Greek primacists favoring certain anciet texts

[Dan Gan]

My first Bible is in Indonesian language. I have about 70 Bibles in my personal library. I have read Greek NT many times. I also have read Hebrew Tanakh, Greek Septuagint, Latin Vulgate. I also listened to audio cassette of the NT in Greek and in a Chinese dialect. What I can attest from my own experience is that even though there are minor differences in interpretation here and there, the Message of all those Bibles that I have read is basically the same.

Studying the Indonesian Bible alone can take my whole lifetime as I can gain many insights from its teachings without the need to refer to other translations. We know that God is using this Alkitab in Indonesia to win many souls. I started to believe in God when I read the sermons on the mount from Gospel of Matthew in the Indonesian Alkitab. To certain people, KJV alone is enough to satisfy his soul but to certain people like me I will not be satisfied until I am able to read God's word in the original language. Then I bought myself English Bibles and found that they are better than my Alkitab. Now, after taking the trouble to study Greek NT, I know that my Alkitab and English Bibles are not perfect or free from errors. Certain text can be interpreted differently and there are many passages where only after you refer to the original Greek that you will be satisfied.

200 years in the future, will an Indonesian Christian utter this words in a New Testament Greek forum, "Now,.......if this Greek NT is the original,.....and it is 100% correct,.......and is better than the bahasa Indonesia,........and it is the original that the bahasa Indonesia was copied from,........then why won't GOD promote it and use it to save souls!!!!

That same argument is used by some KJV-only churches in America. Don't get me wrong as I am not against those people who love KJV. But we know that KJV-only churches are foolish when they attacked the Hebrew OT & Greek NT where KJV was translated from. KJV is better than original Hebrew and Greek just because it is used by God to convert many English speaking people? That is ridiculous! Isn't it ridiculous to think that a translation is better than the original?

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not saying that God cannot use KJV or any other Bibles in other languages to save souls. My point is God didn't ask those ignorant American folks to propagate KJV as better than the original. It was not the intention of the KJV translators either to claim that their translation is better than the original. If they are able to see what is happening in America right now, I am sure they will shake their heads in disbelief. Can God use KJV to win souls? Sure He can. Does God ask us to promote KJV as better than the original? NO! It was promoted by some ignorants people in America who are not related to the original translators of KJV at all. Don't blame the KJV translators. Blame the KJV-only American church leaders.

Now, regarding my quest for the original text of the New Testament. After I bought Nestle-Aland 26th edition of Novum Testamentum Graece a decade ago, I realized that there are some textual variants in Greek manuscripts of the NT that cannot be solved. That is also the reason why Textual Criticism is one of the areas in Biblical Studies that I am most inrerested in. I was introduced to Syriac Peshitta and Latin Vulgate through this.

Finally, I am satisfied with the Aramaic Peshitta text because it solves many problems that I encountered with the Greek NT. It helps me to determine which variant of the Greek text is correct. Not only that. It also gives me new insights like the word plays that is frequently demonstrated in this forum and the most important of all is that it preserves the ipsissima verba of Mar Yeshu'. We know that Yeshu' preached in Aramaic the language of His first disciples. We also know that when one language is translated to another language there will be a translation loss in one way or another as different language has different syntax and idioms. Just look at the famous Psalm 119 for an example. Can English Bibles give us the message of Psalm 119? Yes, they can. Can English Bibles portray the beauty of Psalm 119? To certain extent they can. But if you have read Psalm 119 in Hebrew you will be surprised by its beauty that cannot be fully portrayed in English Bibles.

Prophet Moshe preached in Hebrew and we have his Torah in Hebrew. King David sang his Mizmor in Hebrew and we have his Mizmor in Hebrew. Yesha`yahu preached in Hebrew and we have his book in Hebrew. Yirmiyahu preached in Hebrew and we have his book in Hebrew. Only an Aramaic Gospel can preserve to us the very words of its speaker. In this I rejoice and glad that I have found the ipsissima verba of Mar Yeshu'.

If you are still not able to comprehend my point of view or didn't understand what I was trying to say (which is due to English being not my mother's tounge) then let me give you an example by citing the movie The Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship of the Rings and The Two Towers. These movies were released in two editions. The Fellowship of the Rings that was first released to theatres was 178 wonderful minutes long. But that was not what the director Peter Jackson intended it to be. There are certain scenes that need to be cut to meet movie studio executives' requirements. That is why we have a special extended edition for die hard Lord of the Rings fans which is awesome wonderful 208 minutes long.

Reading English Bibles is like watching The Lord of The Rings dubbed into other languages. You can enjoy the movie and all those actions but you can't listen to the original voices of the actors.

Reading Greek NT is like watching the shorter version of The Lord of The Rings. You can still enjoy the show but there are some scenes that were cut that you will not aware of until you watched the special extended edition.

Reading the Aramaic Peshitta is like watching the special extended edition of the Lord of The Rings. You will start to understand why this is so and so. You will gain extra insights from the Word of Alaha when you read it in the original as these extra insights and beauty cannot be found in the Greek text.

Now, if I don't know anything about English, will I enjoy The Lord of The Rings that is dubbed into my native language? Yes, I will enjoy it very much.

Now, if I understand English, will I enjoy the shorter edition of The Lord of the Rings? Yes, I will enjoy it so much and will not even realize that there are some scenes that were filmed by Peter Jackson but was cut by the movie studio.

But only after I watched the full version of The Lord of The Rings will I be able to see what Peter Jackson wanted me to see.

The moral of the story is that we don't need to ridicule and disparage translations of the Bible out there. God can use any languages out there to save souls. There is no need to ridicule the ipsissima verba of Mar Yeshu' either. Just because God didn't use Aramaic to save souls of English speakers it doesn't mean that it is not the original or that God is mocking the ipsissima verba of Mar Yeshu'.

You can argue about words daily, but that will not make you a disciple of Mar Yeshu'. You can read the NT in Greek or Aramaic or any other languages, but if you are not responding to Mar Yeshu's call to discipleship, you are not going to make it. In your zeal to promote Greek or Aramaic, let us not forget the central Message of the Gospel of Mar Yeshu' that all of us must adhere to and that we ought need to be His diciples by denying self, taking up the cross daily and be prepared to die for Him, love one another, do not give up fellowship, encourage one another daily, sharing our faith wherever we go. An African who read the Bible in his language out there who shares his faith daily and follow what Mar Yeshu' commanded is a better disciple of Mar Yeshu' than all of us here who argue about words daily but are not sharing our faith with strangers out there or bear any fruit.

Yeshua said to them "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19).

We should not let our zeal for Greek or Aramaic hinder us from the call to discipleship, because at the end of the days, those who responded to that call to be fishers of men that are going to be saved. If we are not responding to that call to discipleship, no matter what language of the Bible we read, we are not going to understand what it means to be disciple of Mar Yeshu'.





Peace to all.


Dan Gan