Martin Luther on Hebrew and Greek

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cwconrad
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Martin Luther on Hebrew and Greek

Post by cwconrad »

John Hobbins, who blogs all too infrequently nowadays on Ancient Hebrew Poetry, has a nice gleaning of snippets from the Reformer on the value of learning Greek and Hebrew. See http://ancienthebrewpoetry.typepad.com/ ... -greek.htm
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
Kirk Lowery
Posts: 19
Joined: August 27th, 2013, 10:40 am

Re: Martin Luther on Hebrew and Greek

Post by Kirk Lowery »

cwconrad wrote:John Hobbins, who blogs all too infrequently nowadays on Ancient Hebrew Poetry, has a nice gleaning of snippets from the Reformer on the value of learning Greek and Hebrew. See http://ancienthebrewpoetry.typepad.com/ ... -greek.htm
A typo on that url. It neels a "l" at the very end: http://ancienthebrewpoetry.typepad.com/ ... greek.html. And let me say, Hobbins' post is fascinating. It's a good reminder: reading the "old guys" has a lot of value! A couple of my favorites: Ibn Ezra and Rashi.

;)

Kirk
Kirk E. Lowery
Paul-Nitz
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Location: Sussex, Wisconsin

Re: Martin Luther on Hebrew and Greek

Post by Paul-Nitz »

Appreciate the link.
I didn't see on that site Luther's most famous words about the Biblical languages...

  • Languages are the scabbard
    that contains the sword of the Spirit;

    they are the casket
    which contains the priceless jewels of antique thought;

    they are the vessel
    that holds the wine;

    they are the baskets
    in which the loaves and fishes are kept to feed the multitude. . . .

    As dear as the gospel is to us all,
    let us as hard contend with its language.
    [/b]
    Martin Luther
Paul D. Nitz - Lilongwe Malawi
cwconrad
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Re: Martin Luther on Hebrew and Greek

Post by cwconrad »

Paul-Nitz wrote:Appreciate the link.
I didn't see on that site Luther's most famous words about the Biblical languages...

  • Languages are the scabbard
    that contains the sword of the Spirit;

    they are the casket
    which contains the priceless jewels of antique thought;

    they are the vessel
    that holds the wine;

    they are the baskets
    in which the loaves and fishes are kept to feed the multitude. . . .

    As dear as the gospel is to us all,
    let us as hard contend with its language.
    [/b]
    Martin Luther
You may have missed them because the English phrasing from the German is slightly different, but it's there:
Die Sprachen sind die Scheiden, darin dies Messer des Geists stickt. Sie sind der Schrein, darinnen man dies Kleinod trägt. Sie sind das Gefäß, darinnen man diesen Trank fasset. Sie sind die Kemnot, darinnen diese Speise liegt. Und wie das Evangelion selbs zeigt: Sie sind die Körbe, darinnen man diese Brot und Fische und Brocken behält'.

Languages are the sheath in which this sword of the Spirit is contained. They are the case in which we carry this jewel. They are the vessel in which we hold this wine. They are the larder in which this food is stored. And, as the Gospel itself says, they are the baskets in which we bear these loaves and fishes and fragments.
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
Jesse Goulet
Posts: 87
Joined: October 15th, 2011, 12:48 pm

Re: Martin Luther on Hebrew and Greek

Post by Jesse Goulet »

I'm in the middle of reading this article which also deals with Luther and other infamous theologians on the use of biblical languages: http://thegospelcoalition.org/themelios ... d_historic
Paul-Nitz
Posts: 497
Joined: June 1st, 2011, 4:19 am
Location: Sussex, Wisconsin

N.E. Barry on Hebrew and Greek

Post by Paul-Nitz »

These twin posts give one of the best explanations I have ever seen of the fallacies and true benefits of studying the Biblical languages.

http://nebarry.wordpress.com/2014/12/31 ... lish-says/
http://nebarry.wordpress.com/2014/12/31 ... the-greek/
Paul D. Nitz - Lilongwe Malawi
Tony Pope
Posts: 134
Joined: July 14th, 2011, 6:20 pm

Re: Martin Luther on Hebrew and Greek

Post by Tony Pope »

Jesse Goulet wrote:I'm in the middle of reading this article which also deals with Luther and other infamous theologians on the use of biblical languages: http://thegospelcoalition.org/themelios ... d_historic
The above link is not complete. This seems to work: http://themelios.thegospelcoalition.org ... torical-re
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