Augustine on the Need to Know Hebrew and Greek

TheSacredPage.com ^ | Thursday, March 18, 2010 | Michael Barber quoting St. Augustine

[Salvation]

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Augustine on the Need to Know Hebrew and Greek

 

 

"The great remedy for ignorance . . . is knowledge of languages. And men who speak the Latin tongue, of whom are those I have undertaken to instruct, need two other languages for the knowledge of Scripture, Hebrew and Greek, that they may have recourse to the original texts if the endless diversity of the Latin translators throw them into doubt. Although, indeed, we often find Hebrew words untranslated in the books as for example, Amen, Halleluia, Racha, Hosanna, and others of the same kind. Some of these, although they could have been translated, have been preserved in their original form on account of the more sacred authority that attaches to it, as for example, Amen and Halleluia.

 

Some of them, again, are said to be untranslatable into another tongue, of which the other two I have mentioned are examples. For in some languages there are words that cannot be translated into the idiom of another language. And this happens chiefly in the case of interjections, which are words that express rather an emotion of the mind than any part of a thought we have in our mind. And the two given above are said to be of this kind, Racha expressing the cry of an angry man, Hosanna that of a joyful man. But the knowledge of these languages is necessary, not for the sake of a few words like these which it is very easy to mark and to ask about, but, as has been said, on account of the diversities among translators. For the translations of the Scriptures from Hebrew into Greek can be counted, but the Latin translators are out of all number. For in the early days of the faith every man who happened to get his hands upon a Greek manuscript, and who thought he had any knowledge, were it ever so little, of the two languages, ventured upon the work of translation."
--St. Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana, II, 11

 

Posted by Michael Barber at 10:29 PM

[Salvation]

Your thoughts?

Can Holy Scripture be translated accurately by ANYONE without a thorough knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, and of course, Latin?

[Salvation]

Catholic Discussion Ping!

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[Mr Rogers]

Well, it certainly would require knowledge of Hebrew and Greek!

Latin? Only if you want a translation of a translation...

[Salvation]

Many Protestant claim that they can interpret the Scriptures accurately. Do they usually have this background knowledge in Hebrew and Greek?

I know you can’t answer for all, how about just yourself?

I think this is one of the reasons that we, as Catholics, are blessed because many learned men have interpreted the Scriptures for us because they were experts in these languages.

[Pontiac]

Were not some of the Epistles originally written in Latin?

[Charles Henrickson]

Many Protestant claim that they can interpret the Scriptures accurately. Do they usually have this background knowledge in Hebrew and Greek?

I am a Lutheran minister (LCMS), and at our seminary, for M.Div., we had to be competent in Greek and Hebrew just to get started. Then we used those languages extensively in many classes. Beyond M.Div., I have an S.T.M. in Exegetical Theology and am "All But Dissertation" on a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies. For the Ph.D. language exams, I had to be able to sight-translate large sections of the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament. I also had to pass an exam in the Aramaic of Daniel. I have taught courses in Hebrew and Greek, and I lead pericopal studies in Greek on a regular basis. I also studied Latin in high school, college, and seminary. Plus, I have had a course in German, and I can translate Swedish.

[Charles Henrickson]

Were not some of the Epistles originally written in Latin?

No. Greek.

[Colonel Kangaroo]

Many Protestant claim that they can interpret the Scriptures accurately. Do they usually have this background knowledge in Hebrew and Greek?

I know you can’t answer for all, how about just yourself?

I think this is one of the reasons that we, as Catholics, are blessed because many learned men have interpreted the Scriptures for us because they were experts in these languages.

Nobody knows the Greek language better than the leaders of the Greek Orthodox Church and they have never submitted to the authority of Rome.

Nobody knows the Hebrew language better than the rabbis of Judaism and they have never submitted to the authority of the Pope.

[Campion]

Latin isn't important for understanding the Scriptures, per se, but the ability to read Augustine and Aquinas in the original is also worthwhile. All us who are western Christians -- Catholic or Protestant -- originally had the faith brought to our spiritual forefathers through men who spoke Latin.

[Campion]

Neither the Greek Orthodox nor the Jews believe in the individual believer’s ability to interpret the Scriptures for himself apart from the believing community, however.

[Mr Rogers]

First, your question was translate, not interpret. Those differ. A good translation - and there are a number available in English, to include the ESV, NASB, and even the NIV - is quite enough to understand most passages.

Most folks don’t read The Three Musketeers in the original French, but they can follow the plot just fine in a good English translation.

If one wants to delve further, then there are a number of good study aids. Most commentaries are written by folks who know the original languages, and they have the luxury of taking as many pages as needed to convey the fullness that a translation must often forgo.

See here:

http://deeperstudy.com/link/commentaries.html

For example, one might reference this in studying Luke:

Luke 1:28

Highly favoured (kexaritwmenh).
Perfect passive participle of xaritow and means endowed with grace (xariv), enriched with grace as in Ephesians 1:6, non ut mater gratiae, sed ut filia gratiae (Bengel). The Vulgate gratiae plena “is right, if it means ‘full of grace which thou hast received’; wrong, if it means ‘full of grace which thou hast to bestow”’ (Plummer). The oldest MSS. do not have “Blessed art thou among women” here, but in verse 42.

http://www.studylight.org/com/rwp/view.cgi?book=lu&chapter=001&verse=028

There are also many word studies available. For example, Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament has 2500 pages of info, available for $25:

http://www.christianbook.com/vincents-new-testament-word-studies/marvin-vincent/9780917006302/pd/06305?item_code=WW&netp_id=132624&event=ESRCN&view=details

So no, I don’t feel unable to read, understand or interpret the scriptures just because I cannot translate them by myself.

“I think this is one of the reasons that we, as Catholics, are blessed because many learned men have interpreted the Scriptures for us because they were experts in these languages.”

I hate to break it to you, but there are language experts who are Catholic, Protestant, Atheists and Jewish.

But the scriptures aren’t all that hard to understand. I suspect most readers can benefit from reading, for example, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.” - Acts 16

Also, I would point out that very few of the differences between Catholic & Protestant theology are based on translation problems. We differ on what John 6 means regarding Eucharist (or not!), but that difference is not driven by disagreement about what the text says, but what it means.

[Mack Truck]

To get to the core meaning of the core Judaeo-Christian scripture, one would have to study Hebrew.

[Salvation]

Wow! What qualifications!

[Cacique]

Btt

[reaganaut]

Translated? No.

I took several years of Greek, Hebrew and Latin. The more I learned the deeper my understanding of Scripture became.

[Salvation]

**but that difference is not driven by disagreement about what the text says, but what it means.**

So, speaking of John 6 — is that a translation problem or an interpretation problem, or dare I go one step further and just say is it simply an “understanding” or “misunderstanding” of each other’s background theology problem?

[reaganaut]

Many Protestant claim that they can interpret the Scriptures accurately. Do they usually have this background knowledge in Hebrew and Greek?

- - - -
I can.

And translation is different than interpretation.

However, knowledge of Greek and Hebrew will help with interpretation, I have known many more protestants with a solid grasp of Biblical interpretation then the lay Catholics I have known. I think the reason for this has more to do with the absence of a strict hierarchy in Protestantism than any intellectual foundation.

[reaganaut]

No.

[boycott]

I believe knowledge of all would be beneficial because all were commonly used during Jesus’ time on earth. An example would be the inscription on the cross, “King of the Jews,” was written in Greek, Hebrew, and Latin.

[freedumb2003]

>>Can Holy Scripture be translated accurately by ANYONE without a thorough knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, and of course, Latin? <<

I think not. And don’t forget Aramaic.

But let us not forget the hand of the Holy Spirit (my old CCD teaching comes riding in on a white stallion of reason!).

The Bible is a guide to how we live our lives. It uses history, especially the history of His Chosen People, and of course how Our Lord Christ suffered so and died for our sins, to explain — painfully and poignantly — our relationship with God and how that relationship should influence our relationship with each other.

“Do as he says” and “treat your neighbor as you would be treated” do not have a heck of a lot of brad interpretations available — again, the sign of the Holy Spirit influences Man’s deeds.

The word “accurately” is the problem here. In Genesis I and Genesis II the Hebrew (double translated, no less) word “Yom” is used and is colloquially translated as “day.” In fact, “yom” means “defined period” (based on some scholars of early Hebrew) and the “period” is defined by the observer!

So, properly “accurate” without reading the base languages? Not possible. To understand the spiritual and theological content? The Holy Spirit guarantees it shall be so.