Do You Need to Know Greek & Hebrew to Understand the Bible?

[theburningelement.]

I study Hebrew, that is true, you don't need to know it but I love learning

[minaguta]

"Tradition is the ultimate authority, and the biblical texts are just the proof texts." 💯💯💯

[Karolos-redl]

Greek will help you tremendously because the 3 oldest languages are Ancient Egyptian, Sanskrit, and Greek. And yes the Greeks were in Egypt for many years. Metanoia in Greek does not mean repent. It means a change of mind.

[calanm]

The very rhythm of bible translations are imprinted emotionally on my brain by my most trusted adults - I’m only just realising this deep impact that I’ve assumed for 40 years was as true as language & human interaction itself - this crowned it all.
I want to add to Dan’s comments- channels like his and MythVision and HistoryValley and Atheologica and others: host biblical scholars to the masses and we can listen to biblical scholars in popular terms but with integrity. Lots of room for debate and nuance too.
(And huge props too to other channels dealing with their particular belief traditions: MormonStories, ExJWCriticalThinker etc)
Yes we should all pursue knowledge on biblical languages/ biblical archaeology.. and getting the rudiments is awesome to help understand the terrain…
But Dan and co, your getting your years of serious accredited study & reflecting on evidence out here on YouTube in ways accessible to us wider folks trying to navigate - you are doing life saving work in these wee videos. Yep, we shouldn’t automatically trust you academics implicitly [irony alert 🚨], but we can assess compelling arguments backed by evidence.

[SeanMach]

The last 20 secs of the video had a profound statement. Great stuff Dan.

[HeadtoTailBBQCooking]

Correct you might not need to know it but if you do it helps to understand it better.

[SimonNeilScott]

One thing which threw me, when I first started doing this Christian life about 15 years ago, was how many people (when asking and engaging in conversation) would mention they hadn't read the entirety of the Old and New Testament. And I'm referring to (can't think of a better word to use right now) Elder Christians, who are over a certain age and have been attending Church for decades.

The people you would seek help from, for assistance as a 'New' Christian and trust what they tell you.

The only scripture they knew, was what a Pastor had spoken about over those decades, and they (perhaps) had never been advised to, or felt a compulsion to, read beyond that content. To do study and research. When I started out in this life, I made a choice to read it all from front to back (it took a while). I absolutely knew (even before I went into it) what I was reading, was an interpretation, dictated by 'someone' who could have a bias and take that into account.

I would never tell a 'New' Christian, that what they're reading is 100% accurate to original texts or contexts, because it's still a book, written by and brought together by, those with agendas and bias, and to read it with an open mind to learn and educate themselves.

[NielMalan]

I am thinking back to 1983, when a new translation of the Bible came out in my language. Not only was it put into a fresher version of the vernacular, but it also included the latest scholarship. Oh my! Weren't there a number of vocal people who made it clear that they didn't trust those translators and scholars one bit!

[scented-leafpelargonium]

I grew up reading the KJV as a teenager, but after living and working in Israel for a decade I became able to read the Bible in Hebrew, which seemed to elucidate a lot of words and nuances.

For example in Genesis where the lights in the sky were set in place by God for days and years etc., I thought that the English word "seasons" meant spring, summer, autumn (fall) & winter.

However, my Hebrew speaking friends pointed out to me that it is the Hebrew word MOADIM, which is the word used to describe commanded feast days or appointed times, such as Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost) etc., which are divided like ordinary weekdays by the sunset.

We don't need to know Greek and Hebrew to understand the Bible, just as we don't have to know English when reading an English Bible, but the less we do the more we have to rely on others to explain the context and meaning to us, as your video alludes. But I know many hate Hebrew.

So I kinda keep my Hebrew language secret now when in a Gentile Church, due to negativity.

When Yeshua (Jesus) returns He will have to speak English to be fully accepted in the western churches and supply subtitles on Google Translate when He addresses the Jews in Jerusalem!

[ArtsyFoxo]

I wish people didn't scoff at education like. "I don't bow to people in a college degree or PhD". No one is saying to these people "bow down ignorant peasant, we're educated and better than you!"

It's simple, if you want accurate, verified interpretations/information based on facts. It's best to go to a professional! People who have done the proper hard work to understand the information at the right depth to provide authoritative information.

Of course people can have their personal feelings on it. But in my opinion, if you're going to believe something so near and dear to the heart, the LEAST you can do is make sure your facts are straight

[emptyhand]

Tradition is the ultimate authority, 45, 000 denominations can't be wrong.

[candlehawk]

I think the heart of the issue is when he says "understand" what he really means is "can find personal spiritual meaning in" and feels attacked because his 'meaning' doesn't match up with the historical account of the intended meaning of the passages. The real problem is he equates his personal spiritual meaning as the "real understanding" and then tries to dismiss the educated view as a result.

[ChipPayet]

Anyone who has learned a second (or more) language to fluency as an adult, and particularly anyone who has had to translate documents back and forth between languages, should understand why actually speaking the language in which a document is written is helpful.
I learned German well enough to fool native speakers in casual conversation even decades later. That’s still entirely different from trying to accurately translate an article from The Washington Post into German, or one from the Frankfurter All-Gemeine Zeitung (F.A.Z.) into English, in such a way as to capture all the nuance.
If I had to do the same with a story from Old or Middle High German? Fuhgeddaboutit!

[pleaseenteraname]

The easy answer is no but it helps, and you definitely need to if you’re aspiring to become a scholar or if you just wanna go a bit deeper, I think we take the English translations for granted nowadays.

[AurorXZ]

I wish I could like this a thousand times.

[Catholic-Perennialist]

Newsflash: The gospels themselves are Greek translations of whatever was supposedly said decades before in Aramaic. There's no way to _ever_ approach what Jesus actually said, no matter what languages you know.

Another newsflash: The oldest codices disagree more amongst each other than they do with later miniscules. Therefore, there is no _scriptura prisca_ which needs to be discovered for greater clarity. The further you dig, the murkier it gets.

It is far more important to understand the historical/cultural context than original languages.

[devinsmith]

I mean it's best to read any text in its original language, but of course not everyone as the time or energy to study such so a reliable translation is the next best thing. Also I can't help but assume the guy McClellan is responding to is one of those KJV-only Christians, but maybe I'm wrong in that.

[VulcanLogic]

I remember back in 1984 when the NIV translation of Exodus 21:22 was changed. The 1978 version says 'miscarriage', the 1984 version says 'born prematurely'. They wanted their Bible to support a pro-life position so they just changed what God said to a completely different meaning. If you go to biblegateway they also dishonestly change the translation in other Bible versions, including the Tanakh.

[gabitamiravideos]

Terms that I suspect we will see on future data>dogma podcasts: “negotiation”, “proof text”.

[ReflectionsofChristianMadman]

You can make this same argument about riding in an airplane. Without complex knowledge of aerodynamics and aeronautic engineering, you have to trust that its manufactured well and will hold together to arrive at your destination. You have to trust that your pilot hasn’t just pulled an all-nighter or hasn’t consumed alchohol prior to the flight. You have to trust that the maintence crew performed their checklist thoroughly and didn’t overlook anything vital.

Your point still stands, I can’t refute it, nor do I want to. My point is that there are epistemological limits to every human. There isn’t enough time for anyone to become experts in every field and every area of study nor learn every language. Inevitably, you will need to trust experts in some field that isn’t your own, or at least the general consensus of that field. That is as much true in textual and rhetorical criticism as it is in oncology.