Biblical Languages and You!

I'll be sharing this with my Greek class this afternoon, so figured I might as well post it to the blog.

Students who choose to continue past the Grammar level of Greek will soon come to realize that the cut-and-dry categories that were assigned to tenses, cases, etc. will expand immensely as one goes from understanding basic categories of meaning to syntactical and contextual categories of meaning. The genitive case alone is typically assigned dozens of categories of meaning that go well beyond the word "of"!

It's easy to lose sight of what the languages can and cannot do for biblical studies and translation/interpretation, so a reminder is often helpful.

As with any proper approach to understanding the Scriptures, there is a give and take that must take place between the beliefs of the reader and the ideas of the text. We all approach our studies with certain preconceived ideas and biases. For anyone at anytime to claim total objectivity in their reading is absurd. We can, however, obtain a certain (and often very high) level of objectivity, which should always be our goal in any field of studies.

In regards to the give-and-take, it is important to understand that knowing the biblical languages does not always make the interpretation of a text crystal clear. It does, however, as Mounce states, "give us the legitimate range of possible interpretations, and then context and theology make the final determination." (http://zondervan.typepad.com/koinonia/2009/02/mounce-24.html)

What I am positive that Mounce is not saying here is that when there is a question or ambiguity within the text between what is stated and our theological beliefs, our theology must win. One must be careful not to allow their theology to force itself upon the text. Rather, when a passage is difficult to interpret and not made clear by what is grasped from the langauges, our understanding of doctrine, which is taken from other, often clearer, passages, can bear weight upon the passage at hand, should guide our interpretation. There are cases when this is very difficult, but our pattern should be to let the text shape our theology rather than vice-versa.

So, back to Mounce... "I have always taught that Greek grammar doesn't necessarily answer all the questions definitively. Sometimes it does, but normally it gives us the legitimate range of possible interpretations..." This will take one back to their "translation philosophy. Do we want to reporduce the ambiguity of the Greek (assuming it will not lead to significant misinterpretation) or do we help the reader understand the author's intent? All translation involves interpretation, but where on the continuum do you want to place your translation? That's your call." (http://zondervan.typepad.com/koinonia/2009/02/mounce-24.html)