The pastor's showing off using Greek
words!
Why?
Because the original was
written in Greek.
When the New Testament was written, they wrote
in the most commonly
understood language.
The English language
didn't exist and wouldn't be
known for centuries--around
a 1000 years later.
The New testament was written in Koine
Greek,
which means common Greek,
and used the most
common scripture
resource, a Greek translation,
known as the Septuagint.
Comparatively speaking, Greek
terms, syntax, and
use is really easy to analyze.
I'm not sure how God spoke to the writers, but there is significant empirical evidence of what they wrote and language they expressed those thoughts (God''s thoughts). I believe that the words the writers chose came to them inspired by God, BUT, in view of man's own inabilities, the words had to be in the language bestknown and commonly understood language of that day.
Bible scholar F. F. Bruce writes:
"The revelation under the old covenant, which was in the first instance communicated to one particular nation, was appropriately expressed and recorded in the language of that nation. But the fuller revelation given under the new covenant was not intended to be restricted in this way. The words spoken by Simeon when he first saw the infant Savior (Luke 2. 30 – 32) had not long to wait for their fulfillment once that Savior had accomplished His work of salvation:
'Mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples; A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.'
"The Evangelists who narrates this incident closes his gospel by telling how Jesus laid down a program for His disciples ' that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name unto all nations beginning from Jerusalem' (Luke 24.47).
"The language most appropriate for the propagation of this message would naturally be one that was most widely known throughout all the nations, was a thoroughly international language, spoken not only around the Aegean shores but all over the Eastern Mediterranean and in other areas to. Greek was no strange tongue to the Apostolic Church even in the days when it was confined to Jerusalem, for the membership of the primitive Jerusalem church included Greek speaking Jews as well as Aramaic-speaking Jews. These Greek speaking Jewish Christians (or Helenists) are mentioned in Acts 6. 1, where we read that they complained of the unequal attention... By contrast with those of the Hebrews or Aramaic speaking Jews." F. F. Bruce, THE BOOKS and THE PARCHMENTS.pp. 58 – 60
"The Septuagint is the name commonly given to the translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek made by Alexandrian Jews in the third and second centuries D. C., Of which we have more to say in chapter 8. This translation was practically the' Authorized Version of the Bible for Greek speaking Jews (until the end of the first century A. D.) And for their Greek speaking Christians (throughout the whole Christian era). Among Greek speaking Christians in the early days of Christianity it was as well known as our Authorized Version is to English-speaking Christians, and exercised a comparable influence on their style. We know, for example, how deeply indebted a writer like John Bunyan was for his prose style to the English Bible. In this case the influence was
wholly admirable, for (quite apart from the' heavenly notice of the matter') the Authorized Version is written in magnificent English. But the Septuagint was not written in magnificent Greek. The first five books of the Bible had special attention paid to them, and their Greek style is tolerable; but many the books were translated very indifferently, and the Hebrew idioms were imported boldly into Greek. To one accustomed to reading good Greek, Septuagint Greek reads very oddly; but to a Greek reader acquainted with Hebrew idiom, Septuagint Greek is immediately intelligible. The words
No comments:
Post a Comment