Read the Bible—But . . .

                             . . . There’s More Than You Can See or Hear!

In the previous post I highlighted Proverbs 9 and the poetic skill of the writer (see the blogspot posting titled “Mirror, Mirror.”) Solomon contrasted two women with similar wording highlighting their lifestyles and ends. The one he called wisdom (verses 1-12) and the other folly (verses 13-18). The transition from one to the other uses two words with different meanings but the same consonants, תשׂא/אשׁת, a “mirror reading!” The two words leap off the page as one sees it in Hebrew.

Some data in the Bible like that just mentioned is unobservable to the English Bible reader. There are also orations in the sounds of the Greek language that focused the minds of the hearers. The first example is Philippians 3:2. There are the similar sounding words, given first in Greek to show the spellings and followed by the New American Standard Bible translation:

Βλέπετε τοὺς κύνας, βλέπετε τοὺς κακοὺς ἐργάτας, βλέπετε τὴν κατατομήν.
          “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision.”

The English translation of this text cannot duplicate the audible exclamation points produced by the repeated sounds of the highlighted words. Note the initial letters in bold typeface and underlined β, τ, κ. The best that English can do is to repeat the initial word. In doing so the English translation emphasizes the important exhortation to beware! But this tends to deemphasizes Paul’s emotional descriptions of the false teachers. He is angry.

The second example comes from 1 Peter 1:4 where the Apostle Peter becomes excited about the reality of the believers heavenly inheritance. This can be seen somewhat in the New American Standard Bible rendition, “to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away.” As in the previous example, however, the audible exclamation points are not at all as dramatic as the original text. Notice what Peter wrote in Greek:

εἰς κληρονομίαν ἄφθαρτον καὶ ἀμίαντον καὶ ἀμάραντον.

The three adjectives seen in bold font have the same sounds both at the beginning and the end of the words. This is literary skill and beauty at work identifying with the oral culture of the day for emphasis.  This text expresses an emotion that English is hard-pressed to duplicate. In this verse, Peter “shouts out” each word using alliteration drawing attention of the hearers to the final heavenly destination!

 

        The point of this posting—The New Testament is a Greek book, and its original beauty as well as its deeper meaning cannot be completely recognized in translation. This is not said to diminish the English Bible but to elevate the original text, as well as to encourage those familiar with using the biblical languages tools to become sensitized to the forms and sounds of the literary treasures discoverable throughout the Word of God. The hearers will appreciate it!