NET Full Notes Edition
There are no perfect translations. All of the translations of the Bible have been done by human scholars who were faithful and worked diligently to understand and interpret scripture. Just as no two readers ever read the same book, no translators interpret the same thing the same way. Each person brings their own bias, culture, and perception to their interpretation. “The best Bible translation is the one that you actually read “ is a true statement. Or as the NET publishers say, “The most important translation of the Bible is not from the original languages to English, but from the printed page into your life. ” My dad became a believer through a catholic version of 1980s “the way” Bible.
Like I said previously, the NET Bible was significant to my brother’s walk and ministry as he pastored to those whose first language was not English. He is brilliant, he speaks a wide variety of languages and dialects. But there is a lot of things we say in English that are hard to translate. NET helped him a lot, especially when it was finally available in print on not just online.
“the goal of NET is ministry first, it is wholly available for free for ministry use. Commercial use is different and the proceeds for commercial uses support the ministry of NET.”
One of the things I love is textual criticism and manuscripts and the origins of words and books and especially Scriptural study.
The NET Full Notes Bible is a treasure of information, why they chose this word in a translation, cultural context,
If you open it up, and are familiar with Jewish texts, you will think you are looking at a page of Talmud. There is scripture in the center of the page surrounded by notes in a smaller font. There are over 60,000 notes available such as:
- Translator Notes - explain the rationale for the translation and give alternative, interpretive options, and other technical information
- Study Notes - explanatory notes that include comments about historical or cultural background, explanation of obscure phrases or brief discussions of context, discussions of the theological points
- Text-Critical Notes – highlight alternative readings found in various Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek manuscripts
When you read John 3:16 you may feel like someone has messed with your old beloved translation— “for God so loved the world that…” however the Greek Οὕτως literally reads “for God loved the world thusly / in this manner— he sent his only Son…” Οὕτως tells us how God loved the world, not how much he loved it. So the NET version has actually rightly translated it to read,”For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.“ John 3:16 NET
Notes for 3:16
This full page is the notes!
If you are interested in a truly deep dive of words and thoughts and biblical concepts, or to aid in translation or working with an ESL bible study, this is a excellent resource to add to your library.
You can reference the NET and the translators’ note at www.Bible.org
“ The NET Bible (with all the translators’ notes) has also been provided to Wycliffe Bible Translators to assist their field translators. The NET Bible Society is working with other groups and Bible Societies to provide the NET Bible translators’ notes to complement fresh translations in other languages. A Chinese translation team is currently at work on a new translation which incorporates the NET Bible translators’ notes in Chinese, making them available to an additional 1.5 billion people. Parallel projects involving other languages are also in progress.”
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