Mosaic Features

On the train home this evening a friend from college and I were talking to the man sitting opposite us.  We talked about reading - what we liked to read, and whether you should read some books (or any) more than once.  It was generally agreed that Tori Spelling's biography should not be read more than once (if that often).  When a remark was made about learning Greek he was wondering why we would try and learn it or Hebrew - "That's a lot of work, isn't it?"

Yes, Greek and Hebrew are a bit of work.  At varying points in first year I said to myself, mostly after taking an hour to translate one verse, that I could buy a whole Bible in English for $20 (and for that matter the Gideons will give you one for free).  But we all use language, and we can reliably reconstitute other dead languages such as Inca and Aztec, all be it with a lot of hard work by different people over many years.  Virtually all of us have at least one language, and that language is transferable in meaning.

"But it is worth it", I said. "It helps you see what's behind the English translation, and it gives you an additional insight into the way the original authors wrote." I also said that, while we can be confident of the English translations out there, studying the original languages gives a deeper insight, and helps to understand why translators have given different renderings of the text.

"But in the end, its all just interpretation, though, isn't it?"  And at that point he had reached his station and had to leave.  In some respects he had a point - translators do have legitimate options in how to translate, and occasionally there are gaps in our knowledge of the original (though on the finer more so than the larger points of the languages).

As I looked outside the train at the platform, I thought of a small tile:  if each verse of the Bible was a tile, then the Bible presents us with many tiles.  Most are in good condition, though some are cracked, chipped or stained.  Put together, though, and we see patterns - large, clear and amazing patterns which are there for all to see.  When we study the original languages it is like looking at the individual tiles in greater detail, and when we study theology (which I started this year) we take a few steps back to look at the broad sweep of the mosaic. 

To study this mosaic is not to find reason to obscure or ignore it but rather to find in it greater meaning, clarity and assurance and to more revere what it is we see in front of us.