Does reading the Bible in its original language

[WorshipBassist]

Does reading the Bible in the original Greek/Hebrew make the reader in any way more knowledgable than someone who reads a translation?

I say this as a scholar of Latin and Greek.

 

[oldsage]

Does reading the Bible in the original Greek/Hebrew make the reader in any way more knowledgable than someone who reads a translation?

I say this as a scholar of Latin and Greek.

I would say, yes. Now, I think one who reads in translation can understand things just as good as those who read the biblical languages. I think there are some nuances which those who read the biblical languages can pick up on which is lost in the translation and may gain some insight on where the writer was going or at times catch problems which may have been overlooked in some translation or some bias which prefers to translate on a certain slant.

But to a learned bible reader, who reads a variety of translations can be just as knowledgeable as those who read the biblical languages. I just hope they stop using Strong's lol

 

[Bethshaya]

For the sake of reading it in the original languages, no, it does not automatically make you more knowledgeable.

However, if read with understanding and depth, yes. There are many parts of language, culture and...whats the word I am looking for...that are missed in translation. Plays on words and the like that are missed once translated.

Edit: Nuances...that's the word! Thanks Oldsage!

That is where the "ah ha" moments come from. So in some ways, those who read in the original Hebrew and Greek can be privy to these plays on words and cultural things that we miss in English.

But merely being able to read it in Greek or Hebrew does not, in an of itself, make one more knowledgeable, no more so then reading in English makes one more knowledgable then someone reading it in Chinese.

 

[cyberlizard]

i would say being able to read other languages and understand them help significantly, particularly with hebrew, due to the way it functions with 'root' words and associated stems.

Steve

p.s. that's all i have to say really with one exception. I think a good working knowledge of the economic, military, social, philosophical and theological beliefs of the period a text was written are, much of the time, the key to unlocking the text. Otherwise we will understand it devoid of context and culture and will do such an injustice to it that we will end up making it say whatever suits us.

 

[BigNorsk]

I would think the answer is often yes, and no.

Yes because you don't miss verb tenses and such.

Yes because you can pick up subtleties.

But in some cases also no. For instance, simply being able to read the language, doesn't mean you understand the language. Your vocabulary miight not be the best, and you might completely miss idioms and other things.

So I would say be careful about just throwing out translations. Translations are done by experts in the language, knowing the original can help you know which meaning of a word is the one most in view. But if you are going in passage after passage that the translators are completely off, I would say either you are lacking in the original language or in English or both.

So you gain knowledge but be careful not to think you know more than you do.

Marv

 

[Iosias]

Does reading the Bible in the original Greek/Hebrew make the reader in any way more knowledgable than someone who reads a translation?

One would hope so but it does not follow by necessity.

PS: I used to attend Elswick Parish Church

 

[marktheblake]

Does reading the Bible in the original Greek/Hebrew make the reader in any way more knowledgable than someone who reads a translation?

Thats a really good question.

I have heard Shane Willard speak a few times, and his main theme is "how to read the Bible like a Hebrew"

He is not talking about learning Hebrew, but how to think like a hebrew. He has immersed himself in Hebrew culture and how they read and interpret words. For example; Hebrew words are not simply made up of meaningless letters, like our Alphabet. each Hebrew letter is a picture that has a meaning. Therefore each hebrew word reads like a comic strip, which gives the word an expanded meaning.

He calls this Form v. Function. When we read a word we only consider the Form, when Hebrews read they consider the function, which means they get a wider enhanced meaning of the text.

Do many verses in the Bible seem trivial? well likely not so to the Hebrew audience

This extends far beyond the simple method of looking up a Hebrew concordance. You need to drill down much further, and I have not yet located a good source for this. Wikipedia is somewhat limited

I have some of his CD's but I think he has some streaming media on his website, if you have any interest in the Hebrew at all, you definitely will enjoy what he has to say.

 

[Mansoor_ali]

The Bible's "original manuscripts had been lost" according to the Christian scholars and theologians

"Christians readily admit, however, that there have been 'scribal errors' in the copies of the Old and New Testament. It is beyond the capability of anyone to avoid any and every slip of the pen in copying page after page from any book, sacred or secular. Yet we may be sure that the original manuscript (better known as autograph) of each book of the Bible, being directly inspired by God, was free from all error. Those originals, however, because of the early date of their inception no longer exist."

"Because we are dealing with accounts which were written thousands of years ago, we would not expect to have the originals in our possession today, as they would have disintegrated long ago. We are therefore dependent on the copies taken from copies of those originals, which were in turn continually copied out over a period of centuries. Those who did the copying were prone to making two types of scribal errors. One concerned the spelling of proper names, and the other had to do with numbers."

"Most Christians will affirm that the Bible is our rule of faith and practice. It is a little self contradictory to stand in the pulpit and say the word of God is inspired, when in his heart the pastor knows he is not referring to any book here on this earth that people can hold in their hands and believe. He really should say what he believes - that the word of God WAS inspired at one time but we no longer have it, so the best we can do is hope we have a close approximation of what God probably meant to tell us."

"It also seems a bit inconsistent to say he believes the originals were inspired, when he has never seen them, they never were together in one single book and they no longer exist anyway. How does he know they were inspired? He accepts this by faith. Yet he seems to lack the faith to actually believe that God could do exactly what He said He would do with His words. God said He would preserve them and that heaven and earth would pass away but His words would not pass away."
Source:geocities.com/brandplucked/transinsp.html

 

[Benoni]

Does reading the Bible in the original Greek/Hebrew make the reader in any way more knowledgable than someone who reads a translation?

I say this as a scholar of Latin and Greek.

Yes and No.

Look at the Jews, they understood the languages of the bible but missed the Christ with in. Without the Holy Spirit leading and guiding you will only still understand the letter that killeth.

 

[LamorakDesGalis]

Does reading the Bible in the original Greek/Hebrew make the reader in any way more knowledgable than someone who reads a translation?

In any way? Sure it provides more insight, especially if the person actually understands what they are reading!

The English translations we have today are accurate and trustworthy. One can gain an accurate understanding of Scripture just from reading and studying these English translations.

The whole idea behind reading the original Greek and Hebrew is to increase that accuracy in understanding.


LDG

 

[MrPolo]

It is quite useful...to understand the intent of the author, it is often most valuable to recognize the semantics of the language in which he spoke in order to determine the intended meaning to his audience.