David Koberstein
Member
Along with using multiple translations, another set of tools that will greatly aid in encountering the Scriptures as Jesus'
first disciples did is to familiarize yourself with some of the Bible's Hebrew words. Why Hebrew? Well, Hebrew is God's
heart language---the mother tongue of the Scriptures Jesus read. Hebrew is an extremely rich, poetic language that
looks at the world in very different ways than English. Grasping the depth of even a few words greatly clarifies and enriches
reading and casts new light on things that you thought you understood.
Hebrew is helpful for reading not just the Old Testament but the New Testament too. Although the New Testament was
written in Greek, it was composed almost entirely by Jews growing up in a Semitic-thinking culture. Often Hebrew's deep,
rich pigments diffuse through, showing evidence of the writer's original "accent."
Take, for instance, the word walk, which in Biblical Hebrew is halakh (ha-LAKH) and is widely used as a metaphor to describe
one's moral lifestyle, as in Psalm 1:1, "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked." In Greek this is
normally not the case. The word for walk is peripateo, and it simply means "to stroll around" or "travel on foot." Yet the
New Testament often uses it with a Hebraic sense instead. Jesus was asked why his disciples did not "walk" according to the
tradition of the elders (Mark 7:5), and Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to "walk" in order to please God (I Thess. 4:1).
a Greek reader would have scratched his head at why Paul wanted his listeners to "stroll around to please God." It's only
when we recognize Paul's Jewish, Hebraic accent that his intent becomes clear.
Once again, Martin Luther shares a wise thought with us:
If I were young, I would contrive a way and means for the perfect learning of the Hebrew tongue, which is both glorious and
profitable, and without which the Hole Scriptures cannot rightly be understood; yet it is full of the Hebrew kind of speaking,
from whence it is truly said, "The Hebrews drink out of the fountain, the Grecians out of the springs that flow from the fountain,
the Latins out of the ponds.
Shalom שלום
first disciples did is to familiarize yourself with some of the Bible's Hebrew words. Why Hebrew? Well, Hebrew is God's
heart language---the mother tongue of the Scriptures Jesus read. Hebrew is an extremely rich, poetic language that
looks at the world in very different ways than English. Grasping the depth of even a few words greatly clarifies and enriches
reading and casts new light on things that you thought you understood.
Hebrew is helpful for reading not just the Old Testament but the New Testament too. Although the New Testament was
written in Greek, it was composed almost entirely by Jews growing up in a Semitic-thinking culture. Often Hebrew's deep,
rich pigments diffuse through, showing evidence of the writer's original "accent."
Take, for instance, the word walk, which in Biblical Hebrew is halakh (ha-LAKH) and is widely used as a metaphor to describe
one's moral lifestyle, as in Psalm 1:1, "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked." In Greek this is
normally not the case. The word for walk is peripateo, and it simply means "to stroll around" or "travel on foot." Yet the
New Testament often uses it with a Hebraic sense instead. Jesus was asked why his disciples did not "walk" according to the
tradition of the elders (Mark 7:5), and Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to "walk" in order to please God (I Thess. 4:1).
a Greek reader would have scratched his head at why Paul wanted his listeners to "stroll around to please God." It's only
when we recognize Paul's Jewish, Hebraic accent that his intent becomes clear.
Once again, Martin Luther shares a wise thought with us:
If I were young, I would contrive a way and means for the perfect learning of the Hebrew tongue, which is both glorious and
profitable, and without which the Hole Scriptures cannot rightly be understood; yet it is full of the Hebrew kind of speaking,
from whence it is truly said, "The Hebrews drink out of the fountain, the Grecians out of the springs that flow from the fountain,
the Latins out of the ponds.
Shalom שלום