Bible Translations, Speaking Hebrew and the Temple Courts

2/19/2000

Hi. We are very grateful for all that has been sent to us, and have more questions!

1—While I am aware of unholy Bible versions, I am not sure I know where to turn. We use several versions in hopes to balance things somewhat and we are learning to do “word studies” seeking to have the Bible answer itself (don’t like commentaries). I recently ordered 6 very old Bible versions but I am not sure there is not a better way. What would you recommend based on what you have found to be wholesome?

2—Are there any Messianic Jews or Hebrew speakers among you?

3—In the booklet “The traditions of men in the churches of men”, on page 8, I found Acts 2:42-47 saying “every day they CONTINUED to meet together IN THE TEMPLE COURTS. Why, if they understood that a man made building was not required? Would you please share with me your thoughts on that? I see the Lord’s Supper at their HOMES (which is not something I have ever done or been taught to do), but strangely enough it is something my husband desired to do and voiced to me about a month and a half ago!!

We do not know much, but these two things we do know, “Jesus lives and we want to honor and be acceptable to Him.” May God Almighty have mercy on us and lead us to the place He has desired for us, whatever and wherever that might be.

His Will above all. We will keep in touch, have a lovely and blessed day . . . ALL of you :-)

HI : ) Nice Work. Big “bite” to chew, eh? : ) But that’s half the fun. : )

1. I don’t know of any “great” translations. We all do what you are doing—read quite a few different translations. Phillips, Weymouth, The Message, the Deaf Bible, and the New Living are all somewhat “radical” in the sense that they knock one out of the “expectation” mode from hearing things the same for many years. The Message is the least “accurate” of these three, by far—BUT the goal was different also. He wanted to take the idioms and colloquialisms of THAT day, and substitute EQUAL MEANING, as opposed to word translation. In other words, a phrase similar to “one bad apple spoils the whole bunch” in the Greek (not an expression they used, but just for illustration) would NOT be translated word for word. It would instead be “translated” by an expression appropriate to what expressions the READER would identify with, that would mean the same thing to THEM. So, it is “radical” in that sense. I also do not like the abuse that Romans and Galatians took, due to his prejudices and fears, but OTHER than that, it is marvelous to throw into “the mix” of translations. The NLT is 10,000 times more accurate than the Living Bible, since it is now a legitimate translation rather than a bed time story from a father to his children as the LB was originally. But, keep working in the Word Studies (Vincent, Wuest, etc, in addition to Kittel and other things you can do on your own). All in all, it’s not very complicated, since MOST of what we have come to know as “church” and “leadership” ISN’T IN ANY OF THE TRANSLATIONS! The truth is veiled more in BAD translations with words that related to institutions (“pastor”—TERRIBLE translation, and the like), but the PICTURE that you will read in ANY translation DOES NOT HAVE SERVICES AND PASTORS and all. Look for THE PICTURE, not words here and there, and you’ll see something FAR more like Jesus and the twelve—no Bible studies, no children’s church, not a single program, no “services,” “you are all brothers” (Mat.23), as FAMILY with nothing whatsoever to ATTEND, on and on and on.

2. We have a number of guys that studied some Hebrew in “seminary”/Bible College environments before they became “pastors” before they took their own Bibles seriously and saw that what they were doing was not IN there, and quit. So, “exposure” to Hebrew (as opposed to fluent) is probably true for quite a few. “Messianic” meaning committed to carrying over Hebrew culture and form? No, not at all. “Messianic” in the true sense of enjoying the fact that Jesus was Hebrew and our roots are from the Hebrew people, yes. How does it express itself? It doesn’t affect our living culture much (and it shouldn’t), but it affects greatly how we Understand various things that apply to our lives and things that we read. To understand the context and identify with the Chosen of thousands of years, rather than a western world external form, is pretty important. SO, not EXACTLY sure how to answer your question……… Maybe that helps?

3. If you were IN the “Temple Courts” (the place where, you remember, there was unHoly commerce going on and the like), you would NOT understand “the Temple Courts” to be a building made with men’s hands. There were concentric courtyards, with a relatively small building (tall, but not wide) at one side, designed for only the priests. If you have a Thompson Chain Reference, there are all kinds of sketches in there, around “4308g and 4308i” describing Jesus’ last days on earth physically, as well as under “Temple” (#4319). You will see that these were open air “public park” gathering places, NOT A BUILDING TO SIT IN FOR A “SERVICE”! And, besides, it was MANY years before they began to realize that much of what God had ordained for Israel was a “SHADOW OF THE REALITY THAT IS IN CHRIST” (Col.2:16-17; Heb.5, 7,8,9,10; Rom.4, etc). There is a video called “In Remembrance” that is a drama about Jesus’ last bit of time with the disciples that you would enjoy, I think. It ends hideously (we edited it) in a terribly unBiblical denominational “communion service”—AS IF the drama on the video has ANYTHING to do with that! Amazing that whoever put it together could not see the radical difference between the drama part with Jesus, and the institutional part they tacked on the end! Anyway, during the drama part, one of the disciples said something like, “He took everything away from us. (Speaking of Jesus.) He messed with all of the traditions we had cherished. And then, to top it all off, He even messed with the Passover Meal! He didn’t say the words right! He obliterated the custom we were so familiar with! He even took THAT away from us and left us thinking instead of eating His body and drinking His blood. He took away ALL of the things we were familiar with and leaned on… and left us… with only Himself.” HALLELUJAH!!

Oh, wonderful Journey! Thanks for having the Courage to dip your toes into the water and ask Him for Ways that transcend human comfort and ritual, and lead all the way into the very Heart and Mind of the Messiah and Creator of the Galaxies, and Life that always was and always will be. ETERNAL LIFE! : ) ZOE.

Better take off here… Thanks again for your letter, and the good questions. Much Love in Him,