Under the circumstances, I think that decision makes sense.

I also think that people were generally better readers (if they could read–which is a big if–and if they could afford a Bible, another big if). As Joe says, I’m hoping that my notes will help people see that they can learn to read slowly and carefully without knowing Greek or Hebrew or reading the latest scholarly articles in academic journals.

Thanks for saying that I am simple but not simplistic. That was very kind.

I wonder if we don’t sometimes make a mistake today and think that “common” readings from eras previous to the rise of historical critical scholarship were somehow “unthoughtful” or “simple.” My experience with Joseph Smith’s readings of the Bible, and he was hardly acquainted with the kind of resources we have today, is that he had a remarkable knack for uncovering structures, for asking poignant questions, for getting seriously productive work done.

In a word, isn’t the problem that we conflate “common” readings with “simplistic” readings?

I know the CD applies the Greek text that the KJV uses, and differs from the Greek NT I normally use at home in a few areas.

Note: I think the KJV of John 5 is more difficult to understand than other translations. In particular, John 5:39 is confusing since the KJV translates “search” as an imperative” whereas most modern translations take this in the indicative (“you search”). See various renderings of John 5:39, and a couple notes, here.

Rob, the Blue Letter Bible is the best I’ve seen. On any given verse, you click on the little blue “C” box to the left of the verse and it brings up the passage in both the Hebrew and the Greek (Septuagint) for the O.T. It also opens up, at the same time, brief dictionary entries for each word used in the Hebrew and Greek, hyperlinked to pages with much more extensive detail: a brief Strong’s entry; the Gesenius Lexicon entry (you have to click on “read the rest of the entry to see it all); snippets from other instances of the same word; and so on. Back on the first page there is also a “tense” box to the right of each word, which opens a little window with some clarification about the tense of verbs. http://www.blueletterbible.org