ORIGINAL-LANGUAGE BIBLE STUDY

Hebrew · Aramaic · Greek · English

These writings were transmitted in ancient languages. Most of the Hebrew Bible is in Biblical Hebrew, with passages in Aramaic, and the New Testament was written in Koine Greek. We compare wording, context, translation, and interpretation before drawing a conclusion.

Our approach: (1) identify the verse in its manuscript language; (2) study the meaningful words and surrounding passage; (3) show a complete English reading on this site; and (4) clearly identify where we are offering an interpretation rather than a verbatim translation.

Ancient handwritten originals have not survived. We study the earliest accessible manuscript traditions, not a claimed newly discovered original manuscript.

Examples from our question library

Genesis 1:31: Hebrew טוֹב מְאֹד (tov me’od) — “very good,” describing God’s creation.

Psalm 141:2: Hebrew קְטֹרֶת (qetoret) — incense, used in a comparison with prayer.

John 3:16: Greek κόσμον (kosmon) — “world,” in the statement of God’s love.

1 Peter 5:8: Greek νήψατε (nēpsate) — “be sober-minded” or alert.

Why we share Scripture without a paywall

Imagine Moses coming down from Mount Sinai and saying, “Before you share the Ten Commandments, please sign a licensing agreement.” If we all followed a copyrighted Ten Commandments, where would we be? We honor the labor of translators while believing access to Scripture should be free. A copyright does not prove a translation false; our reader uses reusable source texts to remove commercial restrictions from study.

Read the discoveries behind these questions

English reading and original-language sources

For freely printed English passages, we use the World English Bible Classic, a public-domain English translation. The reader is not a claim that the English wording is the original Hebrew or Greek. For original-language morphology and word-by-word study, see STEP Bible.

We invite people of every background to read the evidence and ask questions. Cultural customs, sacred symbols, moral instruction, and worship of a deity should not be confused with one another.

Read the entire Bible on this site · Browse all 318 questions