The ESV English-Greek Reverse Interlinear New Testament

John Schwandt (DMin, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) is the president of Redemption Seminary in Chandler, Arizona, and the founder and director of the Institute of Biblical Greek. He developed the National Biblical Greek Exam, an online exam that seeks to promote the study of biblical Greek.

C. John Collins (PhD, University of Liverpool) is professor of Old Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. He has been a research engineer, church-planter, and teacher. He was the Old Testament Chairman for the English Standard Version Bible and is author of The God of Miracles, Science and Faith: Friends or Foes?, and Genesis 1–4: A Linguistic, Literary, and Theological Commentary. He and his wife have two grown children.

There are many reference tools that could be on the shelves of any serious student of the Bible. The English-Greek Reverse Interlinear New Testament is worthy of consideration. Based on the newer English Standard Version, an “essentially literal” version derived from the UBS 4th ed. Greek text and the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece 27th ed. Greek text, this reference begins with an excellent foundation for its interlinear features. The reverse interlinear provides the text in the ESV version with four interlinear features directly underneath each word.
First, one will find the Nestle-Aland 27th ed. Greek text with a numeric notation to indicate word order, since the Greek and English often use different grammatical syntax. Underneath the Greek text, one will then find the helpful transliteration of each Greek term used. Transliteration takes each Greek character in every term and gives the equivalent English character. This feature helps the reader know how to pronounce the Greek terms without having to read Greek. Underneath the transliteration is a full parsing of each Greek term. Parsing is written in a code which has a key at the bottom of each page, and a full explanation within the introduction pages to the interlinear. Under each parsing the reader will find a Strong’s reference number for the Greek term for use with Strong’s Concordance.
One nice aspect of how each Greek term is placed under the English text, is how the term is justified under the end of a phrase that only has a one word counter-part in the Greek. In the same way, if in the dynamics of translating, words are needed in the English text to increase readability, a bullet where a Greek term would be indicates that there was no direct translation of a Greek term. This works in the same way with Greek terms (often articles or qualifying terms). If a Greek term is not directly translated, a bullet will appear in the English text to indicate that the terms where translated within a subsequent English term. These examples are also given in the introduction.
The format of this interlinear gives the student of the Bible a quick way to reference Greek terms with accuracy, and budding confidence to begin parsing terms and understand their emphasis. Each interlinear comes with a CD which includes a searchable version of the entire interlinear with some extras. If anyone is looking for a reliable interlinear which uses a reliable version, formatted in an intuitive and accurate way, then this may be perfect for you. This would make an excellent reference for anyone who desires to begin to use the original language of the New Testament. – Tom Gindorf, Christian Book Previews.com