Thank you for the translation and comprehension of the Bible, “If the holy Bible is the word of god then why was it written in an ancient language that is difficult to decipher, understand, and translate into modern day languages?”
The Bible is primarily written in Hebrew and Greek. As one may already know, every culture has its own language and practices. It’s a record of their history. One would think that the Egyptian hieroglyphic or the Assyrian-Babylonian cuneiform tablets were once difficult to decipher and translate into modern day language.
I spent three years in seminary learning to read Koine Greek and two years in Hebrew. As one delves into the original language, it is a fascinating world of words, grammar, poetry, and their literature. In fact, I began to understand English grammar better from studying Greek especially the perfect tense and the pluperfect tense, subject verb agreement is very precise in the Greek. I am not a Greek scholar in any means, but is fascinating.
God preserve his Word through a people group and their written language, especially through the Jewish people. Their practices reflected the Torah from the festivals and their sacrifices. Their high regard for the Scriptures allow the writings to be preserved through verbal recounting and reading of the Scriptures. Translation from Hebrew to Greek occured years later in the third century BCE into the the Septuagint.
The rise of the Greek-Roman world brought the world into a common language for most of the known world at that time. Trade was one in Greek, Aramaic, and later Latin, depending on one’s location. The Greeks didn’t read Hebrew so the scholars of Hebrew and Greek took the time to translate the Old Testament into Greek. The problem is not translation, but the interpretation of what is read.
We read today, “Defund the Police” which for some means to abolish the police while for others reform the police. Which interpretation is accurate for the phrase, “Defund the Police? The media is unclear and leaders of the BLM has yet to clearly define its own terms that it uses. It is evolving. Having lived through the 60’s of Make Peace, Not War, the Hippy Movement, I have some context in understanding what happened during that time period and so will we in 10–20 years if not longer from now.
Bible scholars varied in their interpretation as some read Isaiah 53 refer to the Suffering Nation of Israel, the Suffering Messiah, or a Suffering Person while others see it as poetry. Thus one must learn the context and the text of the Bible to come to a personal conviction of the Biblical text. As one compares Scripture with Scripture, one can come to a good conclusion/interpretation of the text. It’s always good in my opinion to read various viewpoint and to try to understand their interpretation of the text in light of one’s own understanding of the text. Is Genesis 1 and 2, a fable or is it history? It will vary depending on who and what one reads. The once consensus of the Bible is now diverse in their opinion.
The Apostle Paul exhorts his reads during his time to study the Scriptures so that one can correctly divide/interpret the Scriptures properly. That’s our challenge today.
SUMMARY: God preserves his Word through the Jewish people and through the written language of the Hebrews and the Koine Greek. The challenge is interpreting the preserved text correctly in its historical, grammatical, and literal sense understanding there are metaphors and figures of speech in every language including the Bible.
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