Which biblical language do you prefer? Greek or Hebrew? Or Aramaic (for those who love Daniel that much)? Which did you find easier to learn?
Personally, I enjoy Greek more. It makes more sense to me. Maybe it’s that they write from left to right, or maybe it’s that verbs have more than just a couple tenses. I found it so much simpler to grasp.
What about you?
MSE
I prefer Greek, not only for the reasons you mention, but because it’s just easier for me to grasp. I enjoy Hebrew, and once preferred it over Greek, but I find a bit harder to maintain. I am trying, as I’ve mentioned, to strengthen my Hebrew skills.
Hebrew is definitely something that I need to work on too.
Ummm, excuse me, Matty, but Aramaic folk can love Ezra too, can’t we? There is Aramaic in Ezra. And 2 words in Genesis. And a sentence in Jeremiah.
I learned Greek first, and found it tremendously easy. Hebrew, however, was a different animal. I prefer Hebrew, not just because I am a HB/OT scholar but also because the language is beautiful to me, aesthetically, in terms of its ability to pun so cleverly, as well as the compactness of the entire system.
I knew about the two words in Genesis. Did not know about Ezra or Jeremiah. Live and learn.
Perhaps as I work on Hebrew I’ll grow to have the same appreciation as you. And I sincerely hope I do.
Don’t call me Matty.
Ha! Mea culpa on the Matty thing. It was meant in jest. I trust you know this.
A large portion of Ezra is in Aramaic, 4:8-6:18 and 7:12-26 specifically, if I recall correctly).
I know it was jest. I just don’t wish that catching on around here. No problem.
Did not know that about Ezra at all. That’s cool. Do you know Aramaic? It’s not that much different than Hebrew, no?
I prefer how Hebrew sounds when spoken.
I took a Modern Hebrew class my first semester of college. I felt like a was spitting every time I talked. It was a cool class though. We got to watch Rocky dubbed in Hebrew.
Yes I know Aramaic. If you know Hebrew it is helpful, but it is by no means an easy and seamless transition. The vocab, verbal system, etc. is a bit different.
The cool thing is if you learn Aramaic, you can pick up Syriac (which I did with Dr. Luk Van Rompay at Duke) pretty easily by simply learning another alphabet.
That’s cool, John. Didn’t have any clue that Aramaic translates so easily into Syriac. Very encouraging.
John: Isn’t there a smattering of Aramaic in Daniel?
Jason:
Far more than a smattering in Daniel!
The reason I didn’t name Daniel is because Matt already mentioned Daniel in the main post.
John: Ah, so he did! Please excuse my inattentiveness!
No harm. You deliver me Zondervan and all is forgiven (wink).
John: Did you get my email about Zondervan?
That you emailed them on my behalf, yes. Do keep me posted. Thanks.