Appendix B

A Biblical World View

Translations

Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. Genesis 11:7.

A great emphasis is placed upon word studies today in the process of biblical hermeneutics. What is meant by "word studies" is the looking up of a specific word in either Hebrew or Greek to seek out deeper significance in a verse or passage. As stated earlier, the Bible was written in three languages: Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew with parts of it in Aramaic [14]. The New Testament was written in Greek since that was the international language of that day. It is possible that the New Testament was conceived in Hebrew since all the writers, except Luke, were Jews. Nonetheless the original documents were written in Greek. We read English translations of these manuscripts. While I think some research into these tongues via dictionaries and lexicons are useful, I question the wisdom of much usage since many researchers do not speak those languages. Therefore in listing my guidelines for hermeneutics, I have placed less emphasis on this as is popular.

While printed books abound in our generation, we need to remember that all the scriptures were laboriously written by hand. Making copies was a slow and tedious process. Not until 1456 AD was the movable type press invented by Gutenberg that enabled the Bible to be printed in quantity. Early manuscripts were written on scrolls of either parchment, animal skin, paper, copper, or some other material. The scrolls were separate rolls not bound together as our books are today. So early translations were few and far between.

As stated earlier, the doctrine of inspiration applies only to the original tongues in scripture. Therefore none of the translations are considered to be inspired, which is why students of the Bible pursue word studies. While I accept and believe the doctrine to be sound, I am concerned that a subtle doubt is cast upon translations as a consequence. God is able to protect His Word in any language. If He inspired the men who wrote the Bible in their language, He is able to illuminate the believer reading the translation just as easily. The printed page is not the source of inspiration, but, rather, God is the source.

The English language is a difficult language to learn, as any other nationality will tell you. It's difficulty lies in its history. The English were the Germanic Angles who conquered the Celtic Brits in Brittany during the Barbarian Invasions of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. They intermarried which resulted in a Celtic/Germanic tongue with Latin/Greek influences. The Celts of Gaul were invaded at the same time by the Germanic Franks, who later invaded England as the French. Added to that, during the Medieval period, French became the international language, which caused more French words to be absorbed into the English tongue. During the Renaissance, science bloomed and drew upon Latin and Greek nomenclature for its life sciences, and Arabic for its mathematics. American English has absorbed a variety of immigrant expressions which combines into a convoluted language with fragmented rules of speech unlike any other language.

All languages have syntax structure where the placement of a word in a sentence will altar the meaning when moved. Because of the inclusion of so many other tongues into English, these syntax rules are unlike any other language. Likewise, looking at a Greek or Hebrew word outside of its sentence gives no clue to its specific meaning. Yet people freely take the whole slew of possible definitions and pick and choose which one suits their purpose. There are also connotations to words understood by the speakers 2,000 to 4,000 years ago that we have no knowledge of today. Modern translators have a Herculean task, and they are trained professionals! What chance for accuracy in a word study does a layman have? That includes many pastors who have not mastered the Hebrew or Greek languages. As a pastor once said, "I don't know enough of the language to speak or read it, but just enough to start a cult." His wit aside, people need to remember that languages are living mediums that change with geography and the passing of generations. The table, "Sample Changes in the English Language," provides an example of how drastically English has changed.

Starting from 890 AD and ending at 1791 AD, we can read samples of English literature that at first is totally unreadable - as though another language - to a sample that needs no clarification. Going back just 900 years our own language is incomprehensible to us as twentieth century readers. Think how strange the language was 2,000 years ago! If this is true for English, wouldn't it also be true for Greek and Hebrew? This kind of drastic change in our language doesn't occur today because of mass communication technology. However, a mere seventy five years ago, American English saw dialect and regional distinctions of speech. Telephone, radio, and television, along with mobile lifestyles facilitated by cars and jets, have unified our speech.

For the last 4,000 years of human history this was not so. The Bible itself provides examples of change in speech. Between the time of Joshua when Canaan was first occupied, and 295 years later during the judgeship of Jephthah, changes occurred. A civil war broke out in Israel. When an Ephraimite was captured they asked him to say, "Shibboleth." If he said, "Sibboleth," then they would kill him (Judges 12:6), as this was a difference in dialects that had since formed. Another example comes from the book of Acts. When they spoke in other tongues the hearers marveled and said to one another, "Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans?" (Acts 2:7).

I don't think most of us appreciate the great difficulty that professional translators have to overcome to make a current English translation. While Hebrew and Greek are still spoken [15], as we have seen, what was spoken then is not necessarily what is spoken now. Dead languages can be learned by scholars, but because the original manuscripts no longer exist, many copies and other sources are used to make their translations. Another difficulty in translating is that both Hebrew and Greek are all upper case alphabets written without spaces between words. Neither do they use punctuation to separate sentences. Hebrew, in particular, is all consonants. Vowels were not developed until the ninth century AD by the Masoretic Jews. Hebrew in particular is a contextual language with meaning determined by the usage. So reading an old manuscript can be guess work since the same consonants could be several different words. Neither did the convenience of chapter and verse numbering exist. That was brought about by a monk during the medieval period.

The Bible says, "The powers that be are ordained of God" (Rom. 13:lb). Knowing how much training and knowledge that a translator must possess, I believe that God ordained the translators of the works that remain with the passage of time. When people who do word studies make the statement, "It would be better translated as such and such," they are speaking foolishly. They don't know that it is better. What they really mean is that it would be better for their point! If more students of the Bible used their English dictionaries and meditated more on the context of the passage before doing their word studies, the Holy Spirit would "quicken" their understanding just as easily. Furthermore, much misunderstanding could be avoided if cultural and historical studies were made before the word studies were begun (the purpose of this book!). We can be confident that the English translations faithfully convey God's Word, and that we can understand the Bible properly in English.

That being said, I do question, however, the need for so many modern translations. The original need for translation was to bring the Bible into the common language so that all may read it. As we have now seen, the changes in English have necessitated periodic revisions. If you look at the table on the historical translations, and note the length of time between translations, it is evident that revisions were the main objective. The Samaritan Bible was a spurious work, however, and the Protestant Reformation brought a variety of translations for doctrinal reasons. Our modern translations are not revisions per se. Multiple translations exist today for three reasons. First, because too many readers read at a third grade level only, so translations have been made to accommodate their reading abilities. Such a translation is intended for devotional reading, but not serious study. Second, in a sincere quest for doctrinal purity, translators have made changes that aid doctrinal understanding [16]. The last reason is probably a secondary reason to either of the first two reasons, but is a reason nonetheless: to make money. They all hold copyrights - which is a dubious motivation for laboring on God's Word.

Despite the many modern translations available to draw upon, this book will quote only scripture from the King James Version. Many people have difficulty reading this version (although it has been the number one choice of believers for over 300 years!) complaining that the "thees" and "thous" make it too difficult to read. That, of course, is nonsense. What they really mean is that the Elizabethan language has expressions no longer used. Admittedly they can be difficult, but the reason is not the Elizabethan language. Rather, the King James Version is written for a twelfth grade reading level. Academic standards have dropped so much that many Americans can't read at the higher level. The KJV is a beautiful translation reaching heights of sublime poetry. Since it was written for a higher academic reading level, it makes an excellent study Bible. Lastly, it is public property therefore there are no copyrights. It is fitting that God's Word should belong to the people and be free for all.

Therefore, I feel confident in using the King James Version as the sole biblical source to base this work upon. I believe that God has ordained other English translations, but my preference for the King James is in knowing that it was translated with a higher academic and ecclesiastical standard. I do not condemn the use of word studies as a supplement to historical and contextual studies in English, and, indeed, I will use word studies in this work, as well. But my primary focus will be in the literal, textual context of the verses examined.