Ask The Pastor

March 8, 2004

> I am still curious about one thing though. The Old
> Testament was written in Hebrew right and the New
> Testament in Greek right? Is the reason we're not
> taught Hebrew and maybe also Greek and have our
> Bibles in the original languages due to convenience?

Lizzy,

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew because that was the language they spoke at that time. The New Testament was written in Greek because Greek was the common language of the Roman Empire at the time of its writing. Every people group needs to have the Bible in the language that they speak.

> I had several classmates in grade school who are
> Jewish and I remember them talking about going to
> school to learn Hebrew to read their Torahs or whatever.

They learn enough Hebrew for their Bar/Bat Mitzvah, which they are required to read before the assembly.

> I myself am Protestant/Pentocostal to be more specific
> belong to the Assemblies of God. I am extremely
> satisfied with my church but I just always thought it'd
> be neat if we had things like they originally were.

I understand what you are saying. But the world is constantly changing and so are languages. And the Lord speaks to us in our common language.

> That we'd be taught Hebrew and Greek. Just a thought. Is
> it wrong of me for having such a need to be so traditional
> and wanting things like they originally were?

No, I don't think it is wrong at all. What I hear from you is a heart that loves Jesus. As for things like they "originally were" there really wasn't an original in the Bible times. Even the Jews in Israel during the time of Jesus didn't speak Hebrew as a matter of course. The language had changed to Aramaic. Many of them spoke Greek. So it really wasn't much different than what we have today. The world in
the time of Jesus consisted of many languages. The Bible very early on was translated into many languages. That is the way it should be.

Good talking with you Lizzy. You have a good mind.

By the way, you are welcome to subscribe to an educational forum that our ministry sponsors. It is a good place to get questions answered. I serve as host of the forum. We have members from many
branches of Christianity. (There is no cost involved.)

If interested you can subscribe at the following site. (Be sure to complete the questionnaire.):

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hebraic-Foundations/

The Lord bless you,

Buddy
Bro. Buddy Martin - Ask the Pastor

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Lawrence "Buddy" Martin
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web: http://www.ChristianChallenge.org

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