Bible Study Greek

There are two words in Mark 1:12 that can be translated two different ways, and they both produce a different translation. Is Mark really picturing Jesus as a man in charge, "immediately" going from one thing to another? And did the Holy Spirit need to "drive" Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, as if Jesus didn't want to go?

Matthew 5:19 illustrates several aspects of Greek. Perhaps the most interesting is how Greek can drop words out of the second half of a sentence that is parallel in structure. But it also shows the different meanings of οὕτως, and how a long clause can be the subject of the verb and also have it repeated with a demonstrative pronoun. I still remember in second grade a poster of a man with two hats, and the caption said, "The man he." That's poor English, but acceptable Greek, perhaps good Greek.

We are used to reading that "moth and rust" destroy earthly treasures, but some translations have "vermin" or a "devouring insect" (NET). BDAG says the reading "rust" "finds no support." Apparently, "rust" made its way into English through Tyndale and was made popular by the KJV.

Sometimes the translator just has to make an interpretive decision. The Greek can mean one thing or something else, and you have to choose. Hebraic (or attributive) genitives often force this type of decision. 2 Corinthians 4:4.

The traditional translation is that Jesus' star arose "in the East," but the primary meaning of the word is "rising." Of course, stars appear on the eastern horizon as the earth spins. Part of the reasoning for a translation, though, is tied up[in what you think the star was. Can a start point not only to Israel but to Bethlehem, and even to where Jesus was?

Rarely does a translator let his or her theological bias show, but in 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 we can see an example. V 2 also is a strange verse to translate with some unusual constructions.

1 Corinthians 15:11 gives us a great example why it is important to know a word’s semantic range, and also my oft-repeated mantra that there is no random translations in any major Bible translation. There always is a reason, even though at times you have to look pretty hard to find it.

Translators have to be comfortable with compromise. Rarely can you hit the nail on the head, and generally you either over- or under-translate. What do you call all the people in your church? Beloved? I think not.

When Paul tells the Romans that Jesus was “appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection,” does that mean he wasn’t the Son of God before his resurrection? I thought God never changes?

Sometimes in Greek you can't tell the difference between an indicative and an interrogative, a statement and a question. After Thomas says, “My Lord and My God,” does Jesus affirm him, or question him?