Should Christians Study the Hebrew and Greek Texts of the Bible Today?
God’s Word is, no doubt, the most influential book that has ever been written—and it was written in Hebrew and Greek—not English.
Even the concept itself is striking. The God who created the universe wants to communicate with us, and used the written word to do it.
It should not come as a shock that much time, money, and effort is given to the process of discovering the accurate reading and understanding of biblical texts.
Of course, those resources are not limited to the discovery of God’s Word, but the availability of it as well. That is, translating and disseminating God’s Word across the nations of the world.
In the Western World, the predominant language is English.
There is a rich history of English tradition when it comes to translations of the Bible. Without a doubt, the King James Bible is the most well-known, longest-standing, and widely disseminated.
Hailing from the time of Shakespeare—a time when many would argue that the English language was at its peak of beauty—even its critics label it a literary masterpiece.
As of today, there are around ~450 different English translations of the Bible.
With the availability of God’s Word in unprecedented abundance, a question is raised in the minds of many Christians today—is it important to study the original languages of the Bible?
Let’s explore that question, by starting with another one.
Where is God’s Word?One of the big questions Christian theologians have wrestled with involves the nature and location of God’s Word.
This concerns the doctrines of inspiration (what the Bible is) and preservation (where the Bible is).
These ideas are related, of course. A Bible that is written but inaccessible to God’s people is not productive for God’s purposes. Thus, we might start with the assumption that if God spoke, we generally have access to what he spoke.
Some see a problem here, though, because with the exception of very few, scholars are in agreement that the locus of God’s Word is the original autographs.
This means that the intended meaning of the text is found only by understanding the intent of the original author of a given portion of Scripture—all of his cultural nuances, his assumptions, and his writing technique must be considered. And that, generally speaking, copies of the work are granted no such status.
If only the original autographs of God’s Word can be considered inspired and, therefore, inerrant and infallible, where does that leave our English translations?1
When the preacher instructs us to open the Bible at worship services throughout the week, what are we really reading?
The Use and Misuse of English TranslationsThe field of textual criticism is, well, messy.
That is not to say we cannot learn much from these scholars, nor is it to say that we’ve no hope of understanding the Bible!
It simply means that we cannot pretend as though a perfect, complete, English Bible fell from the sky with instructions on how to infallibly read it.
There is much to consider when you factor what is involved to move a text from the mind of God, through an inspired biblical author, through the pen of translators (both amateur and professional), and into your hands.
Not the least of these considerations is how the message might be transmitted. A flawed view of this process might lead one to believe that God inspired translations as well as the originals.
Why is this flawed? A couple reasons, minimally:
If we agree to the doctrine of a closed canon, there’s no reason to think God would inspire a new version of the text. Some who take this view think that God would do this, citing Paul’s various translations of the Old Testament as proof-positive. The problem is that Paul is regarded by other authors of Scripture to be a divinely appointed author himself; not merely a translator to new audiences. Thus, the analogy does not hold.
Given the over-abundance of manuscript evidence we have for the Bible, a doctrine of preservation that makes use of this evidence seems preferable to one that can only be affirmed by faith. One might say they have faith that God doubly inspired the Bible (that is, inspired a translation as well as the originals). But there’s really no evidence that can be used to prove this.
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