From: Greg Kilbrai (gkilbrai@dlcwest.com)
Date: Thu Dec 10 1998 - 00:13:08 EST
>Dear B-Greekers:
>I have to explain to new students of biblical Greek the importance of
>studying the language. Could you please give me some reasons why we
>should study biblical greek and why biblical greek is relevant for today
>Many people in my midst think that it is a waste of time. I have to come
>up with very convincing answers to help them understand the importance of
>studying biblical Greek.
>I will appreciate your answers
Dear Eufemio:
I've just started studying Greek in the last year or so. It has been
hard to give it proper justice while working full time, but it is very
rewarding to me also. I was first interested in studying greek when I
learned about the AGAPES/PHILW distinction in John 21 at a bible study.
What a difference in the conversation between Jesus and Peter in Greek
versus the English which uses "love" as if the two words were synonyms.
Since I started studying Greek, one concept I am finding particularly
fascinating is verb aspect in Greek which has no counterpart in the
English mindset. The undefined role of the Aorist, the continuous
emphasis of the imperfect, the vividness of the present, and the
"new/state" concept of the perfect are all fascinating and put a fresh
perspective on scripture that doesn't stand out in English.
I'm starting to read scripture with more of a "visual" sense like a
"screenplay" when I pay attention to Greek aspect. For example, in Mark
1:29-34, an English reader would probably assume the emphasis of the
passage was the miraculous healing that took place. But in the Greek,
the touching/healing warrants just an Aorist as if it was of little
consequence, a mere backdrop to the story. Instead in the Greek, the
emphasis in the story is on Simon's mother-in-law's burning (imperf)
fever, the disciples coversation (present) with Jesus about it, and
Simon's m-i-law's serving (imperfect) them after the fever left her.
Visualizing the greek tenses like a "movie director", I can picture a
couple of still screen shots of the disciples leaving the synagogue,
entering the home, interspersed with continous action shots showing the
mother in agony with her fever, a close up and emotional dialogue
between the disciples and Jesus about it, a snapshot of Jesus touching
mother and lifting her up, a snapshot of her peaceful face after her
recovery, and then an extended action scene of her preparing a meal and
joking around with the disciples about the things that happened at the
synagogue...(I can visualize this because of the Greek tenses, but I
would never think this way just reading the English).
In other passages, I also pay particular attention to the perfect tenses
that emphasize the "new state" that forever results as a consequence of
the verb.
So then, if your students are pastors or going into the ministry, they
will really benefit from learning greek as they will discover a new
dimension to the scriptures that simply does not get portrayed in the
English. In their sermons they will interact with the scriptures in a
new way, and have more confidence that they are seeing true emphasis of
the writer.
Hope these thought help. If I'm off base in my understanding about
aspect, I'd appreciate comments from the b-greekers for correction.
Greg Kilbrai
--- B-Greek home page: http://sunsite.unc.edu/bgreek You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu] To unsubscribe, forward this message to leave-b-greek-329W@franklin.oit.unc.edu To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Apr 20 2002 - 15:40:10 EDT