I've had this book for a while and I did some work in it at the tail end of a Revelation study that concluded last month.

It has some nice features and, more or less, eliminates the need of reading two or more books at the same time.

I get the Editor's unique purpose in producing the book, but I come away with the impression that, above all else, there's an attempt to prove the trustworthiness of the ESV's translation.

As the product description says:

This approach allows you to see firsthand the accuracy with which the translators of the English Standard Version of the Bible rendered the Greek text.

This, in my opinion, is unnecessary.

However, towards that end, the Editor orders the Greek to follow the English - it's a "reverse-interlinear" after all - and various notation marks account for each Greek and English word in their respective texts.

I can relate to some statements in the Preface:

So many people then go on to learn Greek intending to unearth some previously ignored word meaning that will have a significant effect in their Bible study. I believe this estimation of the purpose of original language study is unrealistic and does not do justice to the value and work of translators.

If we want to have a realistic and fulfilling expectation for the benefits of learning Greek, we should look toward developing a taste and a love for the ipsa verba (the very words themselves) of Scripture.

So please dabble and enjoy the meaning and the very words, sentences, and paragraphs in which God ordained to reveal himself. Approach these words in all reverence and fear, not in self-seeking pride or ambition.

Yes, I have encountered people in Bible study who think that Scripture translators are trying to dupe them, to obscure the meaning of the original, to impose their own theology. I don't share their skepticism.

That's not to say that I don't appreciate the original languages. I do, I think I do have that love for the ipsa verba. I've had it for some time and not just of the Bible.

I guess I'd just rather work the other way 'round. I'd rather get familiar with, not only the Greek NT vocabulary but also the syntax. The Preface says that the reverse-interlinear takes advantage of the flexibility of Greek syntax. IOW, Greek syntax doesn't matter as much as English syntax.

The only thing that really goes smoothly is working through a chapter I've memorized. Then there's not as much scanning the lines for translation hints. But I haven't huge portions of Scripture memorized, you know.