PURPOSE
The (CLBV) Clarified Bible New Testament, a work of Love and Obedience, was penned with the express guidance of the Holy Spirit and has taken 6 years to complete. It is a unique and special work, NOT intended to replace any New Testament in use, in any copy of the Bible, in existence today. Rather, first and foremost, the (CLBV) is to be used as a learning and teaching tool; to be used specifically in conjunction with the King James Version (KJV), New King James Version (NKJV), New American Standard Bible (NASB) and the English Standard Version (ESV) Bibles.
It is intended to educate and make clear those difficult and arcane words, idioms and passages that all too often drive readers away from studying scripture for themselves; instead forcing them to rely solely on pastors, elders, teachers, rabbis, priests or professors, to tell them what they think scripture says and what to believe rather than reading and discovering the meaning of scripture for themselves through the leading of the Holy Spirit.
PRINCIPLE OF INTERPERTATION
The (CLBV) Clarified Bible New Testament follows 5 basic Principles of Biblical Interpretation or Hermeneutics. Interpretation is done:
Literally – All Scriptures are interpreted using their plane, normal and natural meaning.
Scripturally – Scripture must always be interpreted by scripture. The entirety of the New Testament is only ever interpreted through the lens of the Old Testament. Additionally, the New Testament Writings and Revelation must be interpreted through the lens of the 4 Gospels. Jesus said:
“These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law (Torah) of Moses and in the Prophets (Nevi’im) and in the Psalms concerning Me”. (Luke 24:44 CLBV)
Contextually – Scripture can only be and is only properly understood when interpreted within the proper context in which it is found. Scripture is interpreted by the surrounding text.
Grammatically – Scripture cannot be fully understood unless the grammar of the passage is understood. This applies to all languages in which scripture is rendered.
Historically and Culturally – Scripture must be and can only ever be interpreted in the historical and cultural context in which the events within the Scriptures took place. It cannot ever be interpreted in the context of any modern secular socio-political ideologies.
CLARIFICATIONS
The (CLBV) Clarified Bible New Testament is a “Formal Equivalence” Bible version. It always strives to be faithful to render scripture as close as possible to the original text in both form and meaning. This allows the scripture to speak for itself, as God intended, and thereby allowing the reader the free will to interpret the Scriptures for themselves. Clarifications in the (CLBV) are intended to aid the reader in better understanding difficult passages, figures of speech, idioms, cultural reference and more without changing doctrinal meaning and significance.
The 1st key clarification in the (CLBV) deals specifically with the grouping of the books in the New Testament. It groups the New Testament books in the same manner as Jesus does for the Old Testament (Tanakh) scriptures. Jesus on several occasions refers to the Scripture as: The Law (Torah), The Writings (Ketuvim) and The Prophets (Nevi’im). The (CLBV) groups the books of the New Testament as: The New Law (John – Acts), The Writings (Romans – Jude) and The Prophet (Revelation). The traditional order of the books of the New Testament is maintained except for the Gospels.
The 2nd key clarification in the (CLBV) deals with the order of the 4 Gospels. It departs from the traditional order of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and instead follows the order of John, Mark, Matthew and Luke. This new order is used not because the traditional order is incorrect, but rather because this new sequence better aids the reader in understanding who Jesus is, His purpose, His intentions and the events of His ministry.
The following is a list of additional key clarifications that are used in the (CLBV). This list is not exhaustive and there are many more such clarifications that are used throughout. The expectation is that the reader will seek out these additional clarifications for themselves because of their desire to better know and understand God’s Word.
John – Presents Jesus for who He is, the Son of God as God, the pre-existent One. It reveals, in summary, the entire ministry of Jesus, from creation forward, which is expounded upon in the 3 synoptic Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke.
Mark – Presents Jesus as the Suffering Servant, and starts from the beginning of His earthly ministry.
Mathew – Presents Jesus as Messiah, detailing His legal line of succession from the House of David.
Luke – Presents Jesus as the Son of Man, detailing His bloodline of succession from the Lineage of David. Luke also has the distinction of binding the 4 Gospels to Acts and thus the start of the Church of Jesus about which Jesus spoke.
Scriptures – Anytime the word scripture(s) is used in the New Testament, it only ever refers to the Old Testament scriptures.
Study Outlines – Each book of the CLBV includes a study outline. Each outline opens with a Prologue and closes with an Epilogue, with main section headings in between which call out Doctrines, Themes, Topics, etc. Within each main section heading is a sub-section heading which further details each section. Each sub-section is followed by the specific scripture reference to the appropriate location in scripture. Each sub-section heading is also mirrored at the specific scriptural reference point in each book.
This approach is different from any other Bibles in that it provides a precise and easy to follow road map through scripture. The CLBV approach to scripture references makes it simple, quick and efficient for the reader to find the subject matter for which they are looking and aides the reader in learning where specific topics are found in scripture.
Gospel Outlines – The 4 Gospel book outlines follow the same format and methodology of the general book outlines discussed previously. However, the 4 Gospels go substantially further in their formatting and presentation. Any point at which each Gospel discusses the same topic, its section headings for that topic will be mirrored in each Gospel outline as well as at the appropriate section within the Gospel. For example, the Feeding of the 5000 would appear as “Miracle: Jesus Feeds 5000 Men” in all 4 Gospels.
Additionally, any reference to a miracle in both the Gospel outlines and the section headings will be preceded by the word Miracle. For example, the Feeding of the 5000 is presented as; “Miracle: Jesus Feeds 5000 Men”. Parables are presented in a similar fashion and all parables are preceded with the word Parable. For example, the parable of the Lost Sheep is presented as; “Parable of the Lost Sheep”.
Old Testament Scripture References – Anytime Old Testament scripture is quoted in the New Testament the appropriate scripture reference is included in line with the passage and within square brackets. The passage will also be bolded to indicate that it is an Old Testament passage. For example, Matthew 1:23 is shown as:
“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and will bring forth a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel” [Isaiah 7:14]
This provides quicker access to the Old Testament passages and helps emphasize the necessity and importance of Old Testament scriptures. It also illustrates how much Jesus, the 12 and Paul quoted the Old Testament scriptures and that the New Testament did not yet exist. Traditional marginal or center column cross references.
Keys of Salvation – These are Key doctrinal terms which help to clarify the Doctrine of Salvation. Each term is represented with a Key or name, followed by its scriptural reference, then by its transliteration from the Greek and its definition.
Apostles – Refers only ever to the 12 Disciples appointed by Jesus and Paul but no others.
Disciple(s) vs disciples – Disciple(s) with a capital (D) refers to only the 12 appointed by Jesus and no others. Disciple(s) with a lowercase (d) refers to the 12 plus others who were disciples of Jesus such as Nicodemus.
Church – In the CLBV, the traditional word Church is used only in reference to the universal church or body of Christ.
Congregation – In the CLBV, the word Congregation is used when referring to the local autonomous body of Born-Again believers.
Rulers of the Jews – The Phrase, Rulers of the Jews is used in place of the word Jews when referring to the leadership of Israel who plotted to crucify Jesus (Yeshua).
Names – The traditional names for the Apostles are still maintained but others have been updated to be more culturally and historically accurate. For example, Mary Magdalene is now rendered Miriam of Magdala.
Gender Neutrality – Gender Neutrality in the text is not pursued as it would violate all of the Principles of Interpretation. Rather the (CLBV) seeks to enhance the differences between genders and their intended roles in scriptures.
Parenthesis – Parenthesis ( ) are used to include content that provides explanation of and add emphasis to the text, i.e., Law (Torah).
Strong’s Concordance Numbers – The CLBV is fully compatible with Strong Exhaustive Concordance (See Reference Resources).
Tables – There are 44 tables in the (CLBV) which are used to emphasize key doctrinal points to the reader. Tables are shown in grey to show that, while they contain scriptural references, they are not part of scripture.
3rd Party Quotations – Extra biblical 3rd party quotations concerning the scriptures are presented in Italics, with a gray background after the study outline of each book.
Cross Ties – Cross Ties is a high level Systematic Theology and Doctrinal Outline of the Bible that works to bind the two testaments together. These are the 10 foundational Biblical doctrines every believer should understand, and includes appropriate scriptural references supporting each doctrine. Each doctrinal heading is shown using its common name followed by an academic classification in parenthesis. For example; Doctrine of God (Theology).
Reference Resources – A lists of reference resources used in creation of the Clarified Bible New Testament can be found after the Doctrinal Outline.
The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed;
The Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed.
– Augustine
By Aubrey S. Marshall