Thursday, January 23, 2020

Range of Meaning for λόγος (Mark 9:10)

λόγος can refer to a "word," or a series of words (i.e., "statement"), or in a much larger sense to the matter to which the words refer. So what were the disciples not to talk about after Jesus' transfiguration?

Monday, January 20, 2020

Greek Exegesis and Humility (Mark 16:16)

I received an email the other day that reminded me that we all need to remind ourselves to have a little humility in doing our Greek exegesis. I'm not talking about arrogance as the opposite of humility, but humble caution. The question had to do with the translation of three participles in Mark 16:16, and why the NASB is the only translation to get it “right,” and why the other translations got it “wrong.”

Monday, January 13, 2020

Apposition and Word Order (Acts 3:20)

Sometimes we have to change the order of words to accurately convey the meaning of a Greek sentence, and sometimes this is because of how Greek can pile up modifiers.

Monday, January 6, 2020

Who or What is the Bread of Heaven? (John 6:33)

When the Greek is ambiguous, it is always nice to maintain that ambiguity in English. But usually you can’t and you have to make a decision. However, in this verse the ambiguity is essential to the meaning of both the verse and the passage.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

What's wrong with waiting on tables? (Acts 6:2)

If you translate word-for-word in Acts 6:2, you miscommunicate. The Apostles were not wanting to stop being waiters, they weren't asking to stop “waiting on tables.” They understand that their "service" is different." They understand that their "service" is different.

Friday, December 13, 2019

Translating Units of Money

Translating units of money can be tricky. We don't use drachmas any more, and the amount earned on average per day is different. So most translations become somewhat interpretive.

Monday, December 2, 2019

How to tell a Story in Greek (1 Tim 1:6)

When Greek lays out a sequence of events, it tends to use anarthrous participles followed by an indicative verb. The question for the student is how to translate the participle into proper English. In our passage, the participle is actually telling us why the false teachers turned aside to error.