[B-Greek] The Elephant on the List

theomann at comcast.net theomann at comcast.net
Thu Feb 18 11:33:05 EST 2010



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Eric Inman" eric-inman at comcast.net 

Learning Greek gives you an appreciation for the intricacies of translation, 
thus vastly improving your ability to intrepret a text and evaluate the 
interpretations of others. People who don't know Greek don't see the lay of 
the land as well, the range of options, meanings etc. that must be 
considered when pondering a text. This is especially true for people who 
don't know any 2nd language, let alone Greek. 

______________________________________________ 



     But aren't all or most of these benefits available  in English (or  other languages)?  It has always seemed to me that one must spend years and years studying biblical Greek (Hebrew, Aramaic)  in order to be good enough at it to achieve the advantages Eric mentions above, when most of the significant meanings inherent  in the text have been explained somewh ere in books and articles in English and other languages .  I'm sure that there are some advantages in reading NT Greek, but I'm not certain that the advantages are worth the enormous effort that must be expended to attain them.  The goal, I think, is to understand the text, and the text  has been explained  very nicely in translations or commentaries-- and in English. 

     My efforts to read the Greek NT ebb and flow, but when I study the language I do it for the fun of it.  For the subtle implications of the text, I look to the experts to explain them in my native tongue. 



Ted 



Theodore H. Mann 

theomann at comcast.net 

     

     

       






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