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File Name: Introduction to Biblical Languages Droid MySword Version
File Submitter: pfpeller
File Submitted: 06 Aug 2011
File Updated: 27 Sep 2011
File Category: Books
Author: Franklin S Jabini

Permission received for MySword from Franklin Jabini.

Description

Introduction to Biblical languages: How to use Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek resources

Copyright © 2011 by Franklin Jabini Sr. All rights reserved.
Email: frank@sats.edu.za
ISBN: 9781920212698
Published by: AcadSA Publishing

Recommendation

In his book, Introduction to Biblical languages, Dr Franklin Jabini contributes creatively to the growing collection of resources that give theology students access to the Bible in its original languages without struggling through one or two years of Hebrew and Greek grammar.

By introducing students to two open access internet resources, E-Sword and The Word, he guides them through the first steps of interpreting the original Greek and Hebrew texts of the Bible. Traditional grammar courses in Greek and Hebrew for theology students produce a small number of Bible translators and some language specialists, but not many church ministers who regularly use the Hebrew Bible and the Greek New Testament to prepare sermons and Bible studies. This book aims at achieving the latter objective. By opting for two free internet resources, Dr Jabini’s approach is eminently sensible, especially for students in church communities across the global South with limited funds and limited access to Greek and Hebrew specialists.

Direct engagement with the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures by leaders of a Christian community is an essential prerequisite for a deeply contextual theology. No authentic self-theologising can take place without this engagement, since it enables a community to make creative connections between its own world and the life-worlds of Israel, Jesus and the apostles. This book will help theological students become competent users of these resources and thereby (hopefully) life-long creative interpreters of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures within their contexts.

Prof J.N.J. (Klippies) Kritzinger
University of South Africa

Foreword

Learning the biblical languages has long haunted seminary students. The gifted few, who aspire to spend a lifetime of studying, teaching, and writing from the original languages, embrace the task with great gusto. However, the overwhelming majority, who feel neither called to such ‘scholarly’ pursuits nor capable of mastering the languages, labour through it with much anguish, memorise as much morphology and vocabulary as they can for the examinations, and then promptly forget all the forms. They may spend hundreds of hours studying Greek and Hebrew in seminary, but never use any of it in their ministries.

What has changed? Bible software! Modern software programmes do a lot of the donkey work for us. At the click of a mouse, we can open several lexicons and see complete parsing information for Hebrew or Greek words. This ability to access grammatical information without memorising paradigms opens up new ways of ‘learning’ the languages. By harnessing the power and appreciating the limitations and dangers of using software programmes for Bible study, we can gain many of the benefits of learning Hebrew and Greek without spending any time memorising paradigms. What is more, we can begin reaping the rewards instantly and we can keep using the tools in our day-to-day ministries.

Dr Jabini’s Introduction to Biblical Languages has a modest aim: to teach students and pastors to use the original language tools found in software programmes profitably and responsibly. Jabini works from the two best free programmes currently available—e-Sword and The Word—because the leading commercial products are too expensive for many students.

What I like most about Introduction to Biblical Languages is the practical way in which Jabini teaches us how to use good tools responsibility. With dozens of practical examples from both Testaments, he shows us how to use the tools. He shows the benefits we can derive from them, and cautions as to the limitations. His treatment is balanced and helpful.

This is a book for thinking practitioners. If you are a preacher or teacher of God’s Word and wish to improve your exegetical skills without spending years learning to read Hebrew and Greek fluently, Introduction to Biblical Languages is a great place to start. I have no doubt it will add depth and breadth to your Bible study.

Kevin Smith (DLitt; PhD)
Vice-Principal
South African Theology Seminary

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