An Analysis
For the English reader, the Hilkiah Edition provides the first comprehensive stepping-stone to the biblical Greek text, the 1550 Stephanus (also called Textus Receptus).
(closest to blue is better, i.e. smaller is better)
A Unique Word Form expresses a concept and may occasionally express several unrelated concepts, such as the English word "bat".
A Distinct Word Form communicates a specific concept within a given context with a single word form. It is a contextual use of a Unique Word Form, such as "a wooden bat".
Overlapping Word Forms occur in a given text when a Unique Word Form expresses more than one Distinct Word Form within that text. For example, "A bat was flying around the stadium. A player was up to bat and hit a home run. The crowd erupted as his bat went flying, and the bat flew away." This overlapping use of the word form "bat" requires diligent attention of behalf of the reader to discern what concept is expressed with each and every use. "Up to bat" and "his bat" are contextual uses of the same fundamental concept, a wooden stick used in sport. The other "bat," a flying mammal, is a completely unrelated concept sharing the same unique word form. Thus, there is overlap.
These three concepts regarding word forms are critical components to understanding the quality and accuracy of a translation.
The 1550 Stephanus contains 17,534 unique Greek words (or word forms). A tiny number of these Greek word forms are used for two unrelated concepts. This is similar to how the English word "bat" may describe a wooden stick used in sports or may describe a flying nocturnal mammal. The word "bat" is one unique word form, but it represents two distinct concepts or "distinct word forms." The 1550 Stephanus contains 17,602 distinct word forms. This creates 68 overlapping word forms which requires the reader to determine proper context to know which concept is being expressed.
In English, it can take a few discrete or individual English words combined together to properly express one Greek word. The English sentence, "He was speaking," contains three discrete English words which are expressed by one Greek word form "ἐλάλει". Thus, the combined form "He·was·speaking" is the corresponding English word form for the Greek word form "ἐλάλει". To properly express the Greek text in English, it requires more English word forms than exist in the Greek scriptures due to changes of context and their proper expression in English.
The venerable King James Version contains more than 33,300 distinct word forms and more than 24,200 unique word forms in the New Testament. This is 90% more distinct word forms than exist in the the Greek text, and an overlap of 9,168 word forms. At first glance, this would indicate expressing almost twice as many concepts than actually reside in the Greek text. An in-depth analysis shows that while extraneous concepts are expressed, the majority of the Greek concepts are merely inconsistently expressed due to poetic license of English expression, sometimes at odds with the original Greek text. In essense, the King James Version is much more of a poetic adaption of the Greek scriptures than a literal or a consistent translation. Although it served its purpose in its day, it impedes proper correlation of Scripture. Correlation shows how one passage of Scripture relates and corresponds to another passage. Correlation is critically important in understanding the Scripture both as a whole and in detail. King James provides the overall message well enough for a general understanding and application, but it is not suitable for the more skillful and accurate comprehension of Scripture, let alone critical application or precise exegesis of various passages.
Noah Webster (of dictionary fame and prowess) greatly improved on the King James with his revision in 1833. Webster's Revised New Testament translation contains 29,220 distinct word forms and 20,678 unique word forms with an overlap of 8,542 words. This is only 66% more distinct word forms, a 24.9% improvement. A definite and measurable improvement of English clarity and discreteness of concepts expressed from the Greek text.
[Personal note: Alas, we come to the Hilkiah Edition. Like a doctor that breaks an improperly healed bone so that it may heal properly, so also is the Hilkiah Edition. There is no glory or honor associated with breaking and resetting a bone. Neither doctor nor patient enjoy the prospect of breaking the bone nor the rehabilation that must follow. And such is the nature of the process that it is not performed on the weak or the elderly. No thanks is offered, and none is expected of such a procedure. And there are those that would prefer to leave the bone as-is. Prudently, many ask if it is really necessary. The final choice and determination resides with the patient. I can simply confirm that the process is indeed painful, and it is beneficial.]
Mickelson's Hilkiah Edition New Testament Translation vastly and measurably improves the biblical Greek to modern English translation of Scripture. It contains 21,680 distinct word forms and 18,843 unique words forms with an overlap of 2,837 words. This is a mere 23.2% increase of distinct word forms, which is much more reasonable for an accurate English translation that still expresses each Concept for concept, Context for context, and Word for word™. By comparison, this is a 74.2% improvement of consistency and clarity over the King James and a 64.9% improvement over the Revised Webster's translation.
But this measurement alone does not show the further increase of conceptual and contextual clarity that the Hilkiah Edition provides. There is a larger vocabulary of English words used to clearly denote each Greek word or concept. The Greeks had a word for it - the Hilkiah Edition has a matching and consistent word form for each context switch as well - in Modern English.
(smaller is better)
This graph shows the additional word forms used in these three English reference translations.
1550 Stephanus - increase 0.0% distinct, 0.0% unique
2010 Hilkiah Edition: 23.2% distinct, 7.5% unique
1833 Webster's Revised: 66.0% distinct, 17.9% unique
2003 King James Version: 89.7% distinct, 38.1% unqiue
My ongoing analysis of the Greek New Testament shows that an accurate and consistent English translation should contain an additional 20%-25% distinct word forms. Any less, and concepts are being lost and obscured; any more, and concepts are being added and also obscured. These additional distinct word forms are required due to the differences between Greek and English expression of the same or contextually similar concepts.
This chart shows the number of word forms that are duplicated in English while representing different Greek words. This is a measure of obscurity. In these instances, one cannot discern in English what Greek word is actually being expressed. While no duplication is desirable, it is not truly feasible since Greek is more finely detailed and expressive of thought than English. And as the decades keep passing, English speakers are continuing to dilute and diminish the English language such that, presently, the common public English vocabulary is insufficient to comprehend and communicate the full expression found in the Greek New Testament. Fortunately, the English words lacking from the general public vocabulary are still found within the higher level of general college vocabulary.
1550 Stephanus: 65 duplicate Word Forms with 133 occurances.
2010 Hilkiah Edition: 1,730 duplicate Word Forms with 4,567 occurances.
1833 Webster's Revised: 3,584 duplicate Word Forms with 12,126 occurances.
2003 King James Version: 3,630 duplicate Word Forms with 12,798 occurances.
This chart shows two loosely related items. Discrete Words are the individual English words used used within a translation, such as "speak, spoke, was speaking, spoken." There are five discrete English words within those quotes. These discrete English words can be used alone or be combined to match the meaning of each Greek word in the New Testament.
1550 Stephanus: uses 17,534 discrete Greek words
2010 Hilkiah Edition: uses 6,513 discrete English words
1833 Webster's Revised: uses 5,757 discrete English words
2003 King James Version: uses 5,965 discrete English words
The higher number of discrete English word usage in the Hilkiah Edition enables it to clearly express discrete concepts and contextual meanings without obscuring and overlapping similar, though distinct, Greek words and thoughts.
Secondly, the "Grammar Clarifiers" is a count of how many times an English word or phrase is inserted into the English translation to clarify in English what is naturally understood in the Greek language. These are the italicized words that should appear in an English translation. English lends itself to express and follow two trains of thought at one time in a given passage. The practice and mode of thinking by the biblical Hebraic-Koine Greek writers enabled them to easily handle three or more trains of thought with ease in Greek. This is why some Greek passages are difficult for the English-only speaker. It can be quite a challenge to readily comprehend the original Greek text or a verbatim, literal English translation. Some Greek passages extend beyond three trains of thought, and others, like some of Peter's writings, almost beg to be paraphrased or summarized in English, rather than be translated. But his expression is deserving of being translated and carefully worked through by the reader.
1550 Stephanus: uses N/A grammer clarifiers
2010 Hilkiah Edition: uses 4,342 grammer clarifiers
1833 Webster's Revised: uses 2,989 grammer clarifiers
2003 King James Version: uses 3,238 grammer clarifiers
Hopefully, dear reader, you will comprehend why I found it necessary to undertake all that was required to bring this work to its present state of fruition. This work is a reference translation for the generations that follow, and it adds a measure of clarity and consistency not yet found elsewhere. In that respect, I hope this endeavor raises the minimum requirements expected of all future Bible translations.
A servant of Jesus,
Jonathan K. Mickelson
