WHAT IS BIBLE AND WHETHER THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS ARE AUTHENTIC ?

-

 HOLY BIBLE


The Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. Most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and some part of it was written in Greek. New Testament was written in Greek and Aramaic because by the time Hebrew was not a ‘spoken language’ among the people and the Greek Translation of the Old Testament was in use mainly because of the influence of the Greek rule and culture prevailed for two or three centuries before the coming of Jesus Christ.

The Hebrew Language was not very rich with words. Some words were used with different meanings in different situations. Somebody reading them in those days could easily understand the original meaning in the light of the situation and usage. But it is a challenge for someone translating from Hebrew today. Understanding the cultural background is essential to understand the language and its usages in those days.

Our languages are evolving very fast today. The meaning of some of the words does attain new meaning and interpretations. New words are appearing every day. So a person translating Bible today gets more apt words today than somebody translated it 30 years back. Naturally, the new translation will look different from the one done 30 years back. But it does not mean the Bible you had 30 years back was bad.

For example, some Bible Translations may write 39 as ‘thirty-nine’, but some say ‘one less than forty, or ‘forty minus one’. All these carry the same meaning. They counted as twenty-eight, one less than thirty, thirty….. thirty-eight, one less than forty, forty….. etc.

Hebrew did not have superlatives! So to emphasize something they said it three times!!

It takes 10 to 15 years today for a person to study Hebrew and Greek to understand and translate from original Old Hebrew. That is a reason why many translations are based on an authentic translation available in other languages.

Your Bible is good enough to understand the message of God. When in doubt refer to an authentic version in another language, for example, Revised Standard Edition in English.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ANOINTING WITH OIL ?

-
Image
  SIGNIFICANCE OF ANOINTING WITH OIL The ancient practice of anointing a person with oil, often with  perfumed oil, has several meanings, all of them related. The  anointed person is recognized as a “marked or sacred person,” set  apart in certain ways from the community the better to be of service to the community. As an act of the community, it also  signifies the pledge of the community to respect and support the  one anointed. In many ways, the significance of anointing is similar  to the granting of public degrees and licenses to special  persons who serve the community, such as doctors, lawyers,  pharmacists, and the like. Christian sacramental anointing goes  far beyond the merely human practice and relates the anointed and the anointing community authoritatively (by the authority  of Christ and effectively through the gift of the Spirit) directly to  God in his saving work. Anointing with oil was also a common  medicinal practice in early times and therefore a fitting sign of 
Read more

WHY IS CATHOLIC WORSHIP FULL OF RITUALS ?

-
Image
HOLY RITUALS Leviticus and other biblical books show that God himself prescribed numerous religious rituals for the ancient Israelites. Sacrifices and offerings, ordination ceremonies and priestly behavior, holidays and festivals -all had their designated rituals (see Lv 1:1-10) . In addition, devour customs grew up among the people, such as those for mourning the dead and anointing kings (see 1 Sm 10:1) Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the apostles were all faithful Jews, practicing the religious rituals of their people. Mary and Joseph "fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord" (Lk 2:39)  concerning circumcision, purification, and presentation after Jesus'  birth (see Lk 2:21-39) . The family took part in the temple rituals of the great holy days (see Lk 2:41-43) , just as Jesus later did with his apostles Our Lord also followed the weekly synagogue rituals (see Lk 4:16-20) . At meals -including the Last Supper -he prayed the ritual blessings customary among the J
Read more

WHY DOES THE CHURCH HAVE SO MANY SINNERS

-
Image
  SINNERS When Ezra the priest led his people in a confession of the sins as a nation, the resulting list of wrongdoing was extensive: idolatry, rebellion, disobedience, pride, ingratitude, stubbornness, murder, injustice, and more. Again and again, God extended them mercy; again and again, they slid back into sin. If God hadn't been longsuffering, the people would have perished many times over (see Neh 9:1-37)   Today, God's people receive bountiful graces through our Lord Jesus Christ that weren't available in Ezra's time. Most importantly, we have the sacraments of the Church to make us holy. Yet even though such sacraments as Baptism and Reconciliation cleanse us of sin, so that the road to holiness is a continual struggle (see also "What is original sin?" ) Consequently, Scripture confirms that the Church is composed of saints in the making and sinners. We see this reality most indisputably in certain parables of Jesus about the kingdom of heaven (the Chu
Read more