[B-Greek] The Elephant on the List
Eric Inman
eric-inman at comcast.net
Thu Feb 18 11:52:49 EST 2010
Ted,
Yes, I agree that these benefits are available in English, but I'm also
saying that the more Greek you know the better you will be able to judge the
quality of the materials written in English about Greek texts. You can
assess better whether or not they are addressing the intricacies that need
to be addressed. I think these benefits can come very quickly after
beginning the study of Greek provided that you have materials or instructors
that steer you away from simplistic answers and attitudes.
Eric Inman
-----Original Message-----
From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of theomann at comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 10:33 AM
To: bGreek
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] The Elephant on the List
----- 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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