If you remember the film, The Princess Bride, one of the villains constantly says the word “inconceivable!”
He describes every idea he does not like as “inconceivable.” Finally, one of the other characters says, “I do not think it means what you think it means.”
We all make this mistake sometimes. We think a word means something it does not really mean.
This truth presents an acute danger when we study the Bible. Remember, the Old Testament is written in Hebrew.
Whenever we translate it into English, we are making an interpretation because Biblical Hebrew has only one quarter of the number of words as modern English. And those words have multiple meanings depending on the context.
The New Testament is written in Greek, so every English translation is itself an interpretation. So what do we do?
We do what people of faith have done for centuries—we study the letter of the law, but we strive to live by its spirit.
We do this whether we are Christian or Jewish. We do it because God speaks to us in every generation.
Jesus and the rabbis of the first century agreed on this truth. Discover what they said to each other in chapter seven of What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Jewishness of Jesus.
Rabbi Evan Moffic
Rabbi
Evan Moffic
The Congregation Solel
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