My thoughts on Hebrew vs Greek thinking, what are yours?

[RedTent]

Our western mind is a Hellenistic mind, we use much rational reason to build thought upon thought.If something is so, and something else is so, then this also must be so we say.We invent.Hebrew thought didn’t.They said if something is so, that means we must act in this way to be in line with what is the truth.In the Greek there are words for emotions, in ancient Hebrew there weren’t.We have many words for love.In very ancient Hebrew, love was expressed by a picture of giving gifts, and in their minds it expressed love.To our way of thinking, the giving of a gift could be many things, often not love.We don’t connect the two ideas.To their way of thinking, everything was connected so if you gave a gift it was love expressed.Often, our western mind can read the Old Testament with no idea of what it is saying.


Why does this matter?If you are a student of the Bible, it matters a great deal.It is the task of those who believe in and seek to follow the Bible to develop a biblical worldview.That means seeing the world through the eyes of scripture and developing the character and mind and heart of God within us.The question one has to answer is–what kind of mind does God have?Does He think with Greek thought or Hebrew thought?


With Hebrew thinking, the Bible has a context that we must understand, but it is not limited to our narrow blinders about what we may think it means.It can mean multiple things, which gives it richness and great applicability, assuming one knows how to handle it. Is the Song of Solomon erotic love poetry celebrating proper sexuality within marriage?Absolutely.Is it about Israel and the Church as well?Indeed it is.Are the poor that the Messiah will care for and preach good tidings for in Isaiah 61:1 (quoted in Luke 4:18) physically poor or the spiritually poor (humble) in spirit?Both.It’s not an either/or thing.Simply because a passage of the Bible applies to literal matters does not mean it does not apply to Israel or the Church or believers in their spiritual state. It can mean multiple things, which gives it richness and great applicability, assuming one knows how to handle it.


Greek thinking pits the physical against the spiritual, leading either to asceticism where the tainted and dirty physical is punished while the enlightened spiritual is developed or to hedonism, where the corruption of one’s physical body through promiscuity or gluttony is unimportant because it is only the mind and spirit and not the body that matter anyway.In Hebrew thought, the body, heart, mind, and spirit are all an interconnected whole, none of which can be neglected.In Hebrew thought the law is a part of the spiritual, in Greek thinking they the law is apart and only something to kill.


As can be expected, Greek thought is somewhat less rich in possibility than Hebrew thought, but considerably more precise.Greek thought is something that is nailed down, that means exactly and only one thing.


Even in the NT where we have only the Greek language to translate from, now, they tended to see the Bible in characteristically “Hebrew” ways, something that shows up even in the Greek.Even Paul, who had gone to school in Rome under Greek teachers, had his basic education under a famous Hebrew rabbi and his letters reflect Hebrew thought with much Hebrew quoted.In many of the very early manuscripts that have been unearthed, there are indications that the gospels were first written in the Hebrew language, even, that reflects Hebrew thinking.Even without that, there is Hebrew thinking in all the gospels, especially.

 

[directline2iam]

Does He think with Greek thought or Hebrew thought? He doesn't think in a Greek or Hebrew language, as His thoughts are far above ours.

 

[dcontroversal]

Just answering the OP....God inspired both, and both are equally the Word of God when it comes to the bible.....they both supplement each other and simple words have simple definitions that can be simply understood by either mindset...Eastern and or Western....in my view.......

 

[crossnote]

But the spiritual one discerns all things, but he is discerned by no one. For "who has known the mind of the Lord?" "Who will teach Him?" But we have the mind of Christ. (1Co 2:15-16)

Also apparently the Hebrew mindset didn't help the Hebrews all that much seeing they fell into just as much idolatry as their neighbors.

 

[RedTent]

Just answering the OP....God inspired both, and both are equally the Word of God when it comes to the bible.....they both supplement each other and simple words have simple definitions that can be simply understood by either mindset...Eastern and or Western....in my view.......

This sounds very reasonable, but I see problems with this approach. I agree completely that God uses both mindsets. Most inventions we have are because of the western mindset, for instance. The problem I see is with our judging the different mindsets rather than learning to understand them. Most of the Old Testament needs Hebrew thought understanding to know how to read it, and even Paul who had much Greek understanding needs to be read knowing of his training by very Hebrew men and that he stated he was a Torah observant Jew.

 

[crossnote]

This sounds very reasonable, but I see problems with this approach. I agree completely that God uses both mindsets. Most inventions we have are because of the western mindset, for instance. The problem I see is with our judging the different mindsets rather than learning to understand them. Most of the Old Testament needs Hebrew thought understanding to know how to read it, and even Paul who had much Greek understanding needs to be read knowing of his training by very Hebrew men and that he stated he was a Torah observant Jew.

I think 'knowing about' Hebrew thought today and being raised in that OT Hebrew culture 3000 years ago are two nearly completely different mindsets just in themselves.

 

[RedTent]

I think 'knowing about' Hebrew thought today and being raised in that OT Hebrew culture 3000 years ago are two nearly completely different mindsets just in themselves.

I'm glad you said this! It brings up one of you and my basic differences. I don't believe that what scripture said 3,000 years ago is to be cancelled today, I think that God is one and that God is eternal giving eternal principles. I believe in scripture.

If what you say is true then we could not rely on that God created us and the world, that was written in Genesis thousands of years ago.

God used Paul, familiar with both Greek and Hebrew to communicate the letters to us, God used Hebrew to communicate to people 3,000 years ago. No scripture in the entire bible is written through men completely unfamiliar with Hebrew culture. There must be a reason.

 

[crossnote]

I'm glad you said this! It brings up one of you and my basic differences. I don't believe that what scripture said 3,000 years ago is to be cancelled today, I think that God is one and that God is eternal giving eternal principles. I believe in scripture.

If what you say is true then we could not rely on that God created us and the world, that was written in Genesis thousands of years ago.

God used Paul, familiar with both Greek and Hebrew to communicate the letters to us, God used Hebrew to communicate to people 3,000 years ago. No scripture in the entire bible is written through men completely unfamiliar with Hebrew culture. There must be a reason.

I don't believe Scripture written 3000 years ago is to be cancelled either. I'm just saying it is practically impossible for us 3000 years later to have the "Hebrew mindset" of that period although we can speculate about it.
As I said in a previous post 'but we have the mind of Christ'...and having the Author of Scripture helps way more than any speculative mindset. (This does not give excuse for not studying though).

I think all the apostles but especially Paul had some Greek influence.

 

[Karraster]

Our western mind is a Hellenistic mind, we use much rational reason to build thought upon thought.If something is so, and something else is so, then this also must be so we say.We invent.Hebrew thought didn’t.They said if something is so, that means we must act in this way to be in line with what is the truth.In the Greek there are words for emotions, in ancient Hebrew there weren’t.We have many words for love.In very ancient Hebrew, love was expressed by a picture of giving gifts, and in their minds it expressed love.To our way of thinking, the giving of a gift could be many things, often not love.We don’t connect the two ideas.To their way of thinking, everything was connected so if you gave a gift it was love expressed.Often, our western mind can read the Old Testament with no idea of what it is saying.


Why does this matter?If you are a student of the Bible, it matters a great deal.It is the task of those who believe in and seek to follow the Bible to develop a biblical worldview.That means seeing the world through the eyes of scripture and developing the character and mind and heart of God within us.The question one has to answer is–what kind of mind does God have?Does He think with Greek thought or Hebrew thought?


With Hebrew thinking, the Bible has a context that we must understand, but it is not limited to our narrow blinders about what we may think it means.It can mean multiple things, which gives it richness and great applicability, assuming one knows how to handle it. Is the Song of Solomon erotic love poetry celebrating proper sexuality within marriage?Absolutely.Is it about Israel and the Church as well?Indeed it is.Are the poor that the Messiah will care for and preach good tidings for in Isaiah 61:1 (quoted in Luke 4:18) physically poor or the spiritually poor (humble) in spirit?Both.It’s not an either/or thing.Simply because a passage of the Bible applies to literal matters does not mean it does not apply to Israel or the Church or believers in their spiritual state. It can mean multiple things, which gives it richness and great applicability, assuming one knows how to handle it.


Greek thinking pits the physical against the spiritual, leading either to asceticism where the tainted and dirty physical is punished while the enlightened spiritual is developed or to hedonism, where the corruption of one’s physical body through promiscuity or gluttony is unimportant because it is only the mind and spirit and not the body that matter anyway.In Hebrew thought, the body, heart, mind, and spirit are all an interconnected whole, none of which can be neglected.In Hebrew thought the law is a part of the spiritual, in Greek thinking they the law is apart and only something to kill.


As can be expected, Greek thought is somewhat less rich in possibility than Hebrew thought, but considerably more precise.Greek thought is something that is nailed down, that means exactly and only one thing.


Even in the NT where we have only the Greek language to translate from, now, they tended to see the Bible in characteristically “Hebrew” ways, something that shows up even in the Greek.Even Paul, who had gone to school in Rome under Greek teachers, had his basic education under a famous Hebrew rabbi and his letters reflect Hebrew thought with much Hebrew quoted.In many of the very early manuscripts that have been unearthed, there are indications that the gospels were first written in the Hebrew language, even, that reflects Hebrew thinking.Even without that, there is Hebrew thinking in all the gospels, especially.

I must say, you hit it out of the park with this OP and I agree with every line.

I've read enough to be comfortable that most, possibly all the New Testament was originally written in Hebrew, though I'm not interested in getting in a debate if some don't agree.

If Greek mindset is read to know, and Hebrew mindset is read to do, I have something to say about that. Experience has taught me, that while I may do either/ or.. on any given subject, it is those things I'm interested in actually doing that I learn the most. In other words, I may have enough interest in a thing to read about it just to know, such as migration of butterflies, and I may be able to relate what I read to others to some degree, but if I'm reading say, a manual about rebuilding my truck engine so I can do the work myself, I definitely will pay closer attention. (cuz I'm no mechanic)

How do we think of these verses,(below) Hebrew mindset or Greek, and what would that mean? I admit, for years I pondered these verses and tried to picture God's hand, which I couldn't do. Embracing the Hebrew way of thinking has taught me much, because now I look at it as "function" and not "form". What does a hand do? It holds, it covers, comforts. Back parts..(remember God is light and not form) that could be reflecting where God had been, such as in the beginning, creation. Possibly God showed Moses the creation at that time. and could it be that His face cannot be seen for the same reason, that it would be the future? anyway, I've enjoyed the Word so much more thinking in terms of the Hebrew way. Clift of the rock..Messiah is the rock..hidden in Christ.

22And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: 23And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

 

[JGIG]

Re: ??? "My" ??? thoughts on Hebrew vs Greek thinking, what are yours?

Our western mind is a Hellenistic mind, we use much rational reason to build thought upon thought.If something is so, and something else is so, then this also must be so we say.We invent.Hebrew thought didn’t.They said if something is so, that means we must act in this way to be in line with what is the truth.In the Greek there are words for emotions, in ancient Hebrew there weren’t.We have many words for love.In very ancient Hebrew, love was expressed by a picture of giving gifts, and in their minds it expressed love.To our way of thinking, the giving of a gift could be many things, often not love.We don’t connect the two ideas.To their way of thinking, everything was connected so if you gave a gift it was love expressed.Often, our western mind can read the Old Testament with no idea of what it is saying.

Our western mind can read the OT with NO IDEA of what it is saying?

Really?

We cannot comprehend issues of love and sin and grace and promise and obedience and covenant and law and punishment and rejection and adoption and redemption etc.?

These are universal concepts common to mankind, RedTent. That's one of the amazing things about Scripture; it is able to be universally understood because it addresses the human, flawed, condition.

Is it helpful to understand Hebrew culture to grasp the finer points of God's foreshadowing and weaving Christ throughout the Scriptures? Yes, but immersing one's self in Hebrew language and cultural studies is not necessary. Israel and her language and culture derived through covenants was a vehicle through which God worked - a means to an end, not the end itself, and certainly not the central theme of the Scriptures. Christ Jesus is the central theme of the Scriptures, woven throughout from beginning to end, in the Hebrew and the Greek manuscripts.

Why does this matter?If you are a student of the Bible, it matters a great deal.It is the task of those who believe in and seek to follow the Bible to develop a biblical worldview.That means seeing the world through the eyes of scripture and developing the character and mind and heart of God within us.The question one has to answer is–what kind of mind does God have?Does He think with Greek thought or Hebrew thought?

RedTent, is your name Nathan Albright? Because that paragraph above was written by him, from this article, paragraph 2:

"Why does this matter? If you are a student of the Bible, it matters a great deal. It is the task of those who believe in and seek to follow the Bible to develop a biblical worldview. That means seeing the world through the eyes of scripture and developing the character and mind and heart of God within us. The question one has to answer is–what kind of mind does God have? Does He think with Greek thought or Hebrew thought?" - Nathan Albright​

Kind of an interesting concept, putting human linguistic and cultural limitations on the thoughts of God, Who, in case you forgot this part of the OT Scriptures, INVENTED different languages .

Hebrew was but one of those languages, by the way, not any more original than any other language. The Hebrew language has a traceable history like most languages do, and it's not the earliest language out there. Did God use the Hebrew language? Yes. But again, it was a vehicle for His purposes, a tool, used for His purposes for a specific period of time. You can read more about that here: Holy Hebrew!

With Hebrew thinking, the Bible has a context that we must understand, but it is not limited to our narrow blinders about what we may think it means.It can mean multiple things, which gives it richness and great applicability, assuming one knows how to handle it. Is the Song of Solomon erotic love poetry celebrating proper sexuality within marriage?Absolutely.Is it about Israel and the Church as well?Indeed it is.Are the poor that the Messiah will care for and preach good tidings for in Isaiah 61:1 (quoted in Luke 4:18) physically poor or the spiritually poor (humble) in spirit?Both.It’s not an either/or thing.Simply because a passage of the Bible applies to literal matters does not mean it does not apply to Israel or the Church or believers in their spiritual state. It can mean multiple things, which gives it richness and great applicability, assuming one knows how to handle it.

Looks like that first sentence may be yours, but the rest belongs to Nathan Albright, same article, paragraph 5. You even copied one sentence twice from the following paragraph:

"Nonetheless, despite these corruptions of Hebrew thought that one must be very careful to avoid, the essential nature of Hebrew thought in the Bible is to avoid painting an either/or dichotomy. Is the Song of Solomon erotic love poetry celebrating proper sexuality within marriage? Absolutely. Is it about Israel and the Church as well? Indeed it is. Are the poor that the Messiah will care for and preach good tidings for in Isaiah 61:1 (quoted in Luke 4:18) physically poor or the spiritually poor (humble) in spirit? Both. It’s not an either/or thing. Simply because a passage of the Bible applies to literal matters does not mean it does not apply to Israel or the Church or believers in their spiritual state. The same prophecy can apply to the fall of Jerusalem in 586BC or 70AD or to the periodic rise and fall of the Church throughout history or the end times. The Bible has a context that we must be very important to understand, but it is not limited to our narrow blinders about what we may think it means. It can mean multiple things, which gives it richness and great applicability, assuming one knows how to handle it." - Nathan Albright
​

One can say the same thing about other works of literature in other languages. Dual/layered meanings are not unique to the Hebrew language.

Greek thinking pits the physical against the spiritual, leading either to asceticism where the tainted and dirty physical is punished while the enlightened spiritual is developed or to hedonism, where the corruption of one’s physical body through promiscuity or gluttony is unimportant because it is only the mind and spirit and not the body that matter anyway.In Hebrew thought, the body, heart, mind, and spirit are all an interconnected whole, none of which can be neglected.In Hebrew thought the law is a part of the spiritual, in Greek thinking they the law is apart and only something to kill.

Now, RedTent, if you're going to plagiarize, it would be polite to keep the author's work intact. The above paragraph is a combination of plagiarization/paraphrase/added commentary by you of Nathan Albright's work (same article, paragraph 9):

"Greek thought refers to the writings of Plato and Aristotle as well as their intellectual heirs the Gnostic heretics. From Greek thought we have the whole dualistic heresies that try to pit everything into black/white or either/or thinking rather than recognizing the fuller balance. Greek thinking pits the physical against the spiritual, leading either to asceticism where the tainted and dirty physical is punished while the enlightened spiritual is developed or to hedonism, where the corruption of one’s physical body through promiscuity or gluttony is unimportant because it is only the mind and spirit and not the body that matter anyway. In Hebrew thought, the body, heart, mind, and spirit are all an interconnected whole, none of which can be neglected." - Nathan Albright​

Fortunately for us, the New Testament was written in the common Greek language of the day by men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit so none of that gnostic, hedonistic, thinking was incorporated into the Scriptures. It is addressed in several places, however. The author of the article that you selectively lifted from actually half-heartedly makes that point as well, but you chose to leave that part out.

One needs to be careful not to equate the use of a language with the culture of a people. Language is a part of culture, used to express and articulate, but language ≠ culture. Kione Greek was the lingua franca of the Roman Empire, even though Latin was the language of the Romans. Yet within the Roman Empire were dozens of cultures defined by primary languages, customs, and religions.

What tied them together? Koine Greek. You can read more about that here: Hebrew Roots Movement – The Issue of “Hellenization”

As can be expected, Greek thought is somewhat less rich in possibility than Hebrew thought, but considerably more precise.Greek thought is something that is nailed down, that means exactly and only one thing.

Actually, that's not accurate. It would be more accurate to say this:

Hebrew is a more concrete language, while Koine Greek is a more abstract language. The really interesting thing about that is this:

Hebrew Language tends to be more concrete
----> Law makes sense <----

Koine Greek Language tends to be more abstract
----> Grace makes sense <----
​

Even in the NT where we have only the Greek language to translate from, now, they tended to see the Bible in characteristically “Hebrew” ways, something that shows up even in the Greek. Even Paul, who had gone to school in Rome under Greek teachers, had his basic education under a famous Hebrew rabbi and his letters reflect Hebrew thought with much Hebrew quoted.In many of the very early manuscripts that have been unearthed, there are indications that the gospels were first written in the Hebrew language, even, that reflects Hebrew thinking.Even without that, there is Hebrew thinking in all the gospels, especially.

That and your paragraph above that one appear to actually be yours.

So let's review. The title of this thread is "My thoughts on Hebrew vs Greek thinking, what are yours?"

But they aren't.

You've lifted, out of context, material from an article (not your own, but purposefully making it appear to be your work), to try to make a case for a Hebrew-centric paradigm, instead of a Christo-centric paradigm for studying the Scriptures.

A popular Hebrew Roots saying goes like this: That the Bible was written about Hebrews, by Hebrews, and for Hebrews. While that may be accurate, it's not altogether true.

The Bible was written for all mankind, about God and His relationship with mankind, with Christ being central to the theme of redemption. Was it written by Hebrews? Yep. God entrusted them with 'the oracles of God'. A great honor. And God inspired the writing of the Scriptures in the Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic languages.

Your last point is about something called the 'primacy of the Scriptures' - what language the Scriptures were actually written in.

You wrote, or at least it appears that you wrote (who knows at this point what is actually your writing and what is not), "Inmany of the very early manuscripts that have been unearthed, there are indications that the gospels were first written in the Hebrew language, even, that reflects Hebrew thinking."

Cite your sources, madam. Those who are trying to prove Hebrew primacy of the New Covenant Scriptures cannot produce any Hebrew manuscripts earlier than the 12th century, and that's only of Matthew, by rabbis trying to misrepresent the Gospel of Matthew's message of Christ and His Work (Matthew Shem Tov).

And here's a rather practical question for you: Why would letters which were penned to the Gentiles be written originally in Hebrew? So much for Hebrew primacy of the New Covenant Scriptures.

There is a case to be made that perhaps Matthew, James, first and second Peter, and a couple of other NT letters and the letter to the Hebrews were originally penned in Hebrew, since their audiences were Hebrews, but there are NO surviving early manuscripts in existence in Hebrew - they're all in Koine Greek (the lingua franca of the day, which means those manuscripts could very well have originally been penned in Koine Greek).

What is your point with this OP anyway?

Where do we ever find in the Scriptures that having an Hebraic mindset is required to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ? The concepts, as I mentioned above, found in the Scriptures are universal.

The first miracle after the Ascension was the miracle of translation (see Acts 2). If God was not so concerned about which language the Gospel went out, but rather that it DID go out, why are you so focused on Hebrew?

-JGIG

 

[oldthennew]

we have found, 'oldthennew',
that the 'parallel-thought' between the OT and the NT,
is astounding, revealing, profitable, for putting the
WHOLE PICTURE OF TRUTH together.

IT IS ONE, 'Hear O Isreal=.....

 

[RedTent]

JGIG: You have expressed very well that you firmly believe that learning anything about how the Hebrew culture and thought was is useless to our understanding scripture. When I was presented with this thought several years ago, I found it to be useful and helpful, and for people serious about loving the Lord, it seemed worthwhile to present it. I was well aware, that here on CC there are many people who, like you, are simply "against all".

I thought about mentioning Walt Disney's Bambi who said "If you can't say something good say nothing at all", but I knew it would be useless to warn people for whenever scripture study is mentioned there are posts like yours. Many are simply against much of scripture and will do anything to say anything learned has to be denied. Almost always these people, like you do, mention the basic purpose of scripture we find throughout, that of God wanting us to live with Him forever, that of salvation. They seem to feel that by stating this accepted truthful idea, anything they say against anything else of scripture is fine.

I did copy many ways this website explained what I had learned about Hebrew thought, and explained it better than I could do. I found it a complex subject and hoped others had been interested in it, too. I found the Ancient Hebrew Research Center the best source for information, and hoped people interested would have found this website, too. Instead, almost to a man, the only interest in this subject is to condemn the entire thing! I'm really not surprised. Few people have any interest in studying scripture, especially if it is in the Old Testament that is, to them, a different God and a different bible.

 

[psychomom]

why would it have to be Hebrew verses Greek?
why pit one against the other, or say one is superior to the other?
couldn't they be complementary?

if it pleased God to use both languages, shouldn't that be good enough for us?

 

[crossnote]

Re: ??? &quot;My&quot; ??? thoughts on Hebrew vs Greek thinking, what are yours?

Our western mind can read the OT with NO IDEA of what it is saying?

Really?

We cannot comprehend issues of love and sin and grace and promise and obedience and covenant and law and punishment and rejection and adoption and redemption etc.?

These are universal concepts common to mankind, RedTent. That's one of the amazing things about Scripture; it is able to be universally understood because it addresses the human, flawed, condition.

Is it helpful to understand Hebrew culture to grasp the finer points of God's foreshadowing and weaving Christ throughout the Scriptures? Yes, but immersing one's self in Hebrew language and cultural studies is not necessary. Israel and her language and culture derived through covenants was a vehicle through which God worked - a means to an end, not the end itself, and certainly not the central theme of the Scriptures. Christ Jesus is the central theme of the Scriptures, woven throughout from beginning to end, in the Hebrew and the Greek manuscripts.




RedTent, is your name Nathan Albright? Because that paragraph above was written by him, from this article, paragraph 2:

"Why does this matter? If you are a student of the Bible, it matters a great deal. It is the task of those who believe in and seek to follow the Bible to develop a biblical worldview. That means seeing the world through the eyes of scripture and developing the character and mind and heart of God within us. The question one has to answer is–what kind of mind does God have? Does He think with Greek thought or Hebrew thought?" - Nathan Albright​

Kind of an interesting concept, putting human linguistic and cultural limitations on the thoughts of God, Who, in case you forgot this part of the OT Scriptures, INVENTED different languages .

Hebrew was but one of those languages, by the way, not any more original than any other language. The Hebrew language has a traceable history like most languages do, and it's not the earliest language out there. Did God use the Hebrew language? Yes. But again, it was a vehicle for His purposes, a tool, used for His purposes for a specific period of time. You can read more about that here: Holy Hebrew!




Looks like that first sentence may be yours, but the rest belongs to Nathan Albright, same article, paragraph 5. You even copied one sentence twice from the following paragraph:

"Nonetheless, despite these corruptions of Hebrew thought that one must be very careful to avoid, the essential nature of Hebrew thought in the Bible is to avoid painting an either/or dichotomy. Is the Song of Solomon erotic love poetry celebrating proper sexuality within marriage? Absolutely. Is it about Israel and the Church as well? Indeed it is. Are the poor that the Messiah will care for and preach good tidings for in Isaiah 61:1 (quoted in Luke 4:18) physically poor or the spiritually poor (humble) in spirit? Both. It’s not an either/or thing. Simply because a passage of the Bible applies to literal matters does not mean it does not apply to Israel or the Church or believers in their spiritual state. The same prophecy can apply to the fall of Jerusalem in 586BC or 70AD or to the periodic rise and fall of the Church throughout history or the end times. The Bible has a context that we must be very important to understand, but it is not limited to our narrow blinders about what we may think it means. It can mean multiple things, which gives it richness and great applicability, assuming one knows how to handle it." - Nathan Albright
​

One can say the same thing about other works of literature in other languages. Dual/layered meanings are not unique to the Hebrew language.




Now, RedTent, if you're going to plagiarize, it would be polite to keep the author's work intact. The above paragraph is a combination of plagiarization/paraphrase/added commentary by you of Nathan Albright's work (same article, paragraph 9):

"Greek thought refers to the writings of Plato and Aristotle as well as their intellectual heirs the Gnostic heretics. From Greek thought we have the whole dualistic heresies that try to pit everything into black/white or either/or thinking rather than recognizing the fuller balance. Greek thinking pits the physical against the spiritual, leading either to asceticism where the tainted and dirty physical is punished while the enlightened spiritual is developed or to hedonism, where the corruption of one’s physical body through promiscuity or gluttony is unimportant because it is only the mind and spirit and not the body that matter anyway. In Hebrew thought, the body, heart, mind, and spirit are all an interconnected whole, none of which can be neglected." - Nathan Albright​

Fortunately for us, the New Testament was written in the common Greek language of the day by men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit so none of that gnostic, hedonistic, thinking was incorporated into the Scriptures. It is addressed in several places, however. The author of the article that you selectively lifted from actually half-heartedly makes that point as well, but you chose to leave that part out.

One needs to be careful not to equate the use of a language with the culture of a people. Language is a part of culture, used to express and articulate, but language ≠ culture. Kione Greek was the lingua franca of the Roman Empire, even though Latin was the language of the Romans. Yet within the Roman Empire were dozens of cultures defined by primary languages, customs, and religions.

What tied them together? Koine Greek. You can read more about that here: Hebrew Roots Movement – The Issue of “Hellenization”




Actually, that's not accurate. It would be more accurate to say this:

Hebrew is a more concrete language, while Koine Greek is a more abstract language. The really interesting thing about that is this:

Hebrew Language tends to be more concrete
----> Law makes sense <----

Koine Greek Language tends to be more abstract
----> Grace makes sense <----
​

That and your paragraph above that one appear to actually be yours.

So let's review. The title of this thread is "My thoughts on Hebrew vs Greek thinking, what are yours?"

But they aren't.

You've lifted, out of context, material from an article (not your own, but purposefully making it appear to be your work), to try to make a case for a Hebrew-centric paradigm, instead of a Christo-centric paradigm for studying the Scriptures.

A popular Hebrew Roots saying goes like this: That the Bible was written about Hebrews, by Hebrews, and for Hebrews. While that may be accurate, it's not altogether true.

The Bible was written for all mankind, about God and His relationship with mankind, with Christ being central to the theme of redemption. Was it written by Hebrews? Yep. God entrusted them with 'the oracles of God'. A great honor. And God inspired the writing of the Scriptures in the Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic languages.

Your last point is about something called the 'primacy of the Scriptures' - what language the Scriptures were actually written in.

You wrote, or at least it appears that you wrote (who knows at this point what is actually your writing and what is not), "Inmany of the very early manuscripts that have been unearthed, there are indications that the gospels were first written in the Hebrew language, even, that reflects Hebrew thinking."

Cite your sources, madam. Those who are trying to prove Hebrew primacy of the New Covenant Scriptures cannot produce any Hebrew manuscripts earlier than the 12th century, and that's only of Matthew, by rabbis trying to misrepresent the Gospel of Matthew's message of Christ and His Work (Matthew Shem Tov).

And here's a rather practical question for you: Why would letters which were penned to the Gentiles be written originally in Hebrew? So much for Hebrew primacy of the New Covenant Scriptures.

There is a case to be made that perhaps Matthew, James, first and second Peter, and a couple of other NT letters and the letter to the Hebrews were originally penned in Hebrew, since their audiences were Hebrews, but there are NO surviving early manuscripts in existence in Hebrew - they're all in Koine Greek (the lingua franca of the day, which means those manuscripts could very well have originally been penned in Koine Greek).

What is your point with this OP anyway?

Where do we ever find in the Scriptures that having an Hebraic mindset is required to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ? The concepts, as I mentioned above, found in the Scriptures are universal.

The first miracle after the Ascension was the miracle of translation (see Acts 2). If God was not so concerned about which language the Gospel went out, but rather that it DID go out, why are you so focused on Hebrew?

-JGIG

What a masterpiece, well worth the reading. Thanks JGIG.

 

[chubbena]

Mine is KJV thinking.
Let me rephrase.
Mine is me thinking.
Don't we all?

And I'm wondering how many of us have never used the Hebrew or Greek original word to support our opinion...

 

[crossnote]

I did copy many ways this website explained what I had learned about Hebrew thought, and explained it better than I could do. I found it a complex subject and hoped others had been interested in it, too. I found the Ancient Hebrew Research Center the best source for information, and hoped people interested would have found this website, too. Instead, almost to a man, the only interest in this subject is to condemn the entire thing! I'm really not surprised. Few people have any interest in studying scripture, especially if it is in the Old Testament that is, to them, a different God and a different bible.

Is this why you didn't give credit until caught?

 

[RedTent]

Is this why you didn't give credit until caught?

To your way of strange "Christian" thinking, we must cancel all thought of God using Hebrew culture because you found another way I could be have murder type things done to. Anytime I see your name, I know this is announcing that you are doing this, and scripture be tossed out.

I agree, I must never use the words in a study I am doing, even though the author has done a better job of summarizing the thought better than I could. I was careful to make it only bring out all I had studied about the subject, before. People actually post entire talks given that anyone interested in the subject are supposed to accept. I used parts of this web site to get the point across about Hebrew thought, that is given a very long "DOWN WITH HEBREW AND REDTENT" post. By 'Christians" not interested in any Christian study at all.

So now I am "caught". The trial has been held and I am guilty, therefore all Hebrew thought must be thrown out of the bible. These forums have thrown out a lot of scripture, so far they are keeping grace and Christ, but at the rate they are going they could be next. Love and having Christ as their savior is not looked at as entire denominations of Christians are thrown out because of trials that are conducted, here.

So, the entire language of Hebrew is tossed out as unchristian, as the language of the Greeks is brought in as accepted! Alexander the Great told us this was the way we were to think and be.

 

[crossnote]

To your way of strange "Christian" thinking, we must cancel all thought of God using Hebrew culture because you found another way I could be have murder type things done to. Anytime I see your name, I know this is announcing that you are doing this, and scripture be tossed out.

I agree, I must never use the words in a study I am doing, even though the author has done a better job of summarizing the thought better than I could. I was careful to make it only bring out all I had studied about the subject, before. People actually post entire talks given that anyone interested in the subject are supposed to accept. I used parts of this web site to get the point across about Hebrew thought, that is given a very long "DOWN WITH HEBREW AND REDTENT" post. By 'Christians" not interested in any Christian study at all.

So now I am "caught". The trial has been held and I am guilty, therefore all Hebrew thought must be thrown out of the bible. These forums have thrown out a lot of scripture, so far they are keeping grace and Christ, but at the rate they are going they could be next. Love and having Christ as their savior is not looked at as entire denominations of Christians are thrown out because of trials that are conducted, here.

So, the entire language of Hebrew is tossed out as unchristian, as the language of the Greeks is brought in as accepted! Alexander the Great told us this was the way we were to think and be.

No, the decent thing to do is apologize, not build excuses and lash out further.

 

[RedTent]

why would it have to be Hebrew verses Greek?
why pit one against the other, or say one is superior to the other?
couldn't they be complementary?

if it pleased God to use both languages, shouldn't that be good enough for us?

Studying both without condemning but an open study of them was my point of this post. They are so different, used in such different ways, without acknowledging their differences I don't see how a fair study could be made. When the word "condemning" and "blaming" is brought into the picture, this study becomes tainted. Scripture all seems quite clear about warning us to be able to think without these things being part of us, so judgment is limited to our judging what is sin and what isn't. Language and thinking style does not fall into a "sin" category.

 

[RedTent]

No, the decent thing to do is apologize, not build excuses and lash out further.

Apologize to you? To the website I used to help me explain my views? Where do you want this apology? And when you report on years long study, just how far is it we can go in using anything of the study we use?

Every post you ever make is a judgment post of someone, are you saying that you expect people to bow down to you and your absolute wisdom in everything? You have found that I used someone else's words to express my thoughts and have me nailed, now I am to bow down to you?