What are the benefits of learning biblical Hebrew and Greek?

 

I came across this thread on Facebook where a Logos Bible Software user was querying the usefulness of original language study.  This response was so good, I wanted to keep it for future reference.

Q.  What are the benefits of learning biblical Hebrew and Greek?

A.

1. You are not relying upon the interpretation of others. ALL translation involves at least some interpretation. By knowing the original language, you can see and better understand the decisions made by English translators. (Just to be clear, most English translations are great and faithful to the original, but they have different philosophies of translation and always require interpretation of context.)

2. You will see additional nuance in the text. The phrase "lost in translation" exists for a reason. Sometimes you notice things in the original languages that aren't so apparent in English translations. For example, in both Hebrew and English word order can be used for emphasis within a sentence in ways that don't work in English. As another example, Greek verbs don't need an explicit "I," but there are numerous times in the Gospel of John where Jesus does use an explicit "I" when he says "I am."

3. You will understand commentaries better. Even if they're entirely in English, commentaries will still include discussions of grammar and syntax. By knowing the original languages, you can follow along MUCH better. Furthermore, most commentaries will save particularly technical discussions for footnotes where the original language is referenced.

4. You will understand English (or your own language as applicable) better. Being able to read the original languages and translate to English (or your own language) will force you to know it better. You'd be surprised how many people in Greek or Hebrew class don't know what a participle is. By learning grammar in another language, you must necessarily become at grammar in your own language. That will make you a better writer, and being a better writer will always make you a better preacher.

Look, you can still faithfully exegete the Bible without knowing Greek and Hebrew, but you will be much, MUCH better at it if you do. So I will totally steal the previous answer. What is the benefit? "Much in every way."

Source: Curtis Homan, Facebook chat, 21/4/2021.

Greek and Hebrew Keyboards in Windows 10

Logos provides ancient language keyboards for Windows PCs.  

They are homophonic (i.e. the Hebrew letters are mapped to the nearest English sounding keys in a standard QWERTY keyboard).

When they work, they make typing Biblical Greek and Hebrew much more easy. 

But after updating to Windows 10 Build 1909, the Logos Biblical Hebrew keyboard disappears (I don't use the Greek one, so I can't vouch as to whether the same behaviour occurs there). 

The standard Hebrew keyboard uses the mapping from an original Hebrew typewriter. 

After trying various combinations of adding/removing the Hebrew language pack, the other standard Hebrew keyboards and the Logos Biblical Hebrew keyboard, I got it back on two desktops and my ThinkPad X1 Tablet (Gen 1) but I couldn't get it to come back on a ThinkPad T430.

A workaround:  Use the SBL biblical hebrew and greek keyboards instead.  They can be downloaded from here.

Both the SBL and Logos keyboards support accents, cantillations and vowel points. 

Another better workaround:  I like to use the Logos Biblical Hebrew keyboard, which uses the same maps as the deprecated Shibboleth app mapping.  

You can create your own keyboard using the Microsoft Keyboard creator.  Instructions here.

The need for original language study

Historical Jesus and New Perspectives on Paul resources

 

Here's a list I compiled a while ago for a bible study group:

Website resources

www.artscroll.com:  An excellent source of hardcopy resources covering Judaic theology, bible study for purchase. I found the Chumash and the Siddur particularly useful.

www.e-sword.net:  Free bible study software can be downloaded from here.  This software package is free but the author encourages you to make a donation toward his ministry.  There is an abundance of commentaries, dictionaries and additional writings that can be useful.  Most are older public domain resources but over the last few years a small number of publishing houses have signed up with e-sword allowing their resources to be purchased and used in the program. 

www.ffoz.org:  This is the official website of the organisation that published the Ha Yesod and Torah Club studies.  The pdf file with the parasha readings for the year can be downloaded from here.  One can also subscribe to a mailing list to receive a free weekly reading and commentary.

www.hebrew4christians.com:  An easily accessible site with interesting resources and articles covering many aspects of Hebraic roots such as backgrounds on biblical festivals and the Lord’s Prayer.

www.jcstudies.org: Website where you may purchase the study materials such as the Behold the Man study series, produced by the late D Pryor. 

www.jerusalemperspective.com:  A site with many well-researched articles from a collaboration of Jewish and Gentile authors on First Century Judaism and how it relates to the Synoptic Gospels.  Many are free but most available for purchase at a modest price.

www.logos.com: The Gold Standard in bible study software.  They have done a great job over the years of signing up modern publishing houses to integrate their resources into their program.  This allows the material to be quickly searched and cross referenced.  Expensive in comparison to e-sword but then users gain access to a vast array of modern scholarship not available in e-sword, all interlinked.  Needs a modern computer for acceptable performance.  A growing collection of Judaic resources.  Jewish Publication Society of America is one of the principal suppliers.  Complete versions of the Mishah, Babylonian and Palestinian Talmuds are also available.

www.mechon-mamre.org/:  This site has free OT bible software that includes many Jewish commentaries (mishnahs).  Here you will find the Hebrew Bible (Tana"kh) and the RaMBaM's Complete Restatement of the Oral Law (Mishneh Torah).  The Bible and Mishneh Torah texts have been carefully prepared, and they are as accurate as found in the very finest printed editions.  (Additional materials are also provided, but they are not the heart of this site.

Historical Jesus and New Perspectives on Paul Authors

Becker, B

Bivin, David

Bockmuehl, M

Brown, M L

Bultmann, R

Charlesworth, J H

Crossan, J D

Dunn, J D G

Edersheim, A

Evans, C A

Flusser, David

Fruchtembaum, A

Ginzberg, L

Hegg, T

Heschel, A J

Johnson, L T

Josephus

Keener, C S

Lancaster, D

Lapide, Pinchas

Lindsay, R L

Munk, R E

Nanos, M D

Neusner, J

Notley, R Steven

Pryor, R

Safrai, S

Sanders, E P

Schweitzer, A

Silcox, F

Stuhlmacher, P

Stern, D H

Turnage, M

Wright, N T

Yancy, P

Young, Brad

 

Language and Idiom

I'm a keen user of bible study software. I use a combination of Libronix' Logos 3.0, Wordsearch 7.0, and e-sword.

One of the things I have noticed particularly since studying the Talmud and other Jewish writings has been the extremely well developed original language tools. I have the Scholar's Library edition of Logos and the dictionary meaning of words and an analysis of how it has been translated in various parts of the bible are just a few clicks away. They are good, very good. However I recently came across by a book by David Bivin and Roy Blizzard called "Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus".

Bivin was founder and director of the Jerusalem Perspective and number of the Jerusalem School Synoptic Studies a think tank with other Christian and Jewish Scholars. The book has been endorsed by notable Jewish scholar David Flusser. Blizzard Was adjunct assistant professor at the Centre for huddle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas, Austin.

Bivin and Blizzard point out that Jesus uses many Hebrew idioms in his everyday speech. Unfortunately idioms by their very nature are difficult to Understand outside their historical and cultural contexts. How can non-English speakers accurately translate phrases such as "let's get cracking", "I like the cut of his jib", or "sailing too close to the wind"? Similarly the English translator and reader of the Hebrew scriptures faces a similar challenge.

Unfortunately our early church fathers took a strongly anti-Jewish stance. So successful were they that by the time of Constantine church creeds included Vows to reject all the "Jewish" festivals, and even to avoid dining at the same able as a Jew. Needless to say with such thinking becoming widely held, a schism between Jewish and Gentile society became entrenched. Without contact with Jewish society, Christian theologians and translators toiled without even knowing that Jewish idioms were used by Jesus and attempt to infer the meaning of his Words; and as Bivin and Blizzard sadly illustrate, with sometimes absurd results.

I was interested to discover that the "good eye" and "bad eye" in Matthew 6.22-23 means a "generous heart" and a "miserly spirit" respectively. Yet I have encountered many a commentator's writings concerning the possible meaning of this passage, usually developing an explanation that differs markedly from the theme of generosity.

Did I say that the bible scholar is faced with a challenge in correctly translating scripture without the benefit of a thorough understanding of Jewish culture and idioms? I would venture to say that the task is impossible without contact with Jewish society and literature.

Bivin and Blizzard give a number of examples to illustrate their point. Here is one: "Set his face to..." and "his face was set toward..."(9:51) When the days drew near for him to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
(9:52) And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him;
(9:53) but the people would not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. (Luke 9.51-53)

Translators have read into this passage that Jesus had moments of misgivings or even doubts about going to Jerusalem. But the phrase he "set his face to go to..." and "his face was set to..." has no such connotation as Hebrew idioms . They should have been translated as "he was travelling to..."

Clearly the risk of error is great when translating outside of the Jewish context and therefore it would not be surprising to find theology based on studying flawed translations would also be in error.

They look at a number of theological positions that have gained prominence but in their opinion are built on mistranslations: Pacifism; Torah abrogation; giving without discernment; are all examples offered,

If even half were true, then many of the things we have taken for granted as accepted tenets of Christianity must be questioned.

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