Bible Preface

Glossary • World History Overview • Deep Purple Registry

It seems that every English translation or version of the Bible has its strengths and its weaknesses.

The Reader-Friendly Bible: Purple Letter Edition (RFP) was developed upon the base the KJP (King James Purple) Bible, to retain the same 3-font-color scheme that was the catalyst for developing the KJP – for quickly identifying references to Deity (Father, Son, or Holy Spirit), a feature that readers seemed to have appreciated. But while the King James has long been admired for its poetic literary form, most will admit it is not the most easily read and comprehended translation. The goal of this RFP Bible version is to offer readers the “best of both worlds” – readily identifying the nouns and pronouns that refer to a member of the Holy Trinity, as the KJP did, but with wording and grammar more easily read and comprehended than what the King James offered. To accomplish this second goal, as many as 31 different English translations of each Bible verse were evaluated, and what was deemed the best rendering was chosen. In some instances, two or more renderings were combined to try to achieve the best hybrid verse. Some verses were simply reworded for clarity. The result is a Bible version that is not “King James based”, but is hopefully a “best-of-breed” composite of the English translations. The entire process was undertaken with prayer for God’s wisdom and guidance; and every effort was made to preserve the integrity and truth of God’s Word.

This RFP Bible also includes three supplements for the readers’ ready reference:

1.     A glossary of Bible terms

2.     A brief secular world history overview of the period the Bible deals with

3.     The Deep Purple Registry, a compilation more than 200 of entries, in order of their occurrence in the Bible, of the “exceptions” – explanations for those nouns and pronouns where the entity (Deity, mortal man, or angel) they refer to cannot be determined with any degree of certainty. (It was this difficulty that forced the expansion of these Bibles from the use of a single purple font for Deity, as originally intended, to a tri-color scheme.)

This Bible version also uses two types of entries embedded within the Bible text:

1.     Parenthetical insertions, for clarification of word meanings

2.     A second, more extensive insertion, as described here:

Please note that these ‘boxed notes,’ are not God’s Word; and should be taken as intended: a best-effort to inform - but not to bias or distort - what God’s Word tells us.

©2024 by Jim Musser. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved.

Please send any comments or concerns to kjpfdbk@nc.rr.co