I thought I’d start off this blog with an example of what led me to start researching into the cultures and languages of Biblical times.
First one has to consider “What is the value?” for doing such a thing. My pondering “the value” led to the thought that God’s Word is, in someways, like an onion: I can gaze upon the outside, use my other senses, and understand what an onion “is”. I can also peel back the layers slowly and experience what each offers. If I never peel back the layers, I still get to experience just what an onion “is”, with maybe the exception that it has layers inside. So, when we are talking about God breathed scripture, God’s Word is going to speak to your spirit when digested without all that extra digging. However, consider what the layers may offer: I can meet you briefly, we can dialog, and I can walk away with an understanding of “you” that can serve me well. However, if we meet and dialog frequently, I can gain a deeper understanding of “you” that will serve us both much better than the initial brief encounter. You and your encounter with God’s written Word is similar in that God will see you get the spiritual food you need, but sometimes an appropriate dessert, while not needful for our survival, is just too grand of a thing to pass up.
An example:
Consider John Chapter 3, concerning Jesus and Nicodemus meeting. There are many things here, if one digs deeply. We will examine only a few aspects for now.
John 3:1-15:
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 The same came to him by night, and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see the Kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into the Kingdom of God! 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ 8 The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things? 11 Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have seen, and you don’t receive our witness. 12 If I told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended ut of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven. 14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
World English Bible
Now here is a pondering: We are made in God’s image. We appreciate a good story. We “get” sarcasm and can appreciate that there is a time and a place for sarcasm to make a point. Likewise, we appreciate a good play on words. I have found that, to the original audience listening to, or reading, these stories there is often, in their culture, such aspects that we just do not “get” without some digging. I will emphasize, that digging is not needful for God’s work in YOU. However, I think the digging brings some understanding and joy to our souls (How dimly is your reflection of God in that mirror? … If it is missing humor, fondness of a good story, appreciation for the subtle plays on words, and even appropriate sarcasm, among other things, it may be dimmer than you know, for WE have those attributes in a positive way that is a reflection of the Father.)
First there is the little tidbit about Nicodemus coming at night: Nicodemus is a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish leadership (in the Sanhedrin). Nicodemus has significant political, religious, and social power. On the plus side, Nicodemus appears to be truly interested in seeking God’s truth. On the downside, Nicodemus is not going to risk his hard earned status by being seen meeting with this itinerant preacher: He comes at night. There is an old country & western song about “The snakes crawl at night”, and that kind of sums up the Hebrew cultural beliefs of the time about sneaking around at night to hide what one is doing. Basically, Nicodemus tries to mask this by, well, we would call it sucking up to someone (look at verse 2 – “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.”)
The response in verse 3, “born anew”, as told in the original Greek, can mean born from above (heaven), born again, born all over, born from the beginning, and other less applicable meanings. This is the first clue to the reader of John’s Greek text, that the attempt to butter up Jesus resulted in a response from Jesus, which could be interpreted as “come sneaking around, and I will give you a valid answer, but in a manner that will mess with your head … yeah, go ponder this when we are done.” There are appreciative plays on words or cultural norms of the day that we simply do not understand when reading a rather “cold” passage as translated by some linguist (most probably a well meaning linguist that really could not “paint” the same picture as in the original language because of the differences in language and culture). All of that introduction to ponder this:
Note all the places in the verses from John 3 where I have highlighted the words spirit, Spirit (the capitalization is a hint to English speakers that the original text may be a play on words), and wind. These English words are translated to convey differences we, as English speakers, understand about these words, and do a pretty good job of conveying the originally intended noun in our language. However, in Greek each is a form of the noun, “pnuema” (as pronounced in English). This Gospel of John is written in Greek, the trade language of the time. The conversation would most likely, between two Jews, have been in either the formal Hebrew, or, the closely related language of the day, Aramaic: Like Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic have one noun form that expresses the concept of spirit, wind, breath, or other concepts of the movement of something one can perceive but not actually see. In both Aramaic and Hebrew the equivalent of the Greek “pnuema” is “rauch”. This is a good example of how a very accurate translation to English results in a nearly complete loss of the cultural play on words. What do we miss as a result? Not Jesus’ teachings, but maybe an appreciation of Jesus’ humanity. Just put yourself in Nicodemus’ shoes: What Jesus just said will be something to ponder, over and over, to distill the true meaning. Jesus is messing with his head, but in a good and fruitful way — Just jump ahead in scripture, and there is Nicodemus helping, in the light of day, to take care of the body of Jesus.
Verse 10: Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things?”, in today’s street English might be said as: “REALLY? Just REALLY, you are a teacher of such spiritual things, a man of scholar, but you understand them less than an uneducated itinerant preacher from a land of hillbillies in Galilee, whom you seek out by slinking around at night?” I think that paraphrase may better convey to us just how much Jesus was rightfully putting Nicodemus in his place, while fostering a desire to learn more – With Nicodemus eventually learning that he had encountered, personally, the living God.
God Bless your pondering,
Chuck