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See the introduction page for information about the OET translation philosophy and the various OET versions.
Why is it called the Open English Translation of the Bible (OET)?
Where can I download the OET from?
Why are there so many translations?
Why is the OET different from other translations?
Which English dialect and spelling system will the OET use?
Why doesn't the OET use the names Old Testament and New Testament?
Why does the OET downplay chapter and verse numbers?
Why does the OET have funny characters in the files?
Why does the OET have the books in a different order?
When is the expected release date?
What is the format of the source files?
What license will the OET have?
Which Bible editor do you use?
See the introduction page for information about the OET translation philosophy and the various OET versions.
The OET translation isn't completed yet so it's not yet available. However, some sample files can be found on the Downloads page.
The OET translation has been on hold for several years as we've worked on other projects. However, we expect serious work to resume on the OET in early 2022.
Well, Christians have a long history of devotion to the task of making the Bible available in a language that people can easily understand -- many suffered and some even died in their zeal to make the Scriptures available to others.
However, assuming that you're really asking about ENGLISH translations here, there are two main reasons:
Someone once said, “Reading a translation is like looking at the back of a tapestry.” While we strongly encourage the study of the Jewish and Christian scriptures in the original languages, this isn't practical for everyone. Hence we need translations into our modern languages despite the shortfalls (and potential confusion).
Well, there are several reasons:
Ha, yaright, mate! Although the base versions will use British spelling, we also plan to make variants available using US spelling and units, etc.
Since this is such an important question (especially for potential prayer and financial supporters), the answer is placed on this separate page.
Although these names are indeed very familiar, they are often confusing and somewhat misleading for modern readers. In current useage, we really are only likely to use the term Testament when we're talking about someone's will. Also, the term New might wrongly imply that the Old is no longer relevant. Hence the OET actively tries to discard this terminology.
Have you heard someone say, "This verse says, ..."? Well, verses are a purely artificial (and not particularly well thought-out) way of dividing the Bible text, and verses themselves don't say anything! They are useful for guiding people to the correct area of the Bible, but unfortunately they have also greatly assisted in the unfortunate habit of people quoting short Bible segments completely out of context. Since the OET aims to try to head in a new direction, we want to discourage the use of small snippets out of context, and this is one way that we can help do it.
The Literal Version (OET-LV) uses underline characters to join words which are represented by one word in the original language. For example, he_said would indicate that these two English words are represented by just one word in the original language and there is no separate word specifying who is the he. The OET also includes grammatical and semantic tagging. For example, if the text says gave it to him the OET will attempt to mark or tag what the it is and who the him is. This tagging is done in the text files using special characters, e.g., him=PDavid tells us that the him referred to is the person David. A full list of tags and special characters can be found here. Note also that a clean copy of the files is also provided on the Downloads page.
Well yeah, tradition is a wonderful thing, and you can be assured that there will be a variant with some more traditional design decisions like the traditional book order. However, there's also no need to be shackled to tradition. Remember that many Bible "books" started as individual scrolls. Some writings were split so those scrolls wouldn't be too physically big and heavy, and we may join them togther again, e.g., 1 & 2 Samuel. The default OET New Testament will begin with John’s account, which also has the advantage of placing Luke’s two accounts right after each other.
Actually, it’s release dates since there’s five versions. It is planned to develop the Literal Version, the Readers’ Version, and the Colloquial Version simultaneously, and we hope to make some preliminary books available by the end of 2022, with the Old Testament being released by the end of 2025. The Study Version and the Extended Version will also be developed together, but not until after the V1.0.0 release of the first three versions, so no time frame is available for them yet. But if we can recruit more volunteers, it would be nice to speed up the progress.
The OET source files use our own ESFM format, which are human-readable Unicode text files with embedded semantic markers. But each version will be available in multiple exported formats for download, including text, LibreOffice/OpenOffice (ODF), and PDF files (both of individual books and of entire versions), USFM and USX files, OSIS files, and Epub electronic book files
It’s still being decided whether to use a Creative Commons "share-alike" license or to put the translation into the public domain.
We use our own Biblelator editor Bible translation editor which is still being developed, but which already has most of the tools working to enable Old Testament translation (still no interlinear Greek resources).
Who is the Literal Version intended for?
Why doesn’t the Literal Version sound very fluent or natural?
The OET-LV is intended to help the English reader get a good understanding of what is actually written in the original languages without needing to have a good understanding of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
Yes, we call that the woody feeling. The OET-LV is designed to closely follow the wording used in the original languages, instead of using modern English expressions. This makes it appear to sound old-fashioned, but the reason for leaving it that way is to help the serious student be able to get a good look at what is actually written in the originals. Use the Readers’ Version if you want something that’s nicer to read.
[Back to Literal Version top] [Back to FAQ top]
Who is the Readers’ Version intended for?
The OET-RV is intended for someone who wants an easily readable, modern English version of the Bible. It’s particularly useful for getting an overall view of the flow of the text without being distracted by footnotes and other study tools.
[Back to Readers’ Version top] [Back to FAQ top]
Who is the Colloquial Version intended for?
The OET-CV is intended for someone who wants an easily readable, very modern English version of the Bible that’s especially easy for young people to understand. It’s particularly useful for getting an overall view of the flow of the text for a generation who haven’t read as much as the previous generation, and whose way of speech can be quite different.
[Back to Colloquial Version top] [Back to FAQ top]
Who is the Study Version intended for?
The OET-SV is intended to help preacher or serious student discover the subtle meanings of the text, with helpful notes and cross-references.
[Back to Study Version top] [Back to FAQ top]
Who is the Extended Version intended for?
The OET-EV is intended to help the Bible college lecturer or Bible translator with extended notes (especially about source texts) and other information.
This page last updated: 27-Oct-2022
Issued under a Creative Commons Attribution/Share-alike Licence, copyright © 2010-2022, RJH
