Have you ever been sitting in a sermon and heard the preacher make a reference to what such-and-such a word REALLY means in Hebrew or Greek, and noticed that it was totally different from what your English Bible says? Did you wonder why? Perhaps you wonder “If he had to know what this means by looking at the original language, can I really understand this in English only? How well can I know what the Bible says?

Do you have to be a trained theologian to understand the Bible? Is Greek and Hebrew necessary for the average Christian to read and understand his or her Bible? And if not, then why does the pastor make those references?

To start to answer this, I think we need to throw some of what we know of God into the mix here. If God were to communicate a message to the whole world, wouldn’t he have to make it simple enough to be understandable? As a professor of mine used to say, do we imagine God is sitting up in heaven, looking down on all us poor dopes saying “Oh, they’re all so stupid! Let me give this message to just a few less stupid ones I’ll call theologians and they can convey the meaning to everyone else” ?  Not hardly! The Bible, it has been said, is shallow enough for a child to wade, and deep enough for an elephant to swim. If all you can understand is 10%, don’t let those who can understand 90% bother you. You are responsible for the light of revelation you have been given, and God will not dock you points for not being able to understand more than you’re able.

So here’s the practical part:

As a pastor, it is extremely important for me to be able to help people understand the Bible more clearly based on the original languages, while at the same time helping people know they can understand their English Bible without me. Now, that’s a weird place to be, isn’t it? There are definitely times when I, and particularly a friend of mine who is a real Greek whiz, wonder just how necessary (if at all) it is that I study original languages. After all, if it’s been translated into English many times, with a multitude of translation theories, then why do I need to know it, and why should I ever reference it in a sermon? (that’s probably another comment you’ve heard other pastors make in sermons, isn’t it?)

The bottom line that I want to convey is this: the in’s and out’s of the TEXT of Scripture is best understood in its original language just like any communication translated into another language. However, the MEANING of scripture can be determined without the original language with careful reading, especially if multiple translations/versions are read together. Here’s why:

Koine Greek, the language of the New Testament, and classical Hebrew (or “Biblical Hebrew”), of the Old Testament, are both dead languages; in other words, they are not in active use today. What that means is that the definitions of words and the grammar of these languages are determined by usage in the texts, not by rules found in a book. In English, we grow up with grammar books and dictionaries that carefully define and explain the meaning and rules of everything. With biblical languages, these obviously don’t exist, so most of what we know about these languages comes from how we see it being used, not by predetermined rules. It’s what they call descriptive grammar, rather than prescriptive grammar.

What this means for the individual reader of the Bible is that context determines the meaning, so reading your primary choice of Bible version alongside 2-5 other versions, looking at the differences in the translations will help you understand more of what’s going on “behind the scenes.”

For example, let’s look at the differences between four popular versions in Romans 3:21-22.

‎The New International Version	‎The NET Bible	‎New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update	‎The New King James Version
	‎47.4% difference	‎39.1% difference	‎45.3% difference
‎‎Ro 3:21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.	‎‎Ro 3:21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God °(which is attested by the °law and the °prophets) has been disclosed—	‎‎Ro 3:21 But now apart from the °Law the righteousness of God has been °manifested, °being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets°,	‎‎Ro 3:21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law °is revealed, °being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets°,
‎‎22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,	‎‎22 °namely, the righteousness °of God through °the faithfulness of Jesus Christ °for all who believe. °For there is no °distinction,	‎‎22 °even the righteousness °of God through faith in Jesus Christ °for all those who believe°; for there is no °distinction;	‎‎22 °even the righteousness °of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. °For there is no difference°;

Why the differences? Partly because of different philosophies of how to translate the Bible…some translators opt for a very literal approach, leaning toward word-for-word equivalents, whereas others opt for a freer approach, leaning toward thought-for-thought equivalents. There are also differences in the opinions of the translators about which word choice is most accurate. The example in this passage is verse 22. Look at the NET Bible’s “faithfulness of Jesus Christ” compared to all others’ “faith in Jesus Christ.” This is helpful for giving you the reader a glimpse behind the scenes. You don’t have to know Greek to see from this that the Greek word “faith” can also be translated “faithfulness.” That’s  a legitimate option. I happen to agree with the NET Bible’s translation here, primarily because “faith in Jesus…..to all who believe,” is redundant. The righteousness we are given from God was earned by Jesus’ faithfulness in his earthly life. He earned our righteousness, and by faith we receive it.

So without knowing a word of Greek you can tell there’s more going on in the text than just what one version is able to capture for us.

I strongly recommend reading the Bible with 3-5 versions to compare. They’re almost all available for reading online, so that won’t take expenses to buy different versions. The best way I think is to have a couple of very literal versions (New American Standard, KJV or NKJV), and a couple of looser translations (New International Version, New Living Translation—not to be confused with the Living Bible!), and even throw in a paraphrase or two in the mix, such as The Message. Reading these in concert with each other will help you understand a lot more of what’s going on in the text, and can be an enormous help. Sometimes, even as I study the Greek or Hebrew text, I find something I hadn’t notice just by comparing Bible versions!

So don’t worry about being able to understand the Bible in English. Just because some of us preachers may reference the original language for clarity, you can still understand the meaning of your English Bible. There are no perfect translations, but they are adequate! God chose wonderful languages to communicate His Word.