From: David C. Hindley (dhindley@compuserve.com)
Date: Sun Dec 02 2001 - 10:22:34 EST
Steven Lo Vullo said:
>>As for interlinears, it is my personal opinion that they may do more
harm than good. My own experience is that they are misleading to those
who do not know the language, and not very helpful to those who do. In
other words, by the time you can use them judiciously, you don't need
them! I think it is better to study grammar and get into the habit of
using a lexicon to look up words and
idioms about which one is curious. <<
My experience with interlinears has been more positive, although
several people have urged me not to use them. The issue seems to
revolve around the possibility that they will be used as a "crutch."
Interlinears, by providing a ready (read "quick") idiomatic
translation, reduces a user's inclination to actually study the
grammatical and lexical nuances that are important for understanding
the intended meaning of the original Greek.
I certainly agree that one needs about a year of formal NT Greek study
to get the most benefit from one. However, the way that Greek
sentences come across in word-for-word English actually increased my
curiosity level, and it was an interlinear that I obtained as a
college freshman that prompted me to take Greek in order to fulfill my
program's foreign language requirement.
There are also practical matters to consider. Even after 2 years of
Greek (NT & Attic), I never had occasion to take higher level courses
so now, 30 years later, a good deal has been forgotten. So I often
resort to one for a quick review of the basic meaning of a passage,
and then break out my grammars and lexicons once I have zeroed in on
the essential problem that I was curious about.
So, Robin, I'd encourage your husband to "read with understanding"
when he uses that interlinear. The basic meaning of Greek words,
including their parsed forms, is only a skeleton upon which the meat
hangs. Make sure he is aware that the meaning of even simple phrases
or words can have multiple meanings depending upon how thy are used in
a sentence or in relation to other phrases and words in any given
discourse unit. Still, he will have a lot of fun discovering the
nuances of a language that is quite different from English. If he has
taken any of the romance languages (French, Spanish) or Latin when in
school, he will be in familiar territory.
Respectfully,
Dave Hindley
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
BTW, an interlinear will pretty much reduce his need for a Strong's
concordance, except perhaps to see where else a particular word is
used. But again, because the structure and context of each sentence
influences how a word is translated, there are limitations to this as
well.
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