Robert Young's Concise Critical Commentary on the New Testament

Note: This edition includes only the New Testament since it’s often the most notoriously mistranslated part of the Bible, especially when it comes to eschatology.

Having a basic knowledge of Greek to study the New Testament is helpful and can go a long way to help with interpretation issues in terms of how a passage literally reads.

The Greek alphabet can be learned in a few hours since it close to our English alphabet. You can be reading the NT in Greek within a week even though you will not know how to translate what you are reading. But with a Greek-English interlinear cross-referenced to Strong’s numbering system and a basic biblical dictionary or lexicon, you will be able to determine the meaning of each Greek word.

A concordance lists most every word in the Bible and gives its English translation. A concordance like Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance also serves as a basic Bible dictionary. Strong’s comes in printed and electronic forms. It is keyed to the KJV.

This is why a literal translation of the Bible is helpful. In addition to his Analytical Concordance to the Bible—where the original Hebrew or Greek words are listed as well as the pronunciation—Robert Young (1822-1888) also published several editions of his Literal Translation of the Bible (YLT). He also published the Concise Critical Bible Commentary that was "Specially Designed for Those Teaching the Word of God."

It’s his New Testament version of his Concise Critical Bible Commentary that American Vision is republishing. It’s an eye-opener when it comes to words often mistranslated and sometimes not translated in popular Bible translations, and you don’t need to know Greek to benefit from his commentary. 

Robert Young (1822-1888) was a Scottish publisher who was self-taught and proficient in various Oriental languages. He was born in Edinburgh and eventually served an apprenticeship in printing. He joined the Free Church and in 1847 started his own business of printing and selling books, particularly works related to Old Testament studies. He published several works, the best known being a Bible translation, commonly referred to as Young’s Literal Translation, his comprehensive Bible concordance based on the King James Version, The Analytical Concordance to the Bible, and Concise Critical Comments on the Holy Bible.

Paperback; 206 pages