Post by pitbull on Nov 14, 2007 9:08:14 GMT -5
[The following material is from O Timothy magazine, Volume 12, Issue 5, 1995.David W. Cloud, Editor. This material cannot be placed on BBS or Internet sites without express permission from the author. All rights are reserved by the author. O Timothy is a monthly magazine. Annual subscription is US$20 FOR THE UNITED STATES. Send to Way of Life Literature, Bible Baptist Church, 1701 Harns Road, Oak Harbor, Washington 98277. FOR CANADA the subscription is $20 Canadian. Send to Bethel Baptist Church, P.O. Box 9075, London, Ontario N6E 1V0.]
By David W. Cloud
Alexander W. McClure in The Translators Revived noted, "It was well remarked by Robertson, above a hundred years ago, that it [the King James Bible] may serve as a Lexicon of the Hebrew language, as well as for a translation" (The Translators Revived: A Biographical Memoir of the Authors of the English Version of the Holy Bible, New York: Board of Publications of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, 1855, p. 239).
McClure's quotation of Robertson that the King James Bible may serve as a lexicon of the Hebrew language is very important. Many fail to understand this. The King James Bible is as much a lexicon on the biblical languages as any other lexicon. For one to run, say, to Vine or Thayer or Brown, and to accept the interpretation of ONE man as to the meaning of a Greek or Hebrew word while slighting the deliberated and agreed interpretation of DOZENS of men is not wise. The wording of the King James Bible represents the labors of almost one hundred years of brilliant, believing, godly scholarship. From Tyndale to the KJV several dozen of some of the best biblical linguists who have ever lived applied their minds and their prayers to translating into English PRECISELY what the Hebrew and Greek text mean. That was their goal. When someone says, "The Greek in this passage means such and such," they should never fail to mention that the Greek in that passage also means exactly what the King James translators said it means. It is important to explain and interpret Bible words, but it is never wise to correct or criticize those words and to try to replace them with one's own private translation. Unless one has the capability in the biblical languages to correct the Old Masters, one is wise not to pretend to a level of scholarship that he does not possess. Be careful, friends. Use all the tools you can find--the lexicons, the grammars, the dictionaries, the topicals, the encyclopedias--inasmuch as they are faithful to the Word of God. Learn Greek and Hebrew and Latin and German, if you please. They can help you. But don't be deceived into thinking that the wording of the King James Version itself is some kind of secondary witness to the meaning of the biblical text.
THE KING JAMES BIBLE IS A GREEK AND HEBREW LEXICON
By David W. Cloud
Alexander W. McClure in The Translators Revived noted, "It was well remarked by Robertson, above a hundred years ago, that it [the King James Bible] may serve as a Lexicon of the Hebrew language, as well as for a translation" (The Translators Revived: A Biographical Memoir of the Authors of the English Version of the Holy Bible, New York: Board of Publications of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, 1855, p. 239).
McClure's quotation of Robertson that the King James Bible may serve as a lexicon of the Hebrew language is very important. Many fail to understand this. The King James Bible is as much a lexicon on the biblical languages as any other lexicon. For one to run, say, to Vine or Thayer or Brown, and to accept the interpretation of ONE man as to the meaning of a Greek or Hebrew word while slighting the deliberated and agreed interpretation of DOZENS of men is not wise. The wording of the King James Bible represents the labors of almost one hundred years of brilliant, believing, godly scholarship. From Tyndale to the KJV several dozen of some of the best biblical linguists who have ever lived applied their minds and their prayers to translating into English PRECISELY what the Hebrew and Greek text mean. That was their goal. When someone says, "The Greek in this passage means such and such," they should never fail to mention that the Greek in that passage also means exactly what the King James translators said it means. It is important to explain and interpret Bible words, but it is never wise to correct or criticize those words and to try to replace them with one's own private translation. Unless one has the capability in the biblical languages to correct the Old Masters, one is wise not to pretend to a level of scholarship that he does not possess. Be careful, friends. Use all the tools you can find--the lexicons, the grammars, the dictionaries, the topicals, the encyclopedias--inasmuch as they are faithful to the Word of God. Learn Greek and Hebrew and Latin and German, if you please. They can help you. But don't be deceived into thinking that the wording of the King James Version itself is some kind of secondary witness to the meaning of the biblical text.