Conjunctions

One of the problems of memorizing word glosses in first year Greek is that it is possible to miss the richness of a word’s meaning, especially its breadth of meaning (“semantic range”). 

A few translations miss the connector that starts v 4 and, unfortunately, hide the reason why older women should teach what is good. There are times when longer Greek sentences must be divided, but then you run the risk of not seeing the connection between the two halves.

One of the more misused verses in the Bible is 1 Timothy 2:9 and its supposed four-fold prohibition against braided hair, gold, pearls, expensive clothing. Among other things, almost every woman in the ancient world braided their hair, and to do otherwise was seen as a sign of rebellion. Just look at the statues of the time and you can see how women wore their braided hair. So what is going on in 1 Timothy 2:9?

A common example of a contradiction in the Bible is the order of the temptations. In Matthew 4 the order is: turn stones to bread; jump off the temple; worship Satan. However, Luke reverses the order of the last two: turn stones to bread; worship Satan; jump off the temple. Can Greek help to solve this problem?

Sometimes you will find an initial conjunction and be tempted not to translate it. After all, we all learned in High School English to not start a sentence with a conjunction. I was inclined not to translate the initial γάρ in Matthew 20:1 until I looked closer at the overall context.

When the woman answers Jesus, "Yes, Lord," is she agreeing or disagreeing? Most translations use an adversative like "but" for the following γάρ even though that gloss does not appear in the lexicon. Are they right to do so?