Program / Course 5: Biblical Languages / Lesson 6.1
What you will learn
- Describe what an interlinear Bible is and what each line contains.
- Use an interlinear to find the Hebrew or Greek word behind an English word.
- Name at least four things an interlinear hides or distorts.
- Explain why using an interlinear is not the same as reading the original.
The big idea
An interlinear Bible prints the Hebrew or Greek text with an English gloss under each word, and often a number linking to a dictionary. It is useful for finding the original word, seeing word order and noticing words that English leaves out. It is easy to misuse. The glosses are single labels for words with many senses, the English order is not the grammar, and no line shows how the words fit together. An interlinear is a finding tool and not a translation.
Key terms
- Interlinear Bible
- An edition in which each Hebrew or Greek word is printed with an English equivalent beneath it, usually with a standard translation in a column alongside.
- Reverse interlinear
- An edition that begins from the English text and links each English word to the Hebrew or Greek word behind it.
- Strong’s number
- A number assigned to each Hebrew and Greek word in a concordance published by James Strong in 1890. Many interlinears use these numbers.
- Parsing
- A statement of a word’s grammatical form, such as aorist active indicative third person singular.
- Gloss
- A short English equivalent, given as a label and not a full definition.
- Lemma
- The dictionary form of a word, under which it is listed in a lexicon.
Background
Interlinear editions grew out of the study aids of earlier centuries and are now widely printed and available in electronic form. They are often the first tool a student reaches for. They promise access to the original. What they provide is access to the words of the original, in order, with a standard English equivalent. They do not provide the grammar, the idiom or the sense in context.
The right attitude is to treat an interlinear as an index. It lets a reader find the word behind the English, locate it in a lexicon and see where else it occurs. It is a gateway to other tools. It is not a substitute for them, and it is not a way to read Hebrew or Greek.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: What an interlinear shows
A typical interlinear for the New Testament has several lines for each verse. The top line gives the Greek words. Under each word may be the transliteration, the dictionary form, a Strong’s number, a parsing code and an English gloss. A column to the side gives a standard English translation, such as the King James Version or the New American Standard Bible.
A Hebrew interlinear works in the same way, but the Hebrew runs from right to left. Each English gloss sits under its Hebrew word, so the glosses also run from right to left across the line, and the English reads backward until the student turns to the translation column. A student should check the direction of each edition before trusting the order.
Step 2: A worked example, Genesis 1:1
The first verse of the Hebrew Bible is bereshit bara elohim et ha shamayim ve et ha aretz. An interlinear gives roughly: in beginning, created, God, object marker, the heavens, and object marker, the earth. The gloss shows the word order of the Hebrew, in which the verb comes before the subject, and it shows two small words, et, that English does not translate. It does not show whether bereshit is to be read as in the beginning, or as a construct, when God began to create. That question belongs to grammar, and a later lesson looks at it.
In John 3:16 the Greek houtos is glossed so or thus. The interlinear does not say that the word can signal manner as well as degree, so that the verse may mean in this way God loved or so greatly God loved. The student who wants more must look up the word.
Step 3: What an interlinear hides
First, it gives one gloss for each word, though most words have a range. A word the interlinear always glosses as world may mean the ordered universe, the human race or the world opposed to God. Second, it is easy to mistake the English line for a translation, though it is a string of labels that does not make sense as English. Third, it does not show grammar: a genitive, a participle or a verb stem is reduced to a code. Fourth, it does not show idiom, so a phrase that means something other than its parts is presented as if it meant the parts. Fifth, it does not show variants, so that a verse in dispute looks as if it had one settled form. Sixth, it sometimes inserts words in italics or brackets that are not in the Greek, and a reader may not notice.
Interlinears are also made by editors who choose a Hebrew or Greek base text, and they do not all agree. The student should check which text the interlinear follows.
Step 4: Using an interlinear well
Use it to find the word, then go to a lexicon. Note the form and the Strong’s number, and check where else the word occurs. Compare the gloss with the way several translations render the word. Look at the parsing, then look up the codes in the guide in the front of the book to see what they mean. Where a gloss and a translation differ, ask why. Treat any conclusion drawn from an interlinear alone as provisional, and write in the notebook what a specialist would need to check.
- Which Greek or Hebrew text does this interlinear follow?
- Is the English under each word a gloss, or a full translation?
- Which words in the Hebrew or Greek have no gloss, and why?
- How many other senses does a lexicon give for this word?
- Does the verse show any grammar that the interlinear reduces to a code?
- Am I about to claim more than the interlinear can support?
Examples
An untranslated word
In Genesis 1:1 the word et appears twice and is glossed as object marker or left blank. A student who sees this learns that the Hebrew has a grammatical word with no English equivalent, and does not conclude that something is missing from the translation.
One gloss, many senses
An interlinear glosses the Greek logos as word each time. In John 1:1 that fits well. In other places, logos means an account, a message or a matter. A student who uses the gloss alone could conclude that the word has a single sense, which would be false.
Reverse interlinear
A reverse interlinear starts with an English verse and links each English word to its source. A reader sees that three different Greek words are rendered by the one English word love in a passage, or that one Greek word is rendered by several English words. This helps a student see translators’ choices.
Different perspectives
Scholarly
Biblical scholars generally regard interlinears as acceptable aids for locating words but warn that they encourage a false sense of mastery. They advise students to move quickly to grammars and lexicons.
Protestant
Interlinears and Strong’s numbers are popular among Protestants who study Scripture on their own, and many pastors use them. Protestant teachers of Greek and Hebrew often caution against building sermons on interlinear glosses alone.
Catholic
Catholic readers meet the original languages mainly through scholarly commentaries and study Bibles with notes. Interlinear editions are available and are used by those who wish to study the languages.
Orthodox
Orthodox readers often have the Greek of the Septuagint and the New Testament in parallel editions with a modern translation, a form close to an interlinear. The church’s tradition and the fathers guide how the text is understood.
Jewish
Jewish students also use Hebrew editions with English alongside, though the tradition values study with a teacher and with classic commentaries.
Why it matters
The interlinear is the tool most likely to give a beginner confidence beyond their knowledge. A student who knows what it shows and what it hides can use it to find words and avoid the claims that follow from over reading it.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: An interlinear is a literal translation, so it is the most accurate.
Correction: It is a set of labels. The English line is often not English at all. A literal translation is a different thing.
Misunderstanding: With an interlinear I can read the Bible in the original.
Correction: The interlinear lets a reader see the words in order. It does not show how they work together. Reading requires grammar and vocabulary.
Misunderstanding: Where the interlinear gloss differs from my translation, the translation is wrong.
Correction: The gloss is one standard label. The translator has considered context, idiom and grammar. The difference needs investigation and does not prove an error.
Misunderstanding: All interlinears give the same Greek text.
Correction: They follow different editions, such as the received text or the Nestle Aland text, and differ in places.
Knowledge check
What is an interlinear Bible?
It is an edition that prints the Hebrew or Greek text with an English gloss under each word, often with a transliteration, a dictionary number and a grammatical code, and sometimes a standard translation beside it. It is a tool for finding and examining words, not a translation to be read as English.
Give three things an interlinear hides.
It gives only one gloss for words with a range of meanings, it reduces grammar to codes, and it does not show idiom. It also does not display variants in the manuscripts, and it may present a supplied word as if it were in the original. Any three of these are correct.
How should a student use an interlinear well?
To find the original word behind an English word, to see word order and to locate untranslated words. Then the student should look the word up in a lexicon, check other uses with a concordance and compare translations. Conclusions drawn from an interlinear alone should be regarded as provisional.
What is a reverse interlinear?
It begins with an English translation and links each English word to the Hebrew or Greek word it renders. It helps a student see when one English word stands for several originals, or several English words for one, and so see where the translators made choices.
Think it through
- Why might an interlinear give a stronger feeling of understanding than it deserves?
- What would you add to a gloss to make it more honest?
- How might a teacher use an interlinear without misleading students?
- What have you read or heard that appears to rest on an interlinear gloss?
Independent assignment
Using an interlinear on a short passage
In your own notebook, write 350 to 500 words. Take a verse such as Genesis 1:1 or John 3:16 and copy its interlinear in your notebook. List the glosses, the untranslated words and the codes. Look up two words in a lexicon and note how many senses each has. Write what the interlinear showed you, what it hid, and what you would need to know to read the verse properly. Do not send this to anyone.
Further study
- Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth See what is said about reliance on word studies and translations.
- Bruce M. Metzger and Bart D. Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration To learn which Greek text an interlinear may follow.
- Jewish Publication Society, The Hebrew Bible in English (JPS translation) Compare an interlinear gloss with a standard Jewish translation.
- Genesis 1:1 Find the object marker et.
- John 3:16 The word houtos.
- John 1:1 Logos and theos.