Question:  Why is The AV7 Invitation Bible described as an accurate word-for-word literal translation?

Answer:  AV7 is described as an accurate literal translation because it is a word-for-word translation rather than an interpretive paraphrase.  Most commercially promoted Bibles in print today are, to one degree or another, interpretive paraphrases that are  not  word-for-word literally accurate translations.

As a word-for-word literal translation, AV7 preserves continuity with that time-honored, yet many times revised and refined English translation that has endured the test of time for nearly 400 years and has been widely accepted as a very trustworthy English translation.  While that venerable old Bible text is written in rather archaic language and over time some relatively minor deficiencies have been revealed, it still stands today as a very useful benchmark against which to test and compare other versions.

In claiming The AV7 Bible as an "accurate literal translation," the objective is to point out the important differences between literal, word-for-word translation and other approaches that do not claim to be word-for-word literally accurate.

Various approaches used by non-literal translations are sometimes openly acknowledged as being interpretive paraphrases.  Regrettably, however, some paraphrases are euphemistically, but improperly described as "dynamic equivalent" or "thought-for-thought" translations.  One paraphrase even claims to be "more than a literal translation" in which the publishers claim to be able to present "the thoughts of the original writers" rather than just the original writers' words.

How anyone can claim to know the thoughts of an ancient writer better than that writer's own words is a curious mystery, to say the least.  In any case, such interpretive "thought-for-thought" translations typically result in words and messages that are, regrettably, significantly different from the words and messages in an accurate word-for-word translation.

Therefore, it is wise and prudent for any reader of the Bible to carefully compare "dynamic equivalent" and "thought-for-thought" paraphrase translations with a more literally accurate and trustworthy word-for-word literal translation.

The New Authorized Version Foundation does not claim that The AV7 Bible is "perfect." If revisions or adjustments are shown to be necessary,  any needed adjustments will be openly acknowledged, corrected, and thoroughly documented.