Importance of Language

Some people ask why there are so many different Bible translations. Well the answer can be seen in the picture above. That is the original language of the Old Testament. There are no spaces, punctuation, or vowels. Yet, experts in the Hebrew language can read it. Like many languages, it can be translated into another language in different ways.

I have enjoyed studying this language for the past year and a half in my online seminary class. When I read my English bible, I can tell what some of the original words were in the Hebrew. I have also been making my own interlinear Bible in a notebook at home and studying how the translators translate the different clauses in the book. It is really fun for me. Yet, I can also see where it is hard for other people.

It is hard learning another language. You have to learn their alphabet, their order of writing, their vocabulary, their grammar, and etc. It is very time consuming and it demands a lot out of the student. That is why there are so many translations out there. The translations are for people with different reading levels. It is a lot easier reading the Bible in the language your mother taught to you from her lap.

There are ways though that you can learn important words and phrases in the Bible to help you get a better understanding about it.

1. You can read different translations of the Bible in the same language and compare their differences and similarities.

2. You can read the Key Word Study Bible. It lists all the major words in the passage of study and it gives you the Strong’s Concordance Number with it. It also gives you a Hebrew and Greek Dictionary in the back with the number of the word that is in your passage you are looking up.

3. You can go to biblehub.com. biblehub.com gives you different translations of the same verse as well as an interlinear version of the verse you are studying.

There are many other different resources out there, but those are the ones that I use on a regular basis. Reading the Bible and understanding a little about the original languages are very helpful in studying the scriptures. It is very important to do that because language changes over time and some words don’t mean the same thing today as they did a number of years ago. The word “charity” in the King James Version meant love. Today that word means to give to a needy person or organization that helps needy people. If you know that the original word that the King James Version translated into charity, then you would have an even better understanding of the word. The original word is the Greek word agape. Agape was the general Greek term for love, but Christians transformed that word to mean an all encompassing love that wanted the best for that person regardless of who they were, how they treated you, and how they made you feel.

Thank you for reading this I hope that this has blessed you. If you want to read the Bible and understand it you can go to the resource page and get the Using Hermeneutics Book Series. If you buy these books they will teach you how to study God’s Word and you will be helping this ministry greatly. Please consider buying my books to help support this blog, I can’t do this on a regular basis without you. They also make great gospel tracts. Not only do they find out how to study the Bible but they read the gospel over and over again. Lord bless you and study God’s Word.