[B-Greek] Ancient Greek-Grammar war?

L. Harris ljoharris at ckt.net
Mon Feb 27 23:58:18 EST 2006


Carl Conrad: > Ultimately the goal of assimilating ancient Greek
> requires learning to think, to speak, and to write in the fashion of
> ancient Greek thinkers, speakers, and writers.

Donald Vance: >This may be our goal, but it may not be the goal of our 
students,
>especially those who study Biblical Greek. They want to understand the
>text for exegesis.

The Biblical Greek Mailing List: > B-Greek is a mailing list for scholars 
and students
of Biblical Greek. Our main focus is upon understanding the Greek text of 
the BIBLE.

Linda Harris: Well that's been my goal and why I joined this list. It is 
also why I feel that "fundamental concepts of grammar" are extremely 
important in coming to a correct understanding of that text. I find it 
extremely vexing that people think they can actually learn to be 
"translators" by the imersion technique. I do not want a Bible that's 
nothing but what someone else thinks is translated "idiom". Which to me is 
nothing other than their own personal interpretation or doctrine substituted 
for the actual words of the text itself, and then mislabled by being called 
a translation.  People should be able to read the most basic word for word 
Greek text or the most basic translation of such and then make up their own 
minds as to what the texts are saying.

I reciently read where those who are convinced that the "original" of the 
GNT was in Aramaic, believe that the Greek New Testament is really an 
"idiomatic" translaton of the "original" Aramaic. And therefore beliving 
such are endeavoring to take the Greek text, which they believe is mostly 
"idioms" and translated it BACK to literal Aramaic. The only way that you 
could even come close to believing that you could actually do something like 
this is if you believed in the imersion technique, because then you don't 
have to use any grammar whatsoever in translation. And once you fill 
people's heads with this stuff they think it's legitimate. Consiquently you 
can wind up convincing people that the Bible says just about anything, 
because you see there are NO RULES! And every man will just translate 
according as what he sees right in his OWN eyes, what he sees as an "idiom", 
regardless of what the text actaully states. Then once all this translating 
is done, people will go to a book store to buy something labeled a "Bible", 
and since they know nothing of Greek, Aramaic or any of these issues, they 
will buy it take it home and think they have purchased the "Word" of God. 
That to me is a very SCARY thought.

Linda Harris









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