A couple of weeks ago I started thinking about something I have often pondered. When I am writing about a Bible passage, I frequently say something like, “In the Greek this word is / means…” * Whenever I do this my aim is not to “correct” the translation, and definitely not to show off, but to enhance our understanding of the passage. Preachers and teachers of the Word often do this. I like to think they have the same motive.
Understanding Greek and Hebrew can be a real help in understanding what the Bible says. Even if you don’t know the original languages there are tools available to help. However, I am concerned about a possible negative side effect of all this “in the Greek” talk, and that is that people might subconsciously begin to think they cannot understand the Bible if they are not conversant in the original languages. If this is indeed a side effect, it is a very sad one!
And to address that I began thinking about writing a post or a series of posts in which I take a passage and explain it without reference to the original languages, in an attempt to encourage Christians in their reading of the Scriptures, “You can indeed read your Bible and understand what it says.” And to this end I wrote to some family members, explained what I was planning, and asked, “Would you be willing to send me a passage or two for me to attempt to explain without any reference to original languages?” That way I couldn’t choose a favorite passage, a familiar passage, or a safe or easy passage.
I was given a couple of passages! So I will begin this week.
A couple of things before I begin:
+ I will be using the King James Version. There are a few reasons for this, but the main one in this context is that the KJV is what is known as a word-for-word translation. I prefer that method. You can read a brief explanation of translation philosophies here.
+ As I indicated above, I will not be using the Greek New Testament at all. This will be an explanation of the passages from the English Bible alone.
My point is that you can read, understand, and know what God is saying by reading your Bible! As helpful as language tools might be, the single most important thing to do when you are reading the Holy Scriptures is to begin by asking the Holy Spirit to help you understand.
The two passages submitted to me are: Romans 6 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. I still haven’t decided whether to split Romans 6 into two (shorter) posts or present it as one (long) post. We will all find out tomorrow!
Tomorrow: Romans 6
* Obviously this refers to the New Testament. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew (and some portions in Aramaic). The same principle applies to Hebrew.
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