# Young's Literal Translation ## Intro In 1862 a Scottish printer named Robert Young published his own translation of the Bible. His goal was strange and useful: render every Hebrew or Greek word with the same English word every single time, and preserve the exact verb tenses, even if the result sounded clunky. It does sound clunky. Reading Young's Literal Translation (YLT) aloud is rough. But that is the point. If a Greek verb is in the continuous tense (something ongoing, not a one-time event), YLT shows it. If the Greek word *aiōnios* shows up, YLT translates it the same way every time. Most other Bibles smooth this out for readability, which loses information about the original text. That information matters in two debates. First, universalists (who teach that everyone is eventually saved) lean heavily on YLT because it translates *aiōnios* as *age-during* rather than *eternal*. If hell is only *age-during*, maybe it ends. Second, in passages about belief and salvation, the Greek often uses continuous tenses ("the one who keeps on believing"), which sharpens questions about ongoing faith versus a one-time decision. YLT is a study tool, not a Bible to read on Sunday morning. Use it alongside a normal modern translation to see what is going on under the hood. This page catalogs 50 verses where YLT reads differently enough to matter for theology. ## In full Robert Young's *Literal Translation of the Holy Bible* (1862; revised 1887, 1898) is a hyper-literal English Bible designed for study, not for public reading. Young, a Scottish self-taught Hebraist and the compiler of *Young's Analytical Concordance*, tried to render every Hebrew/Greek word with one consistent English equivalent and to preserve Hebrew/Greek tense and aspect exactly. The result is awkward English but a uniquely transparent window onto the underlying text. It is also the most-cited translation in two debates: (1) **universalist arguments** that lean on *aiōnios* meaning "age-during" rather than "eternal," and (2) **continuous-tense / present-participle arguments** about belief, sin, and divine self-naming. This hub catalogs **50 verses where YLT's rendering materially differs from KJV/NASB/ESV** and explains the theological force of the choice. Each verse links to its passage page where one exists. ## Why YLT matters apologetically - **Lexical consistency exposes the translator's hand.** YLT shows which English-version distinctions are translator choice (e.g., *aiōnios* = "eternal" vs "age-during") rather than features of the Greek. - **Continuous-tense preservation supports several Reformed/Lordship readings.** Belief as *continuous activity* (πιστεύων), Christ's pre-incarnate "I am" ([Jn 8:58](/codex/john-8-58/)), and ongoing sanctification are sharper in YLT. - **Universalist proof-texts use YLT as their lever.** [G0166 - aionios](/codex/g0166-aionios/) rendered "age-during" is the engine of the entire conditional-immortality / universalist argument. The codex's response is in [G0166 - aionios](/codex/g0166-aionios/) (Greek argument) and [H5769 - olam](/codex/h5769-olam/) (Hebrew argument): both words carry *qualitative* eternality in covenant and divine-attribute contexts, not merely "a long age." - **YLT preserves textual variants honestly.** The Johannine Comma is bracketed; the Markan long ending is kept with a marginal note. This is closer to a critical-text discipline than KJV defenders allow. - **It is *not* a devotional translation.** Young's strict gloss-for-gloss policy destroys idiom (Greek and Hebrew idioms get translated word-for-word, not sense-for-sense). Use it as a study lens beside a competent dynamic translation, not in place of one. See also [Bible Manuscript Reliability](/codex/bible-manuscript-reliability/), [Comma Johanneum](/codex/1-john-5-7/). ## The 50 verses ### A. *Aiōnios* / *olam* rendered "age-during", universalist proof-cluster (10) These verses are the entire ground of the modern universalist case. See [G0166 - aionios](/codex/g0166-aionios/) and [H5769 - olam](/codex/h5769-olam/) for the lexical refutation: *aiōnios* takes its temporal scope from the noun it modifies, when modifying *God*, *Spirit*, *life*, *salvation*, it is intrinsically unbounded; when modifying *covenant*, *statute*, or *age*, it can be limited. The selective universalist appeal to YLT therefore cuts both ways: if "age-during punishment" is merely temporal, then "age-during life" and "age-during God" are also merely temporal, and [Heb 9:14](/codex/hebrews-9-14/)'s "age-during Spirit" reduces God Himself. 1. [Matthew 25.46](/codex/matthew-25-46/), "And these shall go away to **punishment age-during**, but the righteous to **life age-during**." (The pivot verse: same adjective, same verse, both senses must match.) 2. [John 3.16](/codex/john-3-16/), "every one who is believing in him may not perish, but may have **life age-during**." 3. [John 5.24](/codex/john-5-24/), "He who is hearing my word, and is believing Him who sent me, hath **life age-during**." 4. [John 6.54-55](/codex/john-6-54-55/), "he who is eating my flesh, and is drinking my blood, hath **life age-during**." 5. [John 17.3](/codex/john-17-3/), "this is **the life age-during**, that they may know Thee, the only true God." 6. [Romans 6.23](/codex/romans-6-23/), "the gift of God [is] **life age-during** in Christ [Jesus](/codex/jesus/) our Lord." 7. [Hebrews 5.9](/codex/hebrews-5-9/), "he did become to all those obeying him a cause of **salvation age-during**." 8. [Hebrews 9.14](/codex/hebrews-9-14/), "the blood of the Christ (who through the **age-during Spirit** did offer himself unblemished to God)." (The decisive case: if *aiōnios* means merely "age-lasting," the Holy Spirit is reduced to a temporal entity.) 9. [Revelation 20.10](/codex/revelation-20-10/), "they shall be tormented day and night, **to the ages of the ages**." (Doubled construction *eis tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn*, strongest possible NT intensification.) 10. [Daniel 12.2](/codex/daniel-12-2/), "some to **life age-during**, and some to reproaches, **to abhorrence age-during**." (OT bridge: same *olam* used for both fates.) ### B. Genesis distinctives, Hebrew tense, idiom, and word-choice (5) 11. [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/), "**In the beginning of God's preparing** the heavens and the earth, " (Renders *bereshit* as construct: "in the beginning of God's creating," matching Rashi's reading. Theological force: undercuts *creatio ex nihilo* from verse 1 alone, pushing the doctrine to other texts.) 12. [Genesis 1.2](/codex/genesis-1-2/), "the earth **hath existed** waste and void." (Perfect of *hayah*. Some gap-theorists lean on this to argue a pre-Adamic state, the gap-theory reading is not currently a codex hub.) 13. [Genesis 2.7](/codex/genesis-2-7/), "the man **becometh a living creature**." (*Nephesh chayyah*, same phrase used of animals; YLT refuses the soul/animal split. See [H5315 - nephesh](/codex/h5315-nephesh/).) 14. [Genesis 3.15](/codex/genesis-3-15/), "**he doth bruise thee, the head, and thou dost bruise him, the heel**." (Present continuous; YLT preserves the ambiguous masculine singular pronoun *he*, the messianic protoevangelium thread.) 15. [Genesis 6.4](/codex/genesis-6-4/), "**The fallen ones** were in the earth in those days." (Transliteration *Nephilim* abandoned in favor of meaning; underwrites the "fallen-angel hybrid" reading.) ### C. Continuous tense, the present-participle theology (5) 16. [Exodus 3.14](/codex/exodus-3-14/), "**I AM THAT WHICH I AM**." (YLT's wording, peculiar to it, ties the divine name to a relative-clause self-identity rather than the bare ontological "I AM WHO I AM.") 17. [John 8.58](/codex/john-8-58/), "**Before Abraham's coming, I am**." (Present *eimi* preserved exactly. The strongest YLT-illuminated Christological self-claim, Jesus identifies with the Exodus *ehyeh*.) 18. [Isaiah 7.14](/codex/isaiah-7-14/), "**Lo, the Virgin is conceiving**, And is bringing forth a son." (Participial present, supports the dual-fulfillment reading: an ongoing sign through Ahaz's day *and* a future virginal conception.) 19. [Isaiah 53.5](/codex/isaiah-53-5/), "And **he is pierced** for our transgressions." (Hebrew perfect rendered as present, the prophetic-perfect's force preserved.) 20. [Micah 5.2](/codex/micah-5-2/), "his **comings forth** are of old, From the days of antiquity." (Plural *motsa'otav*, "goings out," supporting pre-existence and eternal generation.) ### D. Christology and the deity of Christ (10) 21. [John 1.1](/codex/john-1-1/), "**and the Word was God**." (No "a god" hedge; *theos* without article still rendered "God", Granville-Sharp-style refusal of the JW reading. YLT's continuous-tense [Jn 1:3](/codex/john-1-3/), "all things through him did happen", also reinforces creative agency.) 22. [John 14.6](/codex/john-14-6/), "**I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one doth come unto the Father, if not through me**." (Triple-article exclusivity preserved; the "if not" rendering is sharper than ESV's "except.") 23. [John 20.28](/codex/john-20-28/), "**My Lord and my God**." (Direct vocative to Jesus; YLT preserves the unhedged confession.) 24. [Romans 5.12](/codex/romans-5-12/), "death did pass through, **for that all did sin**." (Renders *eph' hō* as causal "because", undercuts the Augustinian/Vulgate "in whom" reading that grounds federal-headship realism in this verse alone. Federal headship remains, but not from [Rom 5:12](/codex/romans-5-12/)'s grammar.) 25. [Philippians 2.6-8](/codex/philippians-2-6-8/), "who, being in the form of God, **thought [it] not robbery to be equal to God**." (Retains the KJV-style "robbery" reading of *harpagmon*, the harpagmos debate is decisive for the deity-of-Christ argument from this hymn. See [Christology](/codex/christianity/).) 26. [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/), "**first-born of all creation**." (YLT does not soften "first-born" to "supreme over", the literal rendering is what JWs cite; the Trinitarian response is that *prōtotokos* is a rank-of-honor title, not chronological priority. See [Christology](/codex/christianity/).) 27. [Hebrews 1.8](/codex/hebrews-1-8/), "**Thy throne, O God, [is] to the age of the age**." (Direct address of the Son as *ho theos*, Granville Sharp-adjacent; YLT does *not* take the alternate "God is thy throne" rendering.) 28. [1 Timothy 3.16](/codex/1-timothy-3-16/), "**God was manifested in flesh**." (Preserves the Byzantine *theos* reading against modern critical-text "He who was manifested." Textual-critically debatable, but YLT's choice is doctrinally maximal.) 29. [Titus 2.13](/codex/titus-2-13/), "the glory of **our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ**." (Granville Sharp construction, one article governing two nouns joined by *kai*, preserved exactly: God-and-Saviour is one person, Jesus.) 30. [2 Peter 1.1](/codex/2-peter-1-1/), "the righteousness of **our God and Saviour Jesus Christ**." (Same Granville Sharp construction.) ### E. Worship, divine names, and lexical preservation (5) 31. [Matthew 2.11](/codex/matthew-2-11/), magi "**bowed to him**" (renders *proskuneō* as "bow," not "worship", provokes the question of whether the magi's prostration was cultic worship or ANE court protocol. YLT's literalism actually weakens a common deity-of-Christ proof-text here; the deity case rests on better verses, not this one.) 32. [Matthew 14.33](/codex/matthew-14-33/), disciples "**did bow to him**" (same *proskuneō*, same disambiguation pressure). 33. [John 4.24](/codex/john-4-24/), "**God [is] a Spirit**, and those worshipping Him, in spirit and truth **it doth behove to worship**." ("A Spirit" rather than "is spirit", slightly less Trinitarian-friendly phrasing.) 34. [Acts 2.31](/codex/acts-2-31/), "his soul was not left **to hades**, nor did his flesh see corruption." (Transliterates *hadēs*, refuses the KJV "hell" mistranslation that conflates *hadēs* / *gehenna* / *tartaroō*. See [G0086 - hades](/codex/g0086-hades/).) 35. [Isaiah 14.12](/codex/isaiah-14-12/), "**O shining one, son of the dawn**!" (Translates *hēlēl ben-shahar* by meaning; refuses the Latin loan "Lucifer." Strips the verse of its centuries-old satan-identification, which the Hebrew never actually supplied; the satan reading is a Christian re-application via patristic exegesis, not the plain sense.) ### F. Prophecy, providence, sin, election (10) 36. [Isaiah 45.7](/codex/isaiah-45-7/), "Forming light, and **preparing darkness**, Making peace, and **preparing evil**." (Renders *bara'* (creating) as the strong word elsewhere reserved for [Genesis 1](/codex/genesis-1/); YLT thus sharpens the problem-of-evil question by keeping *bara' ra'* as "preparing evil." The Hebrew is real; the response is moral-vs-natural *ra'* distinction, see [Problem of Evil](/codex/problem-of-evil/).) 37. [Isaiah 9.6](/codex/isaiah-9-6/), "Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, **Father of Eternity**, Prince of Peace." (*Avi'ad*, literally "Father of perpetuity." YLT's wording is closer to Hebrew than "everlasting Father" and avoids the modalist trap.) 38. [Daniel 9.24](/codex/daniel-9-24/), "to bring in **righteousness age-during**, and to **seal up vision and prophet**." (Key messianic-timeline verse; YLT preserves the discrete clauses that the seventy-weeks calculation depends on.) 39. [Daniel 9.26](/codex/daniel-9-26/), "**cut off is Messiah**, and the city and the holy place are not his." (*Mashiach yikaret*, direct rendering. YLT is the cleanest English text to cite for the Messiah-must-die-before-Second-Temple-destruction argument.) 40. [Hosea 11.1](/codex/hosea-11-1/), "Out of Egypt **I have called for My Son**." (Perfect tense, supports both the historical-Israel reading and Matthew's typological-Christ application; YLT does not flatten the dual reference.) 41. [Acts 13.48](/codex/acts-13-48/), "and did believe, **as many as were appointed to life age-during**." (Renders *tetagmenoi* as "appointed", passive, the strongest single Calvinist proof-text. See [Calvinism vs Arminianism vs Molinism vs Open Theism](/codex/calvinism-vs-arminianism-vs-molinism-vs-open-theism/).) 42. [Acts 2.38](/codex/acts-2-38/), "**Reform**, and be baptized each of you on the name of Jesus Christ, **to remission of sins**." ("Reform" for *metanoeō* drops "repent", pure noetic-change reading. *Eis aphesin* rendered "to remission", Campbellite baptismal-regeneration ammo; the response is the instrumental-eis vs causal-eis distinction.) 43. [Romans 8.29-30](/codex/romans-8-29-30/), "whom He **did foreknow**, He also **did fore-appoint**... whom He did fore-appoint, these also He did call... did call... declared righteous... did glorify." (Five sequential aorists preserved; "fore-appoint" for *proorizō* avoids the loaded "predestinate." The "golden chain" of salvation runs through these aorists.) 44. [1 John 5.7](/codex/1-john-5-7/), Johannine Comma **bracketed**, indicating Young's textual doubt. (YLT is one of the earliest English translations to mark the Comma's manuscript weakness. See [Comma Johanneum](/codex/1-john-5-7/).) 45. [Matthew 19.16-17](/codex/matthew-19-16-17/), "**Why me dost thou call good? no one [is] good except One, God**." (Preserves the Byzantine reading "good teacher / why callest thou me good" against modern critical-text "why askest thou me concerning the good." Doctrinally consequential: the Byzantine reading is the verse cited for Jesus' tacit deity-claim.) ### G. Great Commission, resurrection, textual choices (5) 46. [Matthew 28.19](/codex/matthew-28-19/), "**having gone, then, disciple all the nations**, baptizing them, to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." (Aorist participle *poreuthentes* rendered "having gone", the missiological reading is "as you go," not "go ye therefore"; YLT supports this. Trinitarian formula preserved.) 47. [Mark 16.16-18](/codex/mark-16-16-18/), Long ending preserved with marginal indication of textual doubt. (YLT does not delete it as some modern versions do; it brackets and notes.) 48. [Revelation 20.14](/codex/revelation-20-14/), "the death and the hades were cast to the lake of the fire, **this [is] the second death**." (Death and Hades, both transliterated/preserved, themselves cast into the lake; theological force for the *separation* of death/hades from gehenna/lake-of-fire.) 49. [Hebrews 11.1](/codex/hebrews-11-1/), "And faith is of things hoped for **a confidence**, of matters not seen **a conviction**." ("Confidence" for *hypostasis*, "conviction" for *elenchos*, strips out the KJV "substance"/"evidence" lexicon that often gets mishandled in popular preaching as ontological substance. YLT's words are closer to the Greek's epistemological force.) 50. [1 Corinthians 15.44-45](/codex/1-corinthians-15-44-45/), "raised a body spiritual... 'The first man Adam became **a living creature**,' the last Adam [is] for a **life-giving spirit**." (Same *nephesh chayyah* = *psychē zōsa* rendered "living creature" not "living soul", keeps [Genesis 2:7](/codex/genesis-2-7/) and [1 Cor 15:45](/codex/1-corinthians-15-45/) lexically yoked, which is the whole point of Paul's argument: Adam-Christ typology runs on shared vocabulary.) ## Critique, where YLT helps and where it misleads **Where it helps:** - Tense/aspect transparency (continuous "is believing," prophetic-perfect "is pierced"). - Lexical consistency (same Greek/Hebrew word → same English word, every time). - Refusal of theological-loaded English idioms ("hell" for *hadēs*, "Lucifer" for *hēlēl*). - Textual honesty (Comma bracketed, long ending noted). **Where it misleads:** - **Wooden one-word-glossing destroys context.** The very feature that exposes translator choice also hides it: *aiōnios* is not a single English word's meaning. The Greek's force depends on what it modifies; YLT's "age-during" reduces a context-sensitive adjective to one wooden phrase, and that wooden phrase happens to favor one polemical reading. - **Hebrew/Greek idioms get translated word-for-word.** *Eph' hō* ([Rom 5:12](/codex/romans-5-12/)), *harpagmos* ([Phil 2:6](/codex/philippians-2-6/)), *eis aphesin* ([Acts 2:38](/codex/acts-2-38/)), all rendered with one English equivalent in ways that obscure live exegetical options. - **English readability collapses.** YLT is unusable for catechesis, public reading, or memorization. - **Selective universalist citation.** Universalists cite "age-during punishment" ([Mt 25:46](/codex/matthew-25-46/)) but do not bite the bullet on "age-during life," "age-during Spirit" ([Heb 9:14](/codex/hebrews-9-14/)), or "age-during God" ([Rom 16:26](/codex/romans-16-26/)). The polemic is parasitic on YLT's consistency, then drops that consistency when it costs. ## Live-cite kit - **For the *aiōnios* response:** "YLT renders *aiōnios* the same way every time, 'age-during.' Fine. Then read [Hebrews 9:14](/codex/hebrews-9-14/): 'through the age-during Spirit.' If 'age-during' means temporally bounded for the wicked in [Matthew 25:46](/codex/matthew-25-46/), it means temporally bounded for the Holy Spirit in [Hebrews 9:14](/codex/hebrews-9-14/), and the Holy Spirit just became a finite being. The universalist either keeps consistent and loses the doctrine of God, or breaks consistency and loses the argument." - **For the continuous-tense Christology:** "YLT, the most literal English translation, renders [John 8:58](/codex/john-8-58/) 'Before Abraham's coming, I am.' Present-tense *eimi*, the same word the Septuagint uses in [Exodus 3:14](/codex/exodus-3-14/) for the divine *ehyeh*. The Jews picked up stones to kill Him because they heard exactly what [John 8:58](/codex/john-8-58/) says." - **For [Acts 13:48](/codex/acts-13-48/) election:** "Even the most literal English translation can't get out of it: 'as many as were appointed to life age-during.' Passive voice. Someone did the appointing. That's the verse." ## See also - [G0166 - aionios](/codex/g0166-aionios/), Greek adjective; the lexical battleground - [G0165 - aion](/codex/g0165-aion/), noun form; "age" - [H5769 - olam](/codex/h5769-olam/), Hebrew equivalent - [G0086 - hades](/codex/g0086-hades/), what YLT preserves as transliteration - [H7585 - sheol](/codex/h7585-sheol/), Hebrew equivalent - [H5315 - nephesh](/codex/h5315-nephesh/), "living creature" not "living soul" - [Bible Manuscript Reliability](/codex/bible-manuscript-reliability/), wider context for translation choices - [Comma Johanneum](/codex/1-john-5-7/), textual variant YLT brackets - [Calvinism vs Arminianism vs Molinism vs Open Theism](/codex/calvinism-vs-arminianism-vs-molinism-vs-open-theism/), where [Acts 13:48](/codex/acts-13-48/) lands - [Christology](/codex/christianity/), where the deity-of-Christ verses converge
## Common questions this page answers **Q: What is Young's Literal Translation?** Young's Literal Translation (YLT) is an 1862 English Bible by Robert Young, a Scottish printer and Hebraist, that renders every Hebrew or Greek word with the same English word every time and preserves the exact verb tenses. The result is awkward English but a uniquely transparent window onto the underlying text. **Q: Is Young's Literal Translation a good Bible to use?** YLT is a study tool, not a Bible for public reading or devotion. Its wooden one-word-glossing destroys idiom and English readability, but it exposes translator choices that smooth-reading versions hide. Use it alongside a competent modern translation, not in place of one. **Q: Does Young's Literal Translation support universalism?** Universalists lean on YLT because it renders *aiōnios* as "age-during" rather than "eternal." But [Matthew 25:46](/codex/matthew-25-46/) uses the same word for both punishment and life, and [Hebrews 9:14](/codex/hebrews-9-14/) applies it to the Holy Spirit. If "age-during" means temporally bounded, the doctrine of God collapses. See [G0166 - aionios](/codex/g0166-aionios/). **Q: Why does YLT translate "I am" in [John 8:58](/codex/john-8-58/) the way it does?** YLT renders [John 8:58](/codex/john-8-58/) "Before Abraham's coming, I am," preserving the present-tense *eimi* exactly. This is the same word the Septuagint uses in [Exodus 3:14](/codex/exodus-3-14/) for the divine *ehyeh* ("I AM"). The Jews picked up stones to kill Jesus because they heard exactly what the verse says: a divine self-identification. **Q: What is YLT's value for studying the Bible?** YLT offers tense and aspect transparency (continuous "is believing," prophetic-perfect "is pierced"), lexical consistency, and textual honesty (the [Comma Johanneum](/codex/1-john-5-7/) is bracketed, the long ending of Mark is noted). It is the best English text for surfacing what translator choice has hidden.