Grammar Bible Version: Biblical Greek

After over 40 years of translation work to create Grammar Uses Version (GUV), a decision was made to update this version and produce Grammar Bible Version (GBV). GUV was developed by examining the original Greek structure more precisely and avoiding unnecessary dynamic equivalence. It is also based upon the Majority Text (BYZ) with differences from the Textus Receptus (TR) noted in the variant readings.

The original motivation behind GUV was the lack of translations that consistently rendered the present tense as linear and the imperfect tense as ongoing rather than a simple past. This distinction preserves the aorist as a simple past event while maintaining the imperfect as continuous action in the past, accurately reflecting its intended sense.

In GUV, subjunctives followed the Old English expressions of wish, such as “may,” “might,” and “should.” The aorist subjunctive conveys a sense of potentiality—something that could happen rather than something definite. GBV modernized this by introducing present indicative, aligning more closely with contemporary English while preserving the non-linear nature of the aorist subjunctive. This revision retains Greek grammatical structures, including participles and subjunctives, while refining the English to be smoother and more precise. The goal is to maintain the integrity of the Greek while enhancing readability and clarity.

Key Adjustments from GUV:

Smoothed sentence structure for clarity.

Rendered aorist participles with aorist main verbs as pluperfect.

Rendered present participles with aorist main verbs as imperfect.

Rendered perfect passive indicatives as present tense non-linear using the code ᵇ.

Retained present indicative non-linear for aorist subjunctives and linear for present tense subjunctives, using the code ˢᵖ.

In some cases, the infinitive is used to modernize the subjunctive in English, which is indicated by the code ˢⁱ.

Kept present tense indicative verbs linear — this means the present tense is continuous.

Maintained historical present tense where appropriate by using the code *.

Ensured consistent tense usage, avoiding unnecessary shifts. Where shifts occur, the codes < or > are used.

Improved sentence flow while preserving structure.

Removed redundant conjunctions.

Ensured alignment with Koine Greek grammar.

Enhanced readability while maintaining grammatical integrity.

This revision refines the wording for smoothness while preserving the original tense distinctions and faithfully adhering to Greek structure.