Here is a graph on the number of occurrences of each Hebrew Verb Binyan in the Old Testament. As you can see the vast majority of occurrences are in the Qal Binyan. Years ago, I taught a kindergarten boy in Sunday School, and every question you asked he would answer with "Jesus". If you asked who died for our sins, he would answer "Jesus". If you asked who built an ark, he would answer "Jesus". If you asked, who discovered America, he would answer "Jesus". He had learned through observation that whenever a question is asked in church... odds are, the answer is probably Jesus. As an intelligent Hebrew student... you too can play the odds.. when parsing a verb, just say Qal and odds are.. you will be golden.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
How to Cheat in Biblical Hebrew
Here is a graph on the number of occurrences of each Hebrew Verb Binyan in the Old Testament. As you can see the vast majority of occurrences are in the Qal Binyan. Years ago, I taught a kindergarten boy in Sunday School, and every question you asked he would answer with "Jesus". If you asked who died for our sins, he would answer "Jesus". If you asked who built an ark, he would answer "Jesus". If you asked, who discovered America, he would answer "Jesus". He had learned through observation that whenever a question is asked in church... odds are, the answer is probably Jesus. As an intelligent Hebrew student... you too can play the odds.. when parsing a verb, just say Qal and odds are.. you will be golden.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Psalm 1:1a
אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי־הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר׀ לֹ֥א הָלַךְ֮ בַּעֲצַ֪ת רְשָׁ֫עִ֥ים
אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי -Blessed (Happy)
הָאִ֗ישׁ- def article + man
אֲשֶׁ֤ר׀- relative pronoun - who, which, that
לֹ֥א - no, not
הָלַךְ֮- verb Qal 3Masc. Singular "go, come, walk
בַּעֲצַ֪ת prep+ noun in construct, in + counsel, advice
II. עֵצָה constr. עֲצַת (from the root יַעַץ to counsel, for יְעֵצָה), f.
(1) counsel—(a) which any one gives or receives,
עֵצָה (ʿē∙ṣā(h)): n.fem.; ≡ Str 6098; TWOT 887a—1. LN 33.294–33.298 advice, counsel, i.e., the act. of telling someone what they should do based on a plan or scheme (
רְשָׁ֫עִ֥ים- noun masc. plural "wicked, guilty (before God)"
1. usually as subst., one guilty of crime, deserving punishment; sometimes also wicked;. 2. guilty of hostility to God or his people, wicked enemies: . 3. guilty of sin, against either God or man, wicked: from רָשָׁע
My Translation: Blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the wicked,
*note- I think "counsel of the wicked" is a better translation, but "advice" seems like more natural language for me personally... although probably not for most people... and since it's my translation, I get to pick.
*note- I chose to stick with the word "man" instead of "person" or "one", even thought the clear sense here is "person" or "one". I did this because in other Bible verses translating the term "man" becomes an interpretive issue and not simply a translation issue. And to me and the way I have always read English man can either mean "male" or "human" depending on the context. Since this is the case in both English and Hebrew I choose to leave the translation as "man", although I know that perhaps using "man" for mankind is becoming a bit archaic.
[2] Gesenius, W., & Tregelles, S. P. (2003). Gesenius' Hebrew and Chaldee lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures (647).
[3] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.).
Hebrew Parallelism
Psalm 1:1 "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked and does not stand in the way of sinners and does not sit in the seat of scoffers"
| Action | Place (literal or conceptual) | Person |
| Walk | Counsel (bad) | Wicked |
| Stand | Way | Sinners |
| Sit | Seat | Scoffers |
Perhaps there is a progression between the three verbs walk-stand-sit... where walking among the wicked would be bad.. standing with the wicked would be worse... and sitting with the wicked would be even worse. It sounds good, but I'm not willing to go out on a limb with that, I'll just leave it at "perhaps"
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Hebrew Plans
For my Hebrew, I plan on working my way through Psalm 1. My friend Marty is going through Psalm 1 here. I am a quite a bit behind him (only at verse 1), but that's good... that means I can cheat off of him :-) I translated Psalm 1 20 years ago when I was studying Hebrew at Moody.. so I'm excited that the psalm can be a bridge between my Hebrew from 20 years ago and what I am studying now. As far as my method for translating... first I will go through the verse without any tools, so I can improve with my Hebrew reading skills... maybe I will note some of the forms that gave me trouble. Then I will use my Bible software and some Hebrew tools I own and do a sloppy exegesis (hopefully only sloppy in form) of the verse and make some comments on it. I plan on putting some of the information I research using my Logos Bible software on this blog. I have looked a little, but have not found any guidelines to make sure I am with in fair use of my software when I post things from it online. If I find out that I am not I may have to adjust how I post that information. I am doing this blog for my own accountability in Bible study and in all likelihood, I may be the only one reading this, but based on the nature of the internet I want to make sure I am doing what is right... I also may copy paste the verses from Logos until I learn how to type in Greek and Hebrew on my PC. The offline tool I am most excited about using is a Hebrew Syntax book by Ronald Williams that I bought like 22 years ago.. so if I use that book too much, I apologize in advance.
First verse on the Blog
Since indeed many set out* to put together an account concerning the events that have been fulfilled* among you,
WORD BY WORD
Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, 27th Edition
Luke 1:1
Ἐπειδήπερ πολλοὶ ἐπεχείρησαν ἀνατάξασθαι διήγησιν περὶ τῶν πεπληροφορημένων ἐν ἡμῖν πραγμάτων, | NA27
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us | ESV
Ἐπειδήπερ Epeidēper Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,
ἐπειδήπερ epeidēper inasmuch as, since
conjunction, adverbial causal
Louw-Nida because
DBL Greek because
Greek-English Dict. of N.T. inasmuch as, since
Notes
markers of cause or reason, often with the implication of a relevant temporal element—‘because, since, for, inasmuch as.’ ἐπειδή epeidē; from 1893 and 1211; when now, seeing that:—because(2), since(5), when(1). *(plus+)* περ per; enclitic particle akin to 4012; indeed (adds force to the preceding word):—if*(2).
conj. -- causual conjunction
translation- because indeed, since indeed
This word may be read as either Causal subordinate clause or Explanatory subordinate clause.
Words Modified by Ἐπειδήπερ
• subordinate-conjunctive relation: The word Ἐπειδήπερ modifies εδοχε (verb) in Lk 1:3, word 1 (εδοχε is outside of the current clausal unit).
πολλοὶ polloi Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,
πολύς polys many
adjective, nominative, plural, masculine
Louw-Nida (See also; many; much; great; πολύς; for a long time; (very) late
DBL Greek many; much; great
TDNT
Notes
a relatively large quantity of objects or events—‘many, a great deal of, a great number of.
adj.-- subst.
nom--- subject
Syntactic Force: This word functions as Numberical adjective and Ordinal (number) adjective and Substantival adjective and Subject.
ἐπεχείρησαν epecheirēsan Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,
ἐπιχειρέω epicheireō endeavor, try
verb, aorist, active, indicative, third person, plural
Louw-Nida try
DBL Greek try to
Greek-English Dict. of N.T. undertake, attempt, try
Notes
to undertake to do something, but not necessarily without success—‘to try, to undertake.
ἐπιχειρέω epicheireō; from 1909( ἐπί epi; a prim. prep.; on, upon:) and 5495( χείρ cheir; a prim. word; the hand:) ; to put one’s hand to, hence to attempt:—attempted(1), attempting(1), undertaken(1). to put ones hand on a thing, to put ones hand to a work, set to work at, attempt
Luke 1:1
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us,
Acts 9:29
And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death.
Acts 19:13
But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
aorist --- collective (Constative ---wallace-- lumps together many.. ephansis on the events as a whole)
active--- simple
transl- set out, put their hands to, undertaken, attempted, tried
ἀνατάξασθαι anataxasthai Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,
ἀνατάσσομαι anatassomai organize in a series
verb, aorist, middle, infinitive, deponent
Louw-Nida compile
DBL Greek compile
Greek-English Dict. of N.T. compile, draw up, write
Notes
infin-- telic/purpose
to organize a series of items—‘to organize (a report), to arrange, to compile, to put together
ἀνατάσσομαι anatassomai; from 303 and 5021; to arrange in order:—
trans -- to organize, to compile, to arrange in order, to put together.
διήγησιν diēgēsin Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,
διήγησις diēgēsis narrative
noun, accusative, singular, feminine
Louw-Nida narration
DBL Greek narration
TDNT
Notes
a discourse consisting of an orderly exposition or narration—‘account, report, narration.’
In a number of languages it may be necessary to represent the meaning of διήγησις by qualifying the type of writing, for example, ‘many have undertaken to write carefully about what has taken place among us.’ Other equivalent expressions might be ‘to write in detail.’
ot uses JgsA7,15; JgsB5,14; Hab 2,6; 2 Mc 2,32; 6,17
Contained in: Infinitival Clause
Syntactic Force: Direct object
acc.- direct obj.
an account, a report, a narration
fr. net notes
2 2 tn This is sometimes translated “narrative,” but the term itself can refer to an oral or written account. It is the verb “undertaken” which suggests a written account, since it literally is “to set one’s hand” to something (BDAG 386 s.v. ἐπιχειρέω). “Narrative” is too specific, denoting a particular genre of work for the accounts that existed in the earlier tradition. Not all of that material would have been narrative.
translation- an account, a report
περὶ peri Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,
περί peri about, concerning
preposition, genitive
Louw-Nida around (location); about (content); about (time); because (reason); on behalf of (benefaction); with (association); with regard to (specification)
DBL Greek around; about; about; because; on behalf of; with; with regard to
TDNT
Notes
περίb (with the genitive); ὑπέρb (with the genitive): markers of general content, whether of a discourse or mental activity—‘concerning, about, of.’περίb : γνώσεται περὶ τῆς διδαχῆς ‘he will know concerning the teaching’ Jn 7:17; εὐθὺς λέγουσιν αὐτῷ περὶ αὐτῆς ‘immediately they spoke to him about her’ Mk 1:30.
ὑπέρb: οὗτός ἐστιν ὑπὲρ οὗ ἐγὼ εἶπον ‘this is the one concerning whom I spoke’ Jn 1:30; πολλή μοι καύχησις ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ‘my great confidence concerning you’ 2 Cor 7:4; ἡ ἐλπὶς ἡμῶν βεβαία ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ‘our hope concerning you is firm’ 2 Cor 1:7.
or
89.6 περίg: a marker of a relation, usually involving content or topic—‘in relation to, with regard to, concerning.’ ἀναβαίνειν … εἰσρουσαλὴμ περὶ τοῦ ζητήματος τούτου ‘go up … to Jerusalem in relation to this question’ Ac 15:2.
translation---- about, concerning, in refrence to
Contained in: Prepositional Phrase
Syntactic Force: Preposition of reference
Words Modified by περὶ
• preposition-to-noun relation: The word περὶ modifies διήγησιν (noun)
τῶν tōn Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,
ὁ ho the
article, genitive, plural, neuter
Louw-Nida the
DBL Greek the
Greek-English Dict. of N.T. the; this, that; he, she, it; in order that, so that, with the result that, that
Notes
Contained in: Participial Clause
Syntactic Force: This word may be read as either Attributive article or as Pronominal article functioning as Relative pronoun and Subject.
Words Modified by τῶν
• articular relation: The word τῶν modifies πεπληροφορημένων (verb) in Lk 1:1, word 8 (πεπληροφορημένων is within the current clausal unit, after τῶν).
trans-- the
πεπληροφορημένων peplērophorēmenōn Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,
πληροφορέω plērophoreō to fill, fulfill
verb, perfect, passive, plural, genitive, neuter, participle
Louw-Nida make happen; proclaim; accomplish
DBL Greek be completely certain; make happen; proclaim fully; accomplish
TDNT
Notes
to fully accomplish one’s task—‘to perform one’s complete duty, to finish fully one’s task, to accomplish satisfactorily.’ τὴν διακονίαν σου πληροφόρησον ‘fulfill completely your service (to God)’ or ‘… your ministry’ 2 Tm 4:5.
1. Late compound, lit. “to bring to fulness,”1 “to full measure,” in part just a strengthening of πληρόω, in part with its own sense (→ lines 23 ff.). a. “To fulfil completely”
The word means “to achieve,” “to bring forth” in Lk. 1:1. It has here, however, a richer content, for it is used with reference to divine acts in a historical sphere into which the author is directly drawn (ἐν ἡμῖν)
from 4134 (πλήρης plērēs; from a der. of πλήθω plēthō (to be full); ful) and 5409(φορέω phoreō; from 5342; to bear constantly, to wear:—bear(2), borne(1), wear(1), wearing(2).) ; to bring in full measure, to fulfill:
similiar context to 2 tim 4:5 - But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Contained in: Participial Clause
Syntactic Force: This word functions as Attributive participle and Verb and Appositive or appositonal (i.e., epexegetical).
Words Modified by πεπληροφορημένων
• participial relation: The word πεπληροφορημένων modifies πραγμάτων (noun) in Lk 1:1, word 11 (πραγμάτων is outside of the current clausal unit).
Words That Modify πεπληροφορημένων
• articular relation: The word πεπληροφορημένων is modified by τῶν (article) in Lk 1:1, word 7 (τῶν is within the current clausal unit, before πεπληροφορημένων).
• prepositional relation: The word πεπληροφορημένων is modified by ἐν (preposition) in Lk 1:1, word 9 (ἐν is outside of the current clausal unit)
fr. net Bible 4 4 tn Or “have been accomplished.” Given Luke’s emphasis on divine design (e.g., Luke 24:43–47) a stronger sense (“fulfilled”) is better than a mere reference to something having taken place (“accomplished”).
participle- atributive
perfect- consummative(extensive)- although possessing a double refrence of finished action and existing result, emphasis here is on the former, attention is directed mainly to the past event as fully completed.
translation- the things that have been fulfilled, the things that have been brought to completion
ἐν en Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,
ἐν en in
preposition, dative
Louw-Nida
DBL Greek in; among; on; at; in; into; in union with; with; with; with; with regard to; of; to; by; by; by; because; so that; when; during; in
TDNT
Notes
Syntactic Force: Preposition of location
Words Modified by ἐν
• prepositional relation: The word ἐν modifies πεπληροφορημένων (verb) in Lk 1:1, word 8 (πεπληροφορημένων is outside of the current clausal unit).
trans--- in, among
ἡμῖν hēmin Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,
ἐγώ egō I
pronoun, personal, dative, plural, first person
DBL Greek I; me; we; us; our
TDNT
Greek-English Dict. of N.T. I, me; we, us
Notes
Contained in: Prepositional Phrase
Syntactic Force: Personal pronoun functioning as Prepositional object.
trans---us
πραγμάτων pragmatōn Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,
πρᾶγμα pragma deed, thing
noun, genitive, plural, neuter
Louw-Nida event; undertaking; lawsuit
DBL Greek event; undertaking; lawsuit
TDNT
Notes
that which happens—‘happening, event
matter, thing, affair; event, happening, deed; undertaking, task; dispute, lawsuit
Syntactic Force: Prepositional object
Words That Modify πραγμάτων
• participial relation: The word πραγμάτων is modified by πεπληροφορημένων (verb) in Lk 1:1, word 8 (πεπληροφορημένων is outside of the current clausal unit).
transl-- events, deeds, things
---
COMMENTARIES | ALL COMMENTARIES
A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, Second Edition
The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament: Expansions and Annotations
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Created 8/21/2011 9:21:43 PM
Modified 8/24/2011 8:00:02 AM
Exported from Logos Bible Software 4, 9:14 AM August 24, 2011.
my translation
Since indeed many set out* to put together an account about the events that have been fulfilled* among you,
comment- The word (in my translation) "set out" gave me the biggest consternation in my translating. The Greek here means literally - "to put ones hand to" being a compound verb ( ἐπί epi; a prim. prep.; on, upon:) and 5495( χείρ cheir; a prim. word; the hand:). I didn't feel comfortable including the word "have" at this point in the verse because I felt it weakened the translation of the perfect participle later in the verse and here we have an aorist not a perfect verb. I could have used words like "attempted" or "tried" instead of "set out" but it seemed to me that sometimes these words portray a sense of "tried but failed" in English, and there is apparently no hint of that in the Greek word used here. The Greek word "put ones hand to" hints at writing a gospel (as opposed to some theologians who claim that the gospels were passed down orally for quite some time before they were ever written on paper. This literal origin of "puts ones hand to" causes some people to translate the next word "to put together" (in my translation) as "to write". I think this reads too much into the word "set out" (not allowing for a idiomatic translation) and also fails to convey the gathering together of information in the Greek word that I translated "to put together". It emphasizes the after effects of the putting together of information ie. writing the information down, while the Greek word here seems to emphasize more the fact that many have compiled information of an account. It seems a bit counter intuitive that because many have put together accounts of Jesus' work on earth, that would be a reason for Luke to want to compile an account for Theophilus... but it appears to me that Luke is hinting in the next few verses, that many of these accounts are not accurate... 2 proofs he puts forward supporting his account are[ 1.] v.2 they are based on eyewitness accounts (something no doubt the other accounts were not based on) and not just any eyewitnesses accounts they were eyewitness accounts from trustworthy godly witnesses (servants of the word) [2] His account was "investigated carefully" (perhaps as opposed to other compilations), "from the beginning" and in consecutive order (perhaps many other accounts were very jumbled in order). I wonder if this claim of consecutive order) is taken into account when gospel parallels are compiled, since the other 3 inspired gospels do not make the claim that they wanted their account to be consecutive. Also as a side note.... it does not appear that Luke here is comparing his account to the other gospels (which were based on eyewitness accounts and were exact truth), but to numerous other accounts of the good news about Jesus. With all the information being compiled and passed down about Jesus, Luke wanted Theo to have an accurate account.
Although "set out" was the hardest word to translate in the verse the participle I translated "that have been fulfilled" was the most enjoyable word to translate. It is also the word that I disagree with some of my favorite translations on. The Nasb and ESV both translate it "accomplished". The HCSB and NET bibles translate it as I did "fulfilled" and I think this better fits with what this Greek word seems to be. It also is pertinent to point out that the participle I translated "that have been fulfilled" is in the perfect tense in Greek, which emphasizes a past finished event with consequences now. Not only does this seem to better fit with the meaning of the Greek word, but it also paints a good picture of the fact that Jesus' life and ministry here on earth brought things to completion, fulfilled and finished what was to be accomplished.
application--
God's work on earth spoken of in Luke was fulfilled/accomplished/was finished/completed.. praise God for this
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