Why Studying From the Greek Matters
If you’re like me, you are definitely not a biblical scholar. Certainly you can be a Christian and obtain what you need to know about being saved without being a scholar, but should we not eventually develop a fervent desire to study the bible in its depth? Because God has granted us all that pertains to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3) and equips us with His word for every good work (2 Tim 3:17), one of our greatest desires in life should be studying the bible. Psalm 119 expresses the kind of desire we should all have towards God’s word.
vs 10-11 - “With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
vs 18-20 - “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me! My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.”
vs 45-47 - “I will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame, for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love.”
vs 97 - “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.”
The psalmist clearly shows here what a deep devotion to the Lord looks like. To him, the Word of God is sweeter than honey, more precious than the air or even life itself. Without it, he is nothing. But what does any of this have to do with Greek?
Biblical Languages
The bible, though its contents apply to all that is happening in the world today, is an ancient book. The Old Testament was primarily written in Ancient Hebrew and the New Testament was in Koine (or common) Greek. Koine Greek was the language of Jesus and Paul’s time and was a standard language in all the known world. It is very different from today’s Greek and also works a lot differently from our English language. To show you what I mean, here is an excerpt from a Greek-English Interlinear Bible. The English is a direct translation of the Greek text that is not modified from Greek grammar.
John 3:16 - “so for loved God the world, so as the Son of Him, the only begotten, He gave, that everyone believing into Him not may perish, but have life everlasting.”
Imagine studying from that! Fortunately, we have modern English translations. But there are some things to keep in mind with translations as well.
English Translations
Have you ever noticed how many translations there are of the bible? It seems like nowadays there are hundreds to choose from. Which one is the best? Which should I use for bible studying?
As we’ve noticed already, a direct translation does not work out for us because we have a completely different grammar than the ancient Greeks. Adding to that, some Greek words don’t have English equivalents and vice versa. Take love for instance. In the bible, there are two primary words for love that mean two different things. One (ἀγαπάω / agapeo) has more to do with charity and sacrifice and the other (φιλέω / phileo) is like a tender affection. Both are translated as love in our translations yet mean two different things. Language barriers like these contribute to the vast number of translations we see today.
Because of the language barriers between English and biblical Greek, every translation is an interpretation. That means those translators have to make a call as to what they think the Greek means. Please don’t let this hinder your faith! There are many translations that do a wonderful job of capturing what the Greek scriptures are truly saying. It’s a good idea, however, to learn how to navigate the Greek language especially if you’re unsure about a passage or when you notice different translations translating words differently. You never know what you will discover and it can actually be both fun and spiritually uplifting.
What Now?
How awful would it be to learn this information and not know where to start? Here’s a few places that have helped me from time to time.
- https://billmounce.com/greekalphabet/greek-alphabet - to familiarize yourself with the Greek alphabet
- http://www.greekbible.com - select the book, chapter, and verses and with your mouse scroll over the Greek words for a brief definition
- http://biblehub.com/interlinear and http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/Greek_Index.htm - are online interlinear bibles that show an English translation and the Greek next to each other
- http://www.mf.no/bibel/vines.html - look up the Greek words and meanings for English words
- http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek - look up English words and meanings for Greek Words
It may be confusing at first to study from a language you don’t know, but using these tools can be incredibly helpful to your bible study and to your spiritual life. Obviously, you don’t have to look into the Greek but consider the benefits of bridging the gap from the original language of the New Testament and our English perspectives. If you choose not to use these tools, may I suggest studying from multiple translations? Doing this will show the different ways a passage is interpreted and you can make the call on what is seems right with the whole of scripture. May God bless you today and in your studies!
In Christ,
Zack