YOU SAID WHAT???? Misunderstandings to be avoided when CONTEXT is used in any translation! (1)

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This was gotten from my dear sister in Christ, Laurian Snowden!
The adage that a lot is lost in the translation is very true, when it is we do not know the context in which anything is said or written!
It is a fun read!

Laurian Snowden
April 16 at 9:28am ·

A friend saw this ..... Going to the Greek or Hebrew to understand the English, is like learning about bicycles to understand scuba diving! These 2 words will tell you why: There is a difference between Translating and Transliterating. Read on and see –>>

I don’t speak Greek and my computer won’t type Hebrew, so I’ll explain this using Spanish (which I speak) and English (which I speak).

José invites Juan to the park. Juan wrote a text back to José saying, “Hoy no, gracias. Tengo malas pulgas.” María asks José what Juan answered. He translated it, “Not today, thanks. I’m in a bad mood.” She said Ok, we’ll go without him.

Later Mará’s friend Lupe sees the text and says, “Hey, I learned Spanish in school. I also took out my Spanish to English dictionary. José lied to you! Here’s what it says word for word: -Today No Thanks. I have bad fleas.-“ María was upset! Also, could those fleas be in her house from Juan’s last visit? “José! You’ve got some splainin’ ta do!” José said, “Spanish is a different language. That is the expression for a bad mood. You don’t get it. You have to speak the language not just transliterate words.”

A week later as José’s sister was going out to the mall. José warned her, “¡Cuídate los viejos verdes! jajaja” She replied, “Sí hermano, lo hago.” Maria asked José what he said. He replied, “Oh, I just told her watch out for those dirty old men! hehehe. She said, –Yes bro, I will-.” Later Lupe the trouble maker came by for tea. When María told her about it she pulled out her dictionary again. “No!! María listen, he lied again. Viejo means Old and Verde means Green. There are old green men at the mall. Crud! Martians! Also she said she does it! Does what?”

María asked José later, who said, “No, dear. Spanish is a different language. That is the expression for a dirty old man. You don’t get it. You have to speak the language not just transliterate words. Also in Spanish, present tense is used for short term future tense because culturally Latinos are not in a hurry like Americans.”

Though this all sounds humorous (and it is), it is very sad. Scholars going back to the Greek or Hebrew (which they really don’t) can only transliterate. They usually go to a Lexicon and look at Greek and Hebrew words they don’t understand, then look on the list of English possibilities and pick one they like. There are a few more diligent scholars who look at Greek new testaments or related books. But they still use dictionaries like Lupe and don’t speak Koine Greek fluently.

I conversed with a “scholar” who told me that the Hebrew word really means this or that. I said, “Ze tuv! Atta yodea Ivrite?” He said, “What?” I said, “That’s good, you know Hebrew?” (I said it in Hebrew). Of course, he did not. So how are these tranliteraters worthy to re-translate your Bible? Scholars transliterate because they don’t actually speak those languages fluently and with cultural experience. They are not qualified to translate. Luke 10:21 “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.”

Here is another perfect example of people looking stupid for trying to correct the Bible. I was at a nursing home, preaching, when another christian asked me, (my quote is approximate), “If your King James is right, why in Revelation 6:8 does it say “pale horse”? The Greek says a Green horse.” I replied, “I’ll make it worse for you. In the older Spanish bible it says Tan horse. You see, if you are a Greek with Olive skin, when you get pale, you look green. If you are Latino and get pale, you look tan. This only proves the universal superiority of the King James Authorized Version over the other languages in it’s universal applicability and accuracy.” He was silenced and only taught Revelation from a King James from that point. Even newer Spanish bibles correct “tostado” (tan) to “pálido” (pale) to line up with the King James 1611.

Conclusion: Don’t re-write it, re-read it. Don’t correct it, it corrects you. Don’t re-prove it, it will reprove you. Read it, believe it, don’t question it. If God can keep track of the very hairs of your head, he won’t loose his own book!
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