[B-Greek] The Elephant on the List

Andrew C. Suttles andrew.suttles at gmail.com
Thu Feb 18 14:25:47 EST 2010


nebarry at verizon.net wrote (on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 at 13:37 -0500):

> Some of it is unquantifiable -- it just feels right to read something in the
> language in which it was written.

I think you just distilled Mark's argument down to its essence.  We study the
original languages because of the satisfaction we get from having an intimacy
with the raw naked text.  Many students are disappointed to learn that a study
of the original languages is not the magic decoder ring that unriddles every
ambiguity.  Rather, students are often dismayed to find there is much more
uncertainty in PAULOS than Paul.  After a decent amount of study time, the work
of the translator is more appreciated - not less.

I wouldn't trade my Greek study for anything, but I sometimes wonder if
contextual (cultural/historical/background) studies would go further to help
work through the "tough" spots than grammar or word studies.





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