For quite some time now I have been interested in obtaining a more recent English translation of the Septuagint (LXX), so I finally decided to order the Apostolic Bible Polyglot 2nd edition. After placing my order online the Bible arrived in two days in brand new condition. It was shipped in a USPS Priority Mail envelope with the Bible wrapped in cellophane (no Bible box included).
Brown Eco-Cowhide
The Apostolic Bible Polyglot (ABP) is a literal interlinear translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint or LXX) and the Greek New Testament. According to the Editor, the ABP continues in the tradition of the Early Church Fathers who consistently quoted and read from the Greek Scriptures. Also, according to the Editor, one of the benefits of an interlinear translation is that the translator is held to a higher standard, and by having the original language side by side with the target language, the translator is compelled to use equivalent words to match the original language text.
The printed edition of the ABP consists of three major works:
A literal English-Greek interlinear translation of the Greek Old and New Testaments (No Apocrypha)
The ABP Lexical Concordance (covered below)
The ABP English- Greek Index (covered below)
Text and Layout:
The original typed text for the ABP was based upon the Codex Vaticanus-Sixtine text family, but for accuracy, comparisons were made with other Greek texts, such as the Complutensian Polyglot and the Aldine Text of 1519.
The layout consists of a traditional two-column layout with chapter and verse numbers and sectional headings. The columns are fairly wide with approximately 35 characters per line. However, since this is an interlinear Bible, for each verse there are three lines of information: For the center line, the Greek text is set in a nice bold font and keyed to Strong’s numbers. The Strong’s numbers are set above the Greek text on the top line with the English text residing on the bottom line. As a result of the variation of the word order between the Greek and English, portions of the English text have been set in brackets along with a numbering system to designate the correct reading order. Also, at the bottom of the page, there are relevant scriptural and textual references and as mentioned earlier, comparisons with other Greek texts were made to assure accuracy and are noted in the footnotes by abbreviation.
Concordance and Index:
At the back of the ABP you’ll find the Lexical Concordance and a Greek- English Index. The Concordance and Index includes every word found in the Apostolic Bible Polyglot with the exception of proper names. The Concordance lists these words alphabetically by the English word and the Index is listed numerically by the Strong’s numbers and alphabetically by the Greek word. Both the concordance and the index utilize the numbering system from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. However, since the Strong’s Concordance was numerically coded only to the Hebrew Old Testament and not the Greek OT (Septuagint) additional numbers needed to be added for the Greek Old Testament. (Basically, any time you see a number with a decimal point, that word is found only in the ABP and not the Strong’s.)
Binding and Construction:
The binding on the reviewed edition is made of Eco-Cowhide. Eco I’m assuming is short for economy and is actually imitation leather. The Saddle Brown cover is very flexible and stitched around the perimeter with brown paper liners and end sheets for the interior. But, for those of you that would prefer a more natural and premium binding, there is a genuine Cowhide edition available.
This edition has gold gilded page edges and two very nice quality ribbon markers that are 3/8″ wide. The ribbons have been cut to a nice long length and are gold and copper in color with matching head and foot bands. I did notice a couple of minor imperfections with my edition and one of those being the headband doesn’t appear to be glued where the ribbons have been installed. Also, around the first and last pages, I noticed slight gaps down the gutter where at different spots it appears to be glued.
Even though the Bible appears to be well constructed I’m unable to determine whether or not the text block is sewn, however the Bible does lie flat on a table from front to back.
Print and Paper:
Print: The size of the print looks to be around a 7-8 pt. font and is clear and consistent throughout the edition reviewed. The Bible paper is fairly thin with a light gray tint, which, more than likely is the result of the amount of show-through from the print on the opposite side of the page. The paper is rated at 19lb and was sourced from the Tervakoski Mill in Finland.
Paper: For a comparison of the paper thickness and the print size, the paper in the Cambridge NASB WM measures .963” thick @ 1000 pages while the paper in the ABP measures .695” @ 1000 pages. The font in the NASB WM is 8 pt. Lexicon.
Size: At approximately 2000 pages the overall dimensions of the ABP are 9.5 X 7.75 X 1.75” and it is the same length and width as the Cambridge Wide Margin Bibles.
Recommend: I would’ve liked to have seen a more opaque paper with a larger print, but I understand this would increase the dimensions of an already fairly large Bible. However, since the ABP appears to be more of a reference edition and less of a readers-type Bible, then maybe at some point in the future the Editor of the ABP would consider printing a 2-3 volume set with larger print.
Final thoughts: If you’re in the market for an interlinear Bible and a more recent translation of the Septuagint, then this might be your best and only choice. I know of one other recent English translation of the Septuagint (NETS Septuagint) available in print form, but it is not an interlinear Bible, and it doesn’t have the additional resources as found in the ABP. The ABP may also be a great resource for those of you who are in the process of learning Biblical Greek.
To accommodate various budgets, the Apostolic Bible Polyglot is available in different bindings and other media: https://www.apostolicbible.com/bookstore.htm#!/c/0
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