. really deal with ages, not eternity. The margins
also reveal the original Greek and Hebrew words translated "hell." A
diligent person could see that "eternal punishment" was a false translation
from this KJV Reference Bible. The more we are told, the clearer it becomes
that Jesus will save all mankind and do it Scripturally! (6)
In view of the fact that people are being led
astray due to Thomas Newberry's marginal notes, I do not share the pastor's
belief that the English definitions in the George Ricker Berry English
Interlinear are fairly harmless as long as the reader understands Greek. I continue to have grave
suspicions regarding the George Ricker Berry English Interlinear because
the author, Thomas
Newberry, was against the Textus Receptus!
My other concerns regarding Newberry's
Interlinear include:
- It contains words and phrases that (like the modern
versions) promote New Age doctrine and demote the Lord Jesus Christ. (For
example, Newberry, in keeping with his not-so-hidden modern version
agenda, changed the word,
"her" to "their"
thus making Jesus in need of purification as well as his mother.)
- It shares New Age phrases and wording in common with
modern bible versions, including the corrupt NKJV.
See proof of this statement in the chart, The George Ricker
Berry and the Darby Translation Compared. This chart reveals that Thomas
Newberry's work often matches another Plymouth Brethren translation, the Darby Translation.
-
The author, Thomas
Newberry, used the New Age title, "the Coming One" in reference to
Jehovah and I AM. He also paved the way for the Sacred Name Movement by
stating that "YAH" (which is
a
pagan Hebrew
mystery name) is a name of God: "The Title JAH or YAH is at once one of the sublimest yet simplest of the Divine names." (7)
These are clearly modern version markings upon
Newberry's work. [Note: Like the
NKJV translators, Thomas Newberry replaced the words, "he that should come," with the name of the New
Age World Teacher--the Coming One]
Thomas Newberry did not truly hold to
the Received Text or the KJV as the word of God in English.
(Indeed, Thomas Newberry exalted the Revised Version and its underlying Greek
texts above the the Authorized Version.) This fact is further evidenced by
Newberry's complete collation of six critical
Greek texts (8)
written by modernists which are placed in the lower margin of every page of his
George Ricker Berry Greek to English Interlinear.
At this point you might not be surprised to
learn that Thomas Newberry owned and
studied his own copy
of the corrupt Codex Sinaiticus manuscript. Dr. David O. Fuller cited Dean
John W. Burgon as referring to this Alexandrian manuscript as "very
nearly the foulest in existence."
(9)
Newberry
poured over his copy of the Codex Sinaiticus for
25 years and used the knowledge gained from his study to write the notes for his
Newberry Study Bible!
Evidence of his minute attention to the
sacred text lies before me as I write, in a beautiful copy of Tischendorf's
transcription of the New Testament according to the Codex Sinaiticus,
presented to him by friends in London in 1863, which is annotated throughout
in his neat handwriting. It was after twenty-five years devoted to such
study that he conceived the plan of putting its fruits at the disposal of
his fellow-Christians in The Newberry Study Bible."
(10)
Why are Christians who regard the King James
1611 Bible as the word of God comparing the real English Bible with an English Interlinear written by a
man who studied "very nearly the foulest" Minority Text manuscript in existence for 25 years
and who used the fruits of his study to write marginal notes and alternate
English definitions for his Newberry Study Bible? It is unrealistic to assume
that Thomas Newberry's 25-year study of the Codex Sinaiticus had no effect upon the way
he conducted his "literal," word-for-word translation of the Stephanus
1550 Greek New Testament
into English.
It is worthy to note that the publisher of the
George Ricker Berry Greek to English Interlinear does not disclose the
true author of the English Interlinear anywhere within its pages. The reader is
led to believe that George Ricker Berry wrote the English Interlinear
when in fact G. R. Berry wrote only the Greek-English New Testament Lexicon and
the New Testament Synonyms found at the back of the
Greek to English Interlinear that bears his name.
The George Ricker Berry Greek to English
Interlinear or any interlinear (or any Reference Bible) should not be used by anyone to cast doubt on
or to "verify" the King James
Bible.
Related articles:
 The
George Ricker Berry English Interlinear is Corrupt
also see:
John Nelson Darby's Version:
Based on Corrupt Texts and
John Darby Version: Doctrinal Changes to
the Bible
CHARTS:
The George Ricker Berry English
Interlinear and the KJV Compared and
The George Ricker
Berry English Interlinear, the Darby Translation and the KJV Compared
Notes:
(1) James Strong, author of the Strong's
Concordance was not committed to the Received Text or the KJV as being the word of God in English. He
was on the Old Testament Committee for the 1901
American Standard Version. http://www.bible-researcher.com/ervhistory.html
(2) Designer Marks of the Beast
http://www.watch.pair.com/stuph.html (We do not recommend much of the content of
this website.)
(3) http://www.answers.com/topic/literal-translation
(4) http://www.answers.com/topic/the-bible-version-debate
(5)
http://www.what-the-hell-is-hell.com/HellPhotos/index.htm (false doctrine)
(6)
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/GatesOfHell.html (false doctrine)
(7) The Newberry Reference Bible, Portable Edition, originally
published in 1893 by Hodder and Stoughton, pages
xx and xxi
(8) Newberry gives in the lower margin of each
page a complete collation of six critical editions: Griesbach, Lachmann,
Tischendork, Tragelles, Alford, and Woodsworth.
(9) Corrupt Text: The Alexandrian Text http://www.purewords.org/kjb1611/html/corrupt.htm
(10) Thomas Newberry Bibles
http://www.newblehome.co.uk/newberry/bible.html
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James Version and the One World Church
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