PRINCIPLE NINE

PRINCIPLE NINE: LANGUAGE RULES MUST NOT BE IGNORED

All languages are not equal. As a matter of fact, each language is unique with its own strengths and weaknesses. The uniqueness of each language makes the study of it complex, but exciting! Greek and Hebrew are vastly different from each other and equally different from our modern languages. The peculiarities of the Biblical languages should be studied and understood even to interpret Scripture that is translated in our native tongue.

EXAMPLE: Christ's address to Mary in John 19:26 sounds a bit harsh in English: "Woman, behold thy son!" As a matter of fact, it sounds very derogatory in English. We interpret this passage not in light of how it sounds in English, but how it sounds in the Greek because that is the original and inspired language of the book of John and the Hebrew or Aramaic because that is probably the language which Christ spoke In Hebrew, "woman" has the opposite sound than that in English; it is a term of respect such as "madam."

Looking up the meaning of words in a dictionary can help the preacher gain a better understanding of the Scripture. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew and the New Testament was originally written in Greek. There are reference books available such as concordances and Bible dictionaries. These books give the meaning of words in theoriginal languages. The use of a regular language dictionary like Webster's can also help in understanding the meaning of words in the Scripture passage.

EXAMPLE: The word "servant" in Romans 1:1 is doulos in the original Greek language and it means "a love servant or one who chooses of his own free will to be a servant." Paul was not orced to be a servant of Jesus, but rather chose to be a servant of Christ because of his great love for the Lor Looking up the meaning of the word servant helps you to understand the right meaning of the passage.