Identify English Words Added By Bible Translators

A Logos user recently emailed me the following question:

From Logos Bible Software, how can one know which parts of the English Bible are not from the original language,  but were added in by translators?

If you’re new to the Bible please don’t be concerned about this question. The Old Testament was originally written (primarily) in Hebrew while the New Testament was recorded in Greek. Our English Bibles are translations of these Hebrew and Greek texts.

Sometimes Bible translators, for various reasons, will both insert extra English words and not translate all Hebrew and Greek words. The Logos reverse interlinear feature, found in numerous English Bibles, clearly identifies these instances.

  • Open an English Bible containing the reverse interlinear information such as the ESV.
  • Click Display | Inline on the Bible’s toolbar. (1)
  • Navigate to a passage such as Matthew 6:1 . (2)

Indentify-English-Words1.png

The English words, such as other in verse 1, with a dot / bullet underneath them have been added by the translators. The Hebrew / Greek words, such as the one to the right of beware in verse 1, with a dot / bullet above them on the English line have NOT been translated in this specific English Bible.

Indentify-English-Words2.png

As you can see, the reverse interlinear is trying to account for every word, both in the original text and the English Bible.

Other English Bibles containing this reverse interlinear option include: NASB, KJV,  NKJV,  LEB, NRSV, NIV (NT only) and NLT (NT only).

For more detailed information about the reverse interlinear option, please see Camp Logos Live, our two-day seminar that we brought to DVD-ROM.

For more information about the basics of Bible study, like the Logos user’s question above, please see our newest video training project, Introduction to Bible Study with Logos Bible Software.

How do you use the reverse interlinear to study the Bible?

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Written by
Morris Proctor

Morris Proctor (1961–2023) was a certified trainer for Logos Bible Software and founder of MP Seminars. Morris trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos seminars, and his team continues to provide many training materials.

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Written by Morris Proctor
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