[B-Greek] What NT Bible do you reccomend for a newcomer?
Curtis Hinson
curtis at curtishinson.com
Sat May 13 18:11:10 EDT 2006
Yes, I too find it interesting that some people can look at a
translation and say "Hmm I wonder what the Greek says here?" But then
you take that same translation and publish it interpolated in a Greek
text, the same person looks at the translation again and says, "Ooo,
look now I know what the Greek says!" Maybe people think they get the
Greek by osmosis from proximity? *chuckles* Interlinears are excellent
tools for taking a translator's opinion or theology and imposing it the
Greek text in someone's mind. I highly recommend interlinears as tools
for trapping and clouding the mind.
I appreciate faiths that refuse to condone translations at all, or allow
them, like Islam, only titled "An Interpretation of the Noble Quran". I
have one from Saudi Arabia like that, a gorgeous diglott.
Translations are tools, hints at understanding, not texts themselves.
Ancient versions are on the other hand are essentially texts in their
own right as they are born of the same general time period and play of
cultures and events as the autographs, but even versions are best in
context with the original language. I guess the only kind of
interlinear I like to see is something like a Greek text with the Peshitta.
It's the psychology regarding what you are holding in your hand that I
am concerned most about: if you know what you are looking at,
translations are fine and dandy. Since most untrained people don't seem
to, well there are big problems. Oh but let's be "practical" or
"realistic" here, Christians are unwilling to spend the time to actually
get to know their holy text itself, unlike most of the world's major
religions, and there's no other way it could possibly be. Couldn't be
that this attitude is a commentary more about some people's commitment
to learning and growth than it is about linguistic realities, because
that upsets such people, and that can't be allowed. I don't suppose
it'd be permissible or orthodox to find ways to challenge the false
cultural myths behind such ignorance.
(I hope this thought is within list parameters. It is a pedagogical
concern I suppose.)
Bless the Name
Curtis Hinson
http://curtishinson.com
P.S. No one has privately expressed any misunderstanding, but as an aid
to interpretation, when I use phrases like "evil" and "antichrist" I'm
normally doing it in a fairly tongue-in-cheek manner.
Jeffrey T. Requadt wrote the following on 5/13/2006 7:59 AM:
> I noticed that someone mentioned the NET diglot. That's the one I currently
> use. When I started learning NTG a while ago, my parents bought me the UBS
> 4th ed. w/o dictionary as a Christmas present (I'd been using an old
> Nestle-Aland 22 that an old pastor/missionary friend had given me). I used
> that UBS 4 all the way through college, since the text is identical to the
> NA26/RSV diglot that my fellow students bought from the bookstore. However,
> when the NA27/NET diglot appeared, I snapped it up. I really like having the
> NET text with real notes on one side to glance at for reference and to
> compare with my understanding of the text. What I really love are the notes,
> because they really help one understand the thinking of the translators. I
> think I paid about $60, which was a bit of a splurge for me (still is). I
> would agree with the opinion of those who have said that internlears are
> bad, bad, bad to learn from. They are useful as a help to see what words are
> used in a passage, but they are not meant to be used to find out "what the
> Greek *really* says," which is how many pastors use them in their sermon
> preparation. Interlinears are simply meant to help, not to be a crutch,
> which is what they usually turn out to be, unfortunately, and so often the
> person using it who has little or no knowledge of Greek (or whatever
> language) feels like now they "know" what the Greek really "says," as
> opposed to what a legitimate and perfectly good translation like NASB, NIV,
> NRSV, NET, NLT, etc., says. So that's why so many people on this list have
> such a strong aversion to interlinears, especially when used to learn the
> language. On the other hand, the new ESV Reverse Interlinear that comes with
> Logos I have found to be quite useful as a way to see what the original word
> was that was translated into English. But even so, I use this as a tool,
> already knowing how Greek syntax basically works, and knowing what reference
> books to go to (lexica, grammars, etc.) to understand the Greek, and I don't
> use the interlinear to do so.
> That said, I do reccomend the NET diglot that you can get at
> http://www.bible.org/store/product.asp?ProductID=56. It combines the
> scholarly Nestle-Aland text with a contemporary, study-friendly English
> translation.
>
> Jeffrey T. Requadt
> Tucson, AZ
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Nancy Hill" <hillsmith2000 at yahoo.com>
> To: <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Friday, May 12, 2006 11:48 AM
> Subject: [B-Greek] What NT Bible do you recommend for a newcomer?
>
>
>
>> Hi there...
>>
>> My son is a homeschooled high school senior who
>> is just starting to study the ancient biblical
>> versions of the Bible. He is interested in both
>> the Old Testament Hebrew and the New Testament
>> Greek.
>>
>> Unfortunately, our search for a Bible in those
>> languages is confusing. A search on amazon.com
>> yields lots of different choices, but we don't
>> know which one would be best. I'd like to find
>> something affordable (I'm thinking $40).
>>
>> I'm hoping that you might have a recommendation
>> for a Bible that has both languages or one that
>> is the New Testament Greek by itself (we have
>> been able to find lots of versions of the Old
>> Testament in Hebrew so that is not a problem).
>>
>> If you were just starting out and had zero
>> knowledge of ancient Greek, which NT Bible would
>> you get?
>>
>> Thanks very much for your help.
>>
>> Nancy Hill
>> Ventura, California
>> 805-760-8588
>>
>> P.S. He'd also love to connect with other local
>> scholars who are studying this material.
>>
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>
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