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Life
Experiences Influence Our Choice of Words People
tend to use words they use in their daily lives, especially words
connected with their occupation. An
example of this is seen in the following verses:
Matthew
19:24 "And
again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of
a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of
God." Mark
10:25 "It
is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,
than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Luke
18:25 "For
it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,
than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." In
each of the above verses the English word “needle”
appears. Every time it appears it looks exactly the same.
If we turn to the Greek text of these verses we would see
something different. I will
transliterate the words translated as "needle" for you.
Why
would Luke use a completely different Greek word and why did the
translators translate both Greeks words by the same English word?
The word RHAPHIDOS used by Matthew and Mark is the
Greek word for a regular sewing needle.
Luke used the Greek word BELONES, which is the Greek word
for a surgeon's needle.
Tradition tells us that Luke was a doctor and therefore, when he
wrote his words, he used the word he used regularly in his work.
The
New International Version of Matthew 4:18 reads as follows: “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea
of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother
Andrew. They were casting a
net into the lake, for they were fishermen.” Was there a lake next to the sea? I think most of us have two very different bundles of associations attached to the words "sea" and "lake." We are all familiar with the "Sea of Galilee," but probably aren't sure about an adjacent lake. So, let's look at the map below and see if can find a sea and an adjacent lake.
Look
at the map again and think about what you see.
Are you looking at a "sea" or a "lake?"
What is the difference between “lake” and “sea”
in English? (1) A lake is a “considerable inland body
of standing water.” (2)
A sea is “a great body of salty water that covers much of
the earth.” The
Encyclopedia Americana provides us with additional information
about the Sea of Galilee. “The Sea of Galilee is a large pear-shaped lake
in northern Israel formed by the widening of the Jordan River -- 13
miles long x 8 miles wide x 150 feet deep.”
So,
the Sea of Galilee is really a lake.
Therefore, it would appear that a big lake located in Galilee was
named "the Sea of Galilee."
However, in Luke 5:1 of the New International Version we read: One day as Jesus
was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to
the word of God This
time we see that the Sea of Galilee was called Lake
of Gennesaret. The Greek word for lake is LIMNEN,
which is the Greek word for :lake" or "pond." We now know that the NIV translators were aware of both Greek
words, but were inconsistent in the way they translated the Greek word
for "sea." Their
translation, "lake," in Luke would seem to be the most
accurate way to describe the scene, but a new problem is raised by the
word "Gennesaret" instead of "Galilee."
The
Encyclopedia Americana solves the mystery by providing
information that let's us know that the Sea of Galilee was
called by the names shown below: (1)
Sea of Chinnereth - Numbers 34:11 and Joshua 13:27 (2)
Sea of Tiberias - John 6:1, 21:1 (3)
Lake of Gennesaret - Luke 5:1 Without the above information most readers would think that the Sea of Galilee, Sea of Chinnereth, Sea of Tiberias, and Lake of Gennesaret were four different places. In this example we have four different sets of symbols that share the same bundle of associations. If you chose Option 2 and are participating in the BHC Leadership Development Program you are to write a summary of this lesson. Tell us what you learned and make any suggestions on how to improve the lesson. Include any comments on how this information affected your spirituality. E-mail your paper to us by clicking here and attaching your finished paper. If possible use WORD format. END OF LESSON FOUR |
