[B-Greek] Fwd: other relevant languages besides Greek?

George F Somsel gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Mon Mar 21 14:35:59 EDT 2011


I wouldn't necessarily disagree with you regarding Armenian.  My understanding, 
not having studied the language, is that the Armenian translation is simply 
another witness to the text along with the Ethiopic or Coptic versions.  If you 
aren't engaged in textual criticism, it really wouldn't be valuable.

 george
gfsomsel 


… search for truth, hear truth, 
learn truth, love truth, speak the truth, hold the truth, 
defend the truth till death.


- Jan Hus
_________ 




________________________________
From: "Donald R. Vance, Ph.D." <donaldrvance at mac.com>
To: Randall Buth <randallbuth at gmail.com>
Cc: B Greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Mon, March 21, 2011 9:57:40 AM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Fwd: other relevant languages besides Greek?

Michael Stone (and, apparently, George) will disagree, but I studied Armenian 
and I didn't find it much help. I would put Greek, Hebrew (Biblical, Mishnaic), 
and Aramaic (Biblical, Targumic, etc.) on the first tier. Syriac (an Aramaic 
dialect), Coptic, and Latin on the second tier. Ethiopic, Armenian, and Slavonic 
and any others on the third tier. As Randall correctly points out, your 
interests will driver your choices. I really enjoyed Coptic and reading the Nag 
Hammadi stuff. I want to do Ethiopic to read some of the other non-Protestand 
canon stuff, just because it fascinates me.

Donald R. Vance, Ph.D.
Professor of Biblical Languages and Literature
Oral Roberts University
dvance at oru.edu
donaldrvance at mac.com


On Mar 21, 2011, at 1:52 AM, Randall Buth wrote:

> shoemaker egrapse
>> Which ancient languages are relevant to the study of the original
>> New Testament and the 1st & 2nd century church?
>> So far, my list of candidates is:
>> Greek, Latin, Aramaic, Hebrew, Bohairic, Syriac, Ethiopic, Sahidic.
> (George added Armenian, which is a good addition.)
> 
> It's a good list. And ones interests lead to natural priorities.
> 
> It might help to stratify the list. Two stand out as special and dominating:
> Greek--after all, it is the language of the NT.
> Hebrew--it is the primary repository of Jewish cultural background,
> including DSS, intertestamentals, and rabbinics, not to mention the
> Hebrew Bible.
> I would put Aramaic-Syriac on a second tier, maybe along with Latin,
> and then the rest on a third tier depending on specific interests.
> 
> --
> Randall Buth, PhD
> www.biblicallanguagecenter.com
> Biblical Language Center
> Learn Easily - Progress Further - Remember for Life
> 
> 
> 
> --Randall Buth, PhD
> www.biblicallanguagecenter.com
> Biblical Language Center
> Learn Easily - Progress Further - Remember for Life
> ---
> B-Greek home page: http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek
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