As a kind of precursor to my posts of study of the Word, I thought it would be best to explain where I’m coming from and why I think this kind of language study of the Bible is so important.  Many of you who read the words of the Bible are depending on them to be correct for your very salvation.  Your hope of the eternity you desire rests on an accurate understanding and translation of the Bible.  Almost everyone who reads my words speaks English as their primary language.  As such they read the Bible in English as well.  Obviously though it was not written in English and that raises a great many questions and uncovers some wonderful truths.  The questions will be addressed in the Forums, the wonderful truths I want to share with you here. 

Here’s a great example of what kind of confusion can come up with English word usage.  The classic example of the word “love”.

I love my wife.

I love my cats.

I love fast cars.

I love computers and computer games.

In all of those statements the word love is really just a place-holder for another more specific word that would better describe the actual feeling or feelings.  Certainly the “love” I have for my cats, while sincere and significant, pales by comparison to that of the love I have for my wife.  It is of a different nature as well.  My love for my cats is an affection and parental love while the love for my wife is an unconditional and erotic love.  Clearly the single word ”love” is far too narrow to describe all these things accurately.

That type of problem is greatly amplified when you are dealing with a translated text where you are forced to select the closest word to the original meaning, yet still not an exact duplicate.  Add to that the problem that you cannot simply email the original author and ask their opinion of the best word to use for what they’d intended.  As time goes on many of my posts will center around this idea of discovering the words behind the words.

If you ever believe I am mistaken, by all means lets discuss it!  I thrive on intelligent discussion and debate and perhaps we can both learn something new that will deepen our appreciation of the Word of God.