LESSON THIRTEEN – THE RECOVERY VERSION OF THE BIBLE

2 Tim. 3:16 — All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

A BRIEF EXPLANATION

Throughout the centuries, translations of the Bible have steadily improved. In general, each new translation inherits from previous ones and opens the way for later ones. While a new translation derives help from its predecessors, it should go further. The Recovery Version of the New Testament, following the precedent set by the major authoritative English versions and taking these versions as reference, not only incorporates lessons learned from an examination of others’ practices but also attempts to avoid biases and inaccurate judgments. This version, frequently guided by other versions, attempts to provide the best utterance for the revelation in the divine Word, that it may be expressed in the English language with the greatest accuracy.

BASED UPON TWO THOUSAND YEARS OF THE PROPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE DIVINE REVELATION

Translating the Bible depends not only on an adequate comprehension of the original language but also on a proper understanding of the divine revelation in the holy Word. Throughout the centuries the understanding of the divine revelation possessed by the saints has always been based upon the light they received, and this understanding has progressed steadily. The consummation of this understanding forms the basis of this translation and its footnotes. Hence, this translation and the accompanying footnotes could be called the “crystallization” of the understanding of the divine revelation which the saints everywhere have attained to in the past two thousand years. It is our hope that the Recovery Version will carry on the heritage that it has received and will pave the way for future generations.

As with any New Testament translation, the determination of the original Greek text, based upon the available manuscripts, forms the basis for the text of the Recovery Version of the New Testament. The Recovery Version follows, for the most part, the Nestle-Aland Greek text as found in Novum Testamentum Graece (26th edition). However, in determining the original form of any verse, the translators of the Recovery Version gave careful consideration to the larger context of chapter and book and to similar portions of the New Testament. The most recently discovered manuscripts or the manuscripts of oldest date are not necessarily the most accurate or reliable; hence, the determination of the text for this version was based largely upon the principle stated above. Departures from the NestleAland text are sometimes indicated in the footnotes. Italicized words in the verses indicate supplied words, not found in the Greek text.…

The Recovery  Version embodies extensive research into the meaning of the original text and attempts to express this meaning with English that is to the point, easy to understand, and readable. In those places where it is difficult to express the exact meaning of the original Greek, explanatory footnotes have been supplied.

THE FOOTNOTES STRESSING THE REVELATION OF THE TRUTH, THE SPIRITUAL LIGHT, AND THE SUPPLY OF LIFE

The subject provided at the beginning of each book and the outline of each book take the historical facts as their base and express the spiritual meaning in each book. The footnotes stress the revelation of the truth, the spiritual light, and the supply of life more than history, geography, and persons. The cross-references lead not only to other verses with the same expressions and facts but also to other matters related to the spiritual revelation in the divine Word. (“A Brief Explanation,” Recovery Version of the Bible)

Reference: “A Brief Explanation,” Recovery Version of the Bible

GOD’S OWN WORD MUST NOT BE TAKEN

Study of the Word— Knowledge  and Life – 816

• God’s own Word must not be taken
  Just as knowledge but as life,
  Not alone God’s thought conveying,
  But Himself to us as life;
  Not alone God’s mind revealing,
  But His Christ as life within,
  Not alone the teaching giving,
  But experience of Him.

• It is only knowledge to us
  If we in the letter read,
  But when reading in the spirit
  It is truly life indeed.
  All the knowledge in the letter
  Only brings us into death,
  But the Word in spirit taken
  Gives to us the quickening breath.

• If we miss the Lord in Scripture,
  It is just as knowledge vain;
  But when Christ we touch within it,
  Then His life we may obtain.
  When we read, the Lord not touching,
  ‘Tis but mental stimulus;
  But when Christ we touch by reading,
  It becometh life in us.

• All the knowledge of the Scriptures
  Into life must be transformed,
  All the mental understanding
  In the spirit must be formed;
  All the Scriptural understanding
  Must become the life received,
  All the knowledge of the letters
  In the spirit be conceived.

• Just to touch the Word for knowledge
  Is to take the very way
  By which Eve was lured by Satan
  And by knowledge led astray;
  But as life to take the Scripture
  Is the tree of life to eat;
  Thus the Word we must be taking
  In the spirit as our meat.