It’s Greek to me . . .

In the fullness of time, God sent His Son into a world that, for the most part, spoke Greek. Some used this language as early as the 14^th century BC. As with all languages, it evolved over the years. During the time of Christ, it was called Koine, the language used in the New Testament. Later, the church used Byzantine Greek when making copies of the New Testament.

Fluency in Greek was required not only for political, military, economic, and religious leaders, but for anyone — merchants, traders, farmers — who would interact with those who lived in cities, towns, and their surroundings. Koine Greek held remarkable consistency over hundreds of years and thousands of miles even though many Jews spoke Aramaic, perhaps Hebrew, among themselves.

Common Greek differed from Classical Greek in that it was simplified. Biblical Greek has enough of these and other differences that can confuse readers about the writers’ intent. Also, parts of Scripture are conversational Greek, some are literary, some are in the local vernacular. This alone explains why Bible translation is challenging and why there are many English versions of it today.

Because of this, criticism often flares up. How do we know it is true? Did God say that? Was is merely the ideas of men? Are any of the translations accurate? Many questions have answers yet they are not always accepted. For some, the problem is not with understanding the difficult parts but with accepting the truth of the parts that are easily understood.

This is where the Holy Spirit comes in:

. . . No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:11–16)

When I was thirteen years old, I started reading the Bible every day because that was what my mother did. I assumed that this was a mark of being a woman, so copied her example. The problem was that I didn’t understand it at all, even after more than a dozen years of reading. Then one day, the Lord Jesus Christ came into my life. It was as real an event as the neighbor coming for a visit. Only this Visitor stayed. He gave me His forgiveness, righteousness and life. He also gave me His mind and suddenly I began to understand His Word. It was no longer human attempts to translate Greek, but God using His Book to speak into my heart and life.

I do not understand how that works other than God says it does. As a ‘natural’ person, the things of God made no sense at all. As a believer in Jesus Christ, the words of God not only make sense but give life and hope. They are alive. The common language of Greek was important yet that did not negate the necessity of the Holy Spirit who makes sense of whatever the Lord is saying. Terms like Christ, redemption, church, wisdom and word are rich with significance because the Holy Spirit opens my mind to understand them.

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Lord Jesus, I read, write, talk using words . . . and so do You. However, with the addition of the Holy Spirit, everything changes. You ‘read’ me because the Spirit understands me to the core. You wrote the Bible using human hands but inspired by Your thoughts and promptings. You speak through it to thousands by the power of the Spirit who not only interprets it but applies it to daily needs and problems. The NT was once “Greek to me” but because of Your grace, it is now life and power from Your very heart and mind, making language that gives music and joy to my heart and mind. Thank You.