Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible
Baker Books (modern reprint; originally George Adam Young)
First published 1862
Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible
Young's Literal Translation (YLT) by Robert Young (compiler of Young's Analytical Concordance) is the most mechanically literal English Bible translation ever produced. It uses present tense for Hebrew prophetic perfect forms, retains Hebrew names, and maintains absolute word-for-word correspondence with the original languages. Not designed for devotional reading but as an indispensable reference tool revealing the exact structure of the Hebrew and Greek.
History & Background
Robert Young (1822–1888), a Scottish printer and scholar self-taught in biblical languages, first published his translation in 1862, revising it in 1887 and 1898. His concurrent Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible remains a standard reference. YLT's extreme literalness — including present-tense prophetic constructions — makes many passages syntactically unusual in English but gives specialists unmatched insight into the original-language text.
Canon Proximity Rating
Standard 66-book Protestant canon. The most literal English translation ever produced; essential reference for word studies.