I know a little Greek, too. He runs a gyro shop on Main Street. ;o)
You mentioned an important point to remember in discussing translations. Words evolve. Their meaning over time can change. We see this even in our own founding documents and the different way English is spoken and written in only a few hundred years. Considering Koine Greek is THOUSANDS of years old, it's no wonder that translations have to keep up.
I remember in Bible college when I learned about tenses in Greek and how a single English word translated from the Greek really had a much deeper meaning than the English word could convey. An example was the word "never" as it was used in John 10:28. Jesus said "they shall never perish". That one word in the Greek actually meant, "no, not, never; at any time, at any place, for any reason; whether male, female or neuter; perpetually, eternally" perish. WOW! It was enlightening to say the least. Some theologians devote their lives to textual criticism and translations. There is enough of a peer review process that I don't think anyone would get away with skewing Divine revelation for very long.
I know a little Greek, too. He runs a gyro shop on Main Street. ;o)
He’s got an ugly wife, three ugly kids and good coffee!
Good point. Excellent point. That's why I have so much confidence in what some call the "Hermeneutic of Continuity." If such-and-such is what serious scholars thought it meant for the first 1500 years, I give that credibility at a significantly higher notch than I give to Joe Gyro's sincere best guesses a millennium-and-a-half later.