[A devotional reflection originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during August 2024]
With so many of our consumer products originating in the Far East we are becoming increasingly familiar with ‘Chinglish’, that sometimes-amusing form of English intended to provide instructions for the use of the product. The information may or may not be useful but at least we know how to read it, even if the message isn’t always clear.
However, if we turn over an instruction leaflet and find the reverse is written in Chinese script, how can we even start to read it? The impressions on the page are meaningless to those of us who are not familiar with Chinese writing.
Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.
Genesis 11 v7 [NLT]
By contrast, if we are presented with a document written in one of the Germanic or Latin languages, it will use letter-forms that we recognise. We may lack the necessary vocabulary but we can at least make an attempt to read the words, even if our pronunciation is not as a native-speaker would expect.
Back in 1984 (when I joined HBC) I was engaged in a cartography project, mapping a 4,000 year old town in Saudi Arabia. The annotations were in Arabic, another language that seems like disorganised scribbles until we take the trouble to understand them. Imagine trying to spell out a street name when you cannot even pronounce the letters.
It is the same with the original languages of the Bible. Those texts are ‘all-Greek’ to us if we cannot decipher them. The language may actually be Greek or it might be Hebrew; in both cases we need to either learn the language for ourselves or read a translation. We have to trust that the translators of the Bible did so conscientiously, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Even then, is being able to read the words enough? We need someone who is able to explain their meaning.
Philip ran over and heard him reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. He asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The official replied, “How can I understand unless someone explains it to me?” And he invited Philip to climb up and sit in the carriage with him.
Acts 8 30-31 [GNT]
In both the Old and New Testaments we see duplicate but different accounts of various events, intended to convey diverse viewpoints. Similarly, there is an advantage in having various translations, not so we can choose a version that we like and dismiss the others but rather so that we can more fully understand the richness of Scripture.
Here are some familiar words from “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” attributed variously to Bernard of Clairvaux(1091-1153), Arnulf of Leuven (c. 1200-1250), and Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676). The English translation was done in 1830 by James W Alexander (1804-1859). The language may be French, Flemish, German or English but the message it contains is one that we can express for ourselves.
What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.
References:
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Last week’s reflection: A Tale of Two Cities
Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © Steve Humphreys
Even thees and thys are a confusion to a modern person.
Dear Steve;
Thank you.
Regards
David