The language of the Bible and its use
Eva Pinthus looks at the languages and translation
All religious language is metaphor and symbolism. The Bible is a collection of stories originally orally transmitted over some 2,000 years. They tell of diverse experiences of many Semitic tribes living in what we now call loosely the Middle East. The Bible is neither a history nor a scientific book, though some incidents may well have occurred. People then as now reflect on what has happened to them and try to make sense of their experiences both good and bad. The stories reflected the past and the present and often hopes for the future. The first part of the Bible we call Old Testament was written in Hebrew. The much smaller later part, we now call New Testament, was mainly written in Greek though some may have had Aramaic origins. Those of us who have worked in more than one language know how difficult translating can be. One needs to know the cultural, geographical and ethnic backgrounds in which these languages are or were used.
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