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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Originally Posted by katjonjj
It was just the irony of PAYING attention as if we really do PAY as in give recompense for attention that is slang. The definition of PAY does not necessarily fit with attention...
Just as the hell picture for Christians is not necessarily the picture the writers of the NT had.
How do we know that Greek or Hebrew slang was not used in the bible... in fact, how do we know that we are interpreting the words in the correct manner they were meant to be interpreted. Take the book of revelation for example, there are many parts that are nearly incoherent but if we lived in the 1st century we may have understood. That is why it is important to research the culture of the author so that we have a genuine understanding of what the author was truly trying to communicate, and not just applying what is written to 21st century language.
For example, it is know that the egyptians used a method for traveling at night that included a torch at night and a partial torch (which produced smoke) during the day, yet we see that in the OT that it is said that God was the pillar of fire and the pillar of smoke.... how do we know it was God? Perhaps it was just a torch that Moses used to guide the people but it was attributed to God because it was his will that they fled Egypt...
Just some thoughts.... nothing really solid but I think people should keep an open mind about the words in the bible and not just assume that the 21 st century version is the correct one.
Definitely. The word 'forever' and 'everlasting' is often used to denote something which is not literally endless. I think that's how a lot of the early Church got it wrong; a lot of them not being familiar with the Jewish background they assumed 'ages and ages' meant eternal. The Greeks had more fixed philosophical concepts than the Jews who, shortly after the time of Christ, had a lot of different beliefs.
Definitely. The word 'forever' and 'everlasting' is often used to denote something which is not literally endless. I think that's how a lot of the early Church got it wrong; a lot of them not being familiar with the Jewish background they assumed 'ages and ages' meant eternal. The Greeks had more fixed philosophical concepts than the Jews who, shortly after the time of Christ, had a lot of different beliefs.
Yes... the ancient people believed (and some cultures still do believe) that the opposite of God was evil, that included sickness meant a lack of God and health meant God... However now we know that sickness is caused by bacteria or viruses..
It reminds me of the story of the doctor missionary who went to a tribe that believed evil spirits caused sickness. They rejected the medicine until the doctor told them it cured evil spirits... did it really cure evil spirits? NO but they accepted it and were healed. It is all about perspective. Now we know that sickness has a cause yet some still believe that mental illness is demon possession... are we not beyond those ancient beliefs?
I would hope we are but in society we see that we are not...
I think this is something very interesting Kat. My Mother spends half of her life in Australia and she gets laughed at all of the time (jokingly) from words that she expresses there that have a totally different slang than if they were expressed here in North America and vice versa.
For instance, an eraser here is called a rubber there. My Mom was at a cocktail party in Australia during the Christmas Season and a man approached her and asked her if she had a "rubber" and he needed it quickly. Well of course, my Mom was horrified and then he stated "you know, something to erase what I have written here on this Christmas card".
I know that this in no way relates to bible slang but one word can have different meanings amongst cultures.
Different languages are not just a matter of a different word for the same object. Objects are rather easy to communicate a 'word' for but there are different ways of expressing things among different cultures. I took French in high school for a few years and instead of saying "I am cold" as we do in America, they literally say, "I have cold" but mean the same thing as we do when we say I AM cold. When we say I am cold we don't mean that we actually ARE the cold but that we feel cold and when they say they HAVE cold it doesn't mean they are carrying cold around in a bag. But just in this simple phrase we can begin to see the problems in translating whole paragraphs from one language to another. It is not nearly as simple as translating one word into another. Sometimes one word in a language can express what it may take an American 5 words to express, or vice versa. It boggles my mind to even imagine how people of different cultures and who speak different languages can communicate at all. Lots of patience I guess.
Different languages are not just a matter of a different word for the same object. Objects are rather easy to communicate a 'word' for but there are different ways of expressing things among different cultures. I took French in high school for a few years and instead of saying "I am cold" as we do in America, they literally say, "I have cold" but mean the same thing as we do when we say I AM cold. When we say I am cold we don't mean that we actually ARE the cold but that we feel cold and when they say they HAVE cold it doesn't mean they are carrying cold around in a bag. But just in this simple phrase we can begin to see the problems in translating whole paragraphs from one language to another. It is not nearly as simple as translating one word into another. Sometimes one word in a language can express what it may take an American 5 words to express, or vice versa. It boggles my mind to even imagine how people of different cultures and who speak different languages can communicate at all. Lots of patience I guess.
Yes. Which means that the versions of the bible such as the translations that use an idea method rather than word for word may, in fact, be able to grasp the true meaning of the phrase by taking into account a phrase or sentence rather than just the word itself. This is why, IMO, I think it is so important to understand where the writers were coming from. What was their culture? How did the think, both theologically and scientifically. What phrases did they use as slang?
Seems we can't just discount that and then listen to our kids say "dude" constantly (or is this just something I have noticed?) Every generation comes up with their own slang, it seems. Doesn't it?
i think this is something very interesting kat. My mother spends half of her life in australia and she gets laughed at all of the time (jokingly) from words that she expresses there that have a totally different slang than if they were expressed here in north america and vice versa.
For instance, an eraser here is called a rubber there. My mom was at a cocktail party in australia during the christmas season and a man approached her and asked her if she had a "rubber" and he needed it quickly. Well of course, my mom was horrified and then he stated "you know, something to erase what i have written here on this christmas card".
I know that this in no way relates to bible slang but one word can have different meanings amongst cultures.
I see the point of the OP but I also see how it could lead to further confusion of a nonconfusing situation.
Just an observation: Things are confusing. Witness the 1000 different denominations of Christianity we have. That sure is confusing to many people. God is not the author of confusion, but I think God intends things to be confusing, at least for a time.
Look at this:
Gen 11:9 That is why it was called Babel —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Now I 100% agree and support that God is not the author of confusion. Yet we see here God purposely confused the languages of the whole world. Why? Because: He is concealing truth, so it can be revealed later. When all is revealed, there will be no confusion. That is why we have all these confusing languages/translations/slang now. Think about this:
Prov 15:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
God is teaching us something here by concealing things.
Knowing the meaning of terms is very important in correct interpretation and, as you rightly surmise, many people are not aware of the root meanings of the words and their usages. I'm not sure what this has to do with slang though.
Every single religion PASSIONATELY believes that they are on the correct path and if not on theirs you are damned. As Legoman states, there are over 1,000 different denominations within Christianity alone. One cannot deny that confusion exists, there are many different interpretations of the Word, of Words within cultures, etc. Yes, maybe it was meant to be confusing so that we eventually turn towards God in frustration and simply establish a relationship with him. When we do so earnestly, for me its all that really matters in my beliefs as the rest just seems to fall into place.
Deuteronomy 4:29 But from thence ye shall seek Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt find him, when thou searchest after him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
Jeremiah 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
We all know what happens, eventually to the truth, it always comes out in the end.
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