Greek

I have no desire to study Greek but will have fluency in Hebrew. The latter is due to cultural and personal interest.

Natsumi Lam said:

Hi Family,

Do you feel it is valuable to use interlinear, Septuagint or learn Greek? Why?

If not...why?

I have seen some posters say there is no point...do you believe this is true?

~Natsumi Lam~

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I have no idea why it would be pointless to be familiar with Biblical languages.

Did I tell you that the ORTHODOX STUDY BIBLE uses the Septuagint for its OT text?

I Think it is fun and gives texts we have heard many times freshness.

I have found that having both The Father and The Son(The Holy Spirit) all sufficient and then some.

Natsumi Lam said:

Hi Family,

Do you feel it is valuable to use interlinear, Septuagint or learn Greek? Why?

If not...why?

I have seen some posters say there is no point...do you believe this is true?

~Natsumi Lam~

Click to expand...

I think it's extremely valuable to learn and read the Bible in Greek. There is so much nuance in words and grammar that can really bring out the deeper meaning of the Bible.

Translations of the Bible are *pretty good*. You can usually *get by* and understand the basic gist of what the text says with translations — but in that case you should definitely read *multiple* translations. Reading only one translation really limits your understanding so much. The translator always puts something of himself or herself in the translation — it's unavoidable.

The bottom line, if we read only translations, we're not *really* reading the biblical authors — and not really hearing *directly* from God. We're hearing somebody's retelling of what God said, in different words and different concepts than what was written. We owe it to ourselves, to our faith, to the Lord, to seek as deep and intimate an understanding as we can. It is not hard, it's really very easy, to learn enough Greek to consult a Greek lexicon or follow an interlinear translation.

Natsumi Lam said:

Hi Family,

Do you feel it is valuable to use interlinear, Septuagint or learn Greek? Why?

If not...why?

I have seen some posters say there is no point...do you believe this is true?

~Natsumi Lam~

Click to expand...

At the very least, it's valuable to use Strong's Concordance to more closely study the English words used in the Bible.

Strong's Concordance is a much more detailed English study of each Greek word used in the Bible.

Biblehub.com is probably the best place to reference Strong's Concordance per Bible verse. For example, if you search a bible verse in google, one of the results would be from biblehub.com and you can access Strong's from there via "Greek" or "Interlinear" links near the top of the page.

Another place to source Greek to English translations (per word) is Perseus Digital Library

Why is it very important?

Because some of the English words used in the Bible (regardless of translation) came out quite differently against Strong's concordance....

Thus, you refer to Greek NOT JUST to have deeper understanding but actually to AVOID misinterpreting the scriptures!

I guess now you know why Christianity have many denominations with dogmas that doesn't agree with each other. Part of the reason why is avoiding studying the scriptures the right (hard) way. They want it easy...

Mary Meg said:

I think it's extremely valuable to learn and read the Bible in Greek. There is so much nuance in words and grammar that can really bring out the deeper meaning of the Bible.

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I agree BUT I think there's a much bigger problem of NOT studying the Bible in Greek or at least not use "Strong's Concordance" - you have a pretty big chance of misinterpreting many teachings in the New Testament.

It is one of the reasons why Christianity have many denominations with dogmas that doesn't agree with each other. It is undeniable proof most, if not, all of them have misinterpreted at least one teaching in the NT.

So studying in GReek or STrong's is not just for attaining deeper understanding but actually avoid as much as possible misinterpreting the scriptures.

Jonaitis said:

Sometimes I allow my sarcasm to be believable and other times I give it away like now.

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Damn! I thought it was irony.

GTW27 said:

I have found that having both The Father and The Son(The Holy Spirit) all sufficient and then some.

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Forgive me for asking, but why have you placed the Holy Spirit in brackets? Maybe just me, but it reads as though The Son and the Spirit identify as the same Person?

Of course it could easily just be bad English grammar on my part!

I am old. I barely understand English anymore.

timewerx said:

begin

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<TW>At the very least, it's valuable to use Strong's Concordance to more closely study the English words used in the Bible.
Strong's Concordance is a much more detailed English study of each Greek word used in the Bible.
Biblehub.com is probably the best place to reference Strong's Concordance per Bible verse. For example, if you search a bible verse in google, one of the results would be from biblehub.com and you can access Strong's from there via "Greek" or "Interlinear" links near the top of the page.
Another place to source Greek to English translations (per word) is Perseus Digital Library
Why is it very important?
Because some of the English words used in the Bible (regardless of translation) came out quite differently against Strong's concordance....
Thus, you refer to Greek NOT JUST to have deeper understanding but actually to AVOID misinterpreting the scriptures!
I guess now you know why Christianity have many denominations with dogmas that doesn't agree with each other. Part of the reason why is avoiding studying the scriptures the right (hard) way. They want it easy...<TW>

end

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I agree with you to some degree but there is a caveat.
• Online Bible FAQ
Q:The Online Bible Strongs is not the same as my Exhaustive Strongs Concordance. Why is that?
A: We used the Strong's system but the actual Greek and Hebrew to implement the numbers. By doing this we corrected about 15000 errors in the Strong's concordance.
Frequently Asked Questions - Online Bible Then click “The Online Bible Strongs is not the same as my Exhaustive Strong’s concordance.”
• Rebuilding Strong’s time-honored concordance from the ground up, biblical research experts John Kohlenberger and James Swanson have achieved unprecedented accuracy and clarity. Longstanding errors have been corrected. Omissions filled in. Word studies simplified. Thoroughness and ease of use have been united and maximized.
http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/e...ervan.9780310233435&QueryStringSite=Zondervan
Strongest Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, The: 21st Century Edition

Natsumi Lam said:

Hi Family,

Do you feel it is valuable to use interlinear, Septuagint or learn Greek? Why?

If not...why?

I have seen some posters say there is no point...do you believe this is true?

~Natsumi Lam~

Click to expand...

Yes and no.

Yes if you really want to know more about what scriptures say (and as long as you keep asking God and not going on your own or someone's understanding).

No, it's not a must, but a desire if you want to know more. God will reveal things to all individuals in their respected seasons.

John the Ex-Baptist said:

Forgive me for asking, but why have you placed the Holy Spirit in brackets? Maybe just me, but it reads as though The Son and the Spirit identify as the same Person?

Of course it could easily just be bad English grammar on my part!

Click to expand...

Yeah, it sounds suspicious

Der Alter said:

<TW>At the very least, it's valuable to use Strong's Concordance to more closely study the English words used in the Bible.
Strong's Concordance is a much more detailed English study of each Greek word used in the Bible.
Biblehub.com is probably the best place to reference Strong's Concordance per Bible verse. For example, if you search a bible verse in google, one of the results would be from biblehub.com and you can access Strong's from there via "Greek" or "Interlinear" links near the top of the page.
Another place to source Greek to English translations (per word) is Perseus Digital Library
Why is it very important?
Because some of the English words used in the Bible (regardless of translation) came out quite differently against Strong's concordance....
Thus, you refer to Greek NOT JUST to have deeper understanding but actually to AVOID misinterpreting the scriptures!
I guess now you know why Christianity have many denominations with dogmas that doesn't agree with each other. Part of the reason why is avoiding studying the scriptures the right (hard) way. They want it easy...<TW>
I agree with you to some degree but there is a caveat.
• Online Bible FAQ
Q:The Online Bible Strongs is not the same as my Exhaustive Strongs Concordance. Why is that?
A: We used the Strong's system but the actual Greek and Hebrew to implement the numbers. By doing this we corrected about 15000 errors in the Strong's concordance.
Frequently Asked Questions - Online Bible Then click “The Online Bible Strongs is not the same as my Exhaustive Strong’s concordance.”
• Rebuilding Strong’s time-honored concordance from the ground up, biblical research experts John Kohlenberger and James Swanson have achieved unprecedented accuracy and clarity. Longstanding errors have been corrected. Omissions filled in. Word studies simplified. Thoroughness and ease of use have been united and maximized.
http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/e...ervan.9780310233435&QueryStringSite=Zondervan
Strongest Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, The: 21st Century Edition

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Interesting, I'll look this up, thanks!

Monk Brendan said:

I have no idea why it would be pointless to be familiar with Biblical languages.

Did I tell you that the ORTHODOX STUDY BIBLE uses the Septuagint for its OT text?

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Why not, it's the one Paul used.

I don't get the premise of this thread. The OT was written in Hebrew and parts were in Aramaic (a kind of international Semitic language). The New Testament was written in Koine Greek. This is reflected in the Masorite text and all of the manuscripts we have for the New Testament. You don't really have to learn the original languages in order to get into the original, there are a lot of great study tools out there that does that exegetical work for you. There are some things that just don't translate, like 'amen', there is no equivalent in any language I'm aware of so it's transliterated. There are so many things in the original that become clearer when you get into the original language, when possible, it's almost always helpful to get some insights into how the word was used in the original.

mark kennedy said:

begin

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<MK>I don't get the premise of this thread. The OT was written in Hebrew and parts were in Aramaic (a kind of international Semitic language). The New Testament was written in Koine Greek. This is reflected in the Masorite text and all of the manuscripts we have for the New Testament. You don't really have to learn the original languages in order to get into the original, there are a lot of great study tools out there that does that exegetical work for you. There are some things that just don't translate, like 'amen', there is no equivalent in any language I'm aware of so it's transliterated. There are so many things in the original that become clearer when you get into the original language, when possible, it's almost always helpful to get some insights into how the word was used in the original.<MK>

end

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It is true, there are so many things in the original that become clearer when you get into the original language.
For example, when I took my final in Hebrew more than 3 decades ago one of the questions on the test was,
I correctly assumed that there was something I would see that I would not see reading only the English so I'd better find it. I found it can you?

Der Alter said:

<MK>I don't get the premise of this thread. The OT was written in Hebrew and parts were in Aramaic (a kind of international Semitic language). The New Testament was written in Koine Greek. This is reflected in the Masorite text and all of the manuscripts we have for the New Testament. You don't really have to learn the original languages in order to get into the original, there are a lot of great study tools out there that does that exegetical work for you. There are some things that just don't translate, like 'amen', there is no equivalent in any language I'm aware of so it's transliterated. There are so many things in the original that become clearer when you get into the original language, when possible, it's almost always helpful to get some insights into how the word was used in the original.<MK>
It is true, there are so many things in the original that become clearer when you get into the original language.
For example, when I took my final in Hebrew more than 3 decades ago one of the questions on the test was,

"Write out your translation of Jeremiah 1:4-12. It should stick pretty close to the Hebrew...Did you see something you would not have seen if you had only read the English? If not are the English translations you customarily use faithful to the Hebrew text." ​

I correctly assumed that there was something I would see that I would not see reading only the English so I'd better find it. I found it can you?

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Maybe not, but I have this resource I use all the time:

Jer. 1 blb

What I do is turn on the Strong's button and there are links based on the Strong's number. It could get you to dictionaries, lexicons and the Strong's Concordance references. More advanced exegetical work is a little beyond me.

Grace and peace,
Mark

If you are looking for a basic Greek grammar book, I would recommend Mounce. It teaches you the most common words first so that by halfway through you can "make out" (I'm avoiding the term read as you have to go through various declensions and tenses to get in depth understanding) over half the NT.