by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
I find it interesting that people sometimes think they can somehow over-rule the English translation of a verse by saying, “But what does it say in the Greek?”<\/p>\n
What? Do you want me to say it in Greek? How would that help? I speak English! You understand only English. The translators presented what the Greek text said if they were to say it in English. If I merely read it in Greek (I can because I took brother Srygley’s Greek class years ago. So I can read the words without understanding what I read.) I do not impart any understanding to English-speaking people.<\/p>\n
If I translated it into English, the scholars already did that in the English translations.<\/p>\n
So, when a person over-rules all English translations or calls them into question by saying, “But what does it say in the Greek?” you know you are probably about to receive a snow job. They want you to think they learned something all the other real Greek scholars failed to grasp. Don’t get in a hurry to be impressed! Ask this person if he can read and understand Greek better than the scholars who did understand Greek and translated it into English for us. Usually, they will quieten down, and that will end the conflict. Try it next time!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Terry Wane Benton I find it interesting that people sometimes think they can somehow over-rule the English translation of a verse by saying, “But what does it say in the Greek?” What? Do you want me to say it in Greek? How would that help? I speak English! You understand only English. The translators…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1574],"class_list":["post-70417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-greek-language"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":68247,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-translations-authorized\/","url_meta":{"origin":70417,"position":0},"title":"Are Translations Authorized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Perhaps this seems like an odd question, but it is good to think about this. Since most people are not going to learn Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, the only way they are going to hear God's word at all will be through translations. But how do we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18504,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arent-the-translators-accurate-enough-so-we-dont-have-to-look-at-the-definitions-of-greek-words-for-alcohol\/","url_meta":{"origin":70417,"position":1},"title":"Aren’t the translators accurate enough so we don’t have to look at the definitions of Greek words for alcohol?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 23, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been studying about wine in the Bible. I am convinced that we should not be using fermented wine.\u00a0However, I was asked some questions for which I don't have a good answer. Why would the translators of the different versions of the Bible make a mistake when translating\u00a0oinos\u00a0with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14839,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-dont-we-use-yeshua-instead-of-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":70417,"position":2},"title":"Why don’t we use Yeshua instead of Jesus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Someone asked me why Yeshua, which is believed to be the real name of Christ, is never used today because of the English translation. Jesus is believed to be a corruption of Yeshua. What is your view on this? Answer: We use \"Jesus\" because that is the English transliteration\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29601,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-biblical-greek-have-a-v-sound\/","url_meta":{"origin":70417,"position":3},"title":"Did biblical Greek have a “v” sound?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In\u00a0Understanding the Tetragrammaton: \"Greek has no \"h\" save rough breathings at the beginnings of some words and does not account for the letter; Greek has neither \"w\" nor \"v,\" and it is very likely that a Greek listener (as were Theodoret and Epiphanius) would hear a \"b\" when a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13201,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-you-say-the-new-world-translation-is-not-a-reliable-translation\/","url_meta":{"origin":70417,"position":4},"title":"Why do you say the New World Translation is not a reliable translation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 3, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: On your web site, it reads that The New World Translation (NWT) \"...is not a reliable translation\". Prof. Jason BeDuhn in his book\u00a0Truth in Translation Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament (this is not the only book) would strongly disagree with your conclusion that the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28861,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-it-be-the-faith-in-ephesians-28\/","url_meta":{"origin":70417,"position":5},"title":"Should it be “the faith” in Ephesians 2:8?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I have been reading on your website and find it very informative. Just wanted to share a few things. I have been comparing various Bible translations. And of course, I see there are problems with many of them. 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