A Reason to Learn Biblical Greek (1): Emphatic Negations

There is a way to negate something in Greek that rarely gets translated into English in such a way that allows us to feel the full force of it.

In Hebrews 13, the writer is encouraging his readers (hearers, more likely) to continue to trust in God. Specifically (in verse 5b), to trust in God over and above any sort of trust that’s placed in money. To help drive that point home, the writer quotes Deuteronomy 31:6: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” (NIV)

This is clear enough in English, but what if you knew the Greek behind the Old Testament quotation? Could that help you to see the verse with more clarity? I believe it can.

Let’s look together at it here.

The Greek of Hebrews 13:5b looks like this: οὐ μή σε ἀνῶ οὐδ’ οὐ μή σε ἐγκαταλίπω. Where knowing the Greek upon which the English is built can be of help are situations like this one where even though there is nothing “technically” wrong with the English translation (and I mean that sincerely; in no way is this article or any other article of mine that addresses the original languages and English translations to be understood as sowing seeds of doubt in the English text), there is a force that isn’t immediately recognized in English that is very much present in Greek.

In English, if we were to use two negatives in a row (not, not), we understand those to cancel each other out. It’s a common mistake that those who are just learning English or are leaning English as a second language will make. The assumption is that if we stack negatives in a row they emphasize the negation. This is not the case in English but, in Biblical Greek, this is how the language works.

One of the ways to negate something in Biblical Greek is to use the word οὐ, which means no or not. However, if you really wanted to emphasize the negation to the point of making the negation an absolute certainty, you can stack a couple together like οὐ μή (not not). And this is what we see happening twice in Hebrews 13:5b (actually there are five negations in that short phrase, but we’ll leave the other one for another article).

As I said before, it is totally acceptable to translate οὐ μή σε ἀνῶ οὐδ’ οὐ μή σε ἐγκαταλίπω as: Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. But, if you really wanted to draw out the force of the Greek that is somewhat hidden behind the English, you could translate οὐ μή σε ἀνῶ οὐδ’ οὐ μή σε ἐγκαταλίπω as: Never, ever, ever, ever, ever will I leave you, never, ever, ever, ever, ever will I forsake you.

There we see the force of the emphatic negation in the English translation, but it looks odd in English because that’s not how we write nor generally talk. In that case, maybe it makes more sense to just dive into learning Biblical Greek?

If you’re interested in learning Biblical Greek and you’d like some help along the way, please email me at kevindavis1986@gmail.com. I’d be happy to discuss with you some different teaching options that will help you get into the Greek of the New Testament!

A Moment on the Scriptures: The Theology of Christmas (10)

Although we’re quite different in many aspects from the person of Jesus, there remains something between us that we share: our humanity.

The last statement we’ll look at together from the Athanasian Creed reads: For just as one man is both rational soul and flesh, so too the one Christ is both God and man.

Here the creed appeals to humanity’s existence in general. We, as people, exist as souls and bodies, which are united to one another in making a person.

We can, and probably ought to, think about the person of Jesus in a similar manner. He is not half-God and half-human. He is not God when he is forgiving a paralyzed person and then a human when he’s eating and sleeping—or dying. He is God and man all at the same time.

This is the Jesus of the Athanasian Creed and, more importantly, this is the Jesus of the New Testament and the Scriptures as a whole. And, he is worthy to be worshipped.

I think it’s fitting and honoring to the creed and Scripture to close our time working through the creed in order to learn about Jesus’s incarnation to let the Bible have the last word. And that last word comes from the Letter to the Hebrews.

It reads: “Therefore, since the children share in blood and flesh, he also in like manner shared in these same things, in order that through death he could destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and could set free these who through fear of death were subject to slavery throughout all their lives. For surely he is not concerned with angels, but he is concerned with the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he was obligated to be made like his brothers in all respects, in order that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in the things relating to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:14-17, LEB).

What is Faith?

I was watching a movie the other day and, in it, there was a scene with a Catholic priest preaching about knowledge and faith. While preaching he mentioned the internet as a place where all knowledge is available. His point, however, was that faith is different from knowledge. It’s one thing to have knowledge of something (or have access to that knowledge through the internet) and quite another to have faith.

Now, I’m not on some crusade to point out weak theology in sermons—especially when it shows up in a movie—but this did get me thinking about how faith is generally understood. It’s often talked about as if faith is some abstract trust in the unknowable. As it stands in that popular understanding, you put your faith in something or someone you don’t or even can’t really know or understand.

There’s is probably some truth in that statement and, if you pressed me, I might be able to dig some of it out. However, just because it has some truth, doesn’t mean it’s a helpful description of what faith actually is. For that, as with all aspects of theology, let’s turn to Scripture.

In Hebrews 11:1 we read, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Notice the underlined words: confidence and assurance. These two words are important for an accurate understanding of what faith actually is.

When you read Hebrews 11:1, does it sound like faith is trusting in the unknowable? To me, it certainly does not. And I would submit that, for the writer of Hebrews, it doesn’t to him either.

Faith in Hebrews 11:1 is not trusting in the unknown; it’s trusting (having confidence and assurance) in what we hope for but do not see. And there in lies the distinction. There’s a world of difference between saying I am trusting in that which I cannot know and saying I am trusting in that in which I cannot see.

Later in Hebrews 11 the writer is going to list a bunch of people from the Old Testament who showed great faith. Able, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and Rehab to name only a few. All of these people showed faith as they had confidence in what they hoped for and their assurance about what they did not see. Again, that is not even close to the same thing as trusting in the unknowable. Moses, for instance, trusted what God had made known to him—leading the Israelites to the promised land—even though he did not and would not see it.

So, is there a difference between having knowledge of something and having faith in something? Certainly. I know some things that have no relation to my life whatsoever (how far away the Sun is, what year my first car was made, that I like the color blue more than the color green, etc.). And yet, I put zero trust in any of those things.

On the other hand, I know that Jesus died and rose again. I know that God loves me. I know that the Bible is God’s word. I know that if I believe in Jesus I will live forever with him. These things I know for certain—I have confidence and assurance of their reality—yet I cannot see all of them right now.

And, still, I trust—I have faith.

I don’t have faith in what cannot be known. On the contrary, I have faith in that which God has made known to me.

This, according to Scripture, is faith: trusting in what God has made known to you.

Who said that?

In the Book of Hebrews, there comes an interesting section (Heb. 3:7-4:7) where the writer (or perhaps, preacher) references a section of the Psalms (Ps. 95:7-11) and attributes that section to three “people”. At first glance someone reading that section may be confused as to what’s going on here.

Shouldn’t the writer know who he’s talking about? Why does he keep changing who the author is?

After a bit of reflection, however, I think what we what begin to see is that the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews is not confused about the author of Psalm 95; on the contrary, he knows exactly who was talking back then.

The sections in particular from Hebrews are 3:7-8a; 4:3, 7. And they read as follows:

“So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts….’ ” (Heb. 3:7-8a)

“Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, ‘So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ’ ” (Heb. 4:3a)

“This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’ ” (Heb. 4:7b)

As you can see from the bolded portions of the text, the writer of Hebrews—in the span of roughly two chapters—attributes Psalm 95 to the Holy Spirit, God, and David.

What’s going on here?

We ought not be thrown for a loop by the writer’s insistence of three voices here. This isn’t some sort of trickery or odd bit of orthodoxy; instead, this is how someone can (and ought to) view the ones speaking in the Old Testament (and the New Testament for that matter).

The psalmist—David—assuredly composed and wrote what we’ve come to know as Psalm 95. Those are his words, from his heart, based on his experience with God and the world. At the same time, it can be said that David was led to write by the Holy Spirit. What David wrote is what Spirit of God wanted him to write for the good God’s people as a part of Holy Scripture. And, sandwiched in the middle, this writing by David through the leading of the Holy Spirit, is ultimately a work of God. David wrote, what was then and now, the very words of God.

All this means that we—along with the writer of Hebrews—can look back at Psalm 95 and confidently say: this is the word of God, through the work of the Holy Spirit, from the heart, mind, and pen of David the psalmist.

Exegetical Meditations (41)

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15, NIV)

In Hebrews we’re told that our high priest (Jesus) is able to know what we’re going through when it comes to temptation and sin because he went through it. We’re told that he was tempted in every way we are with one stark difference—he did not sin.

The difference between Jesus and us is that he didn’t give into that temptation ever. There was not a moment of his life when Jesus walked willingly into sin because of the ever-increasing temptation upon him.

We’re told this for our encouragement. And we’re told this to encourage others.

What can you say to a Christian brother or sister who’s going through some strong battle with temptation and sin? They want to be freed from it, but they’ve been unable so far to grab hold of that freedom. What can you say that would be encouraging to them? You might remind them of the truth found in Hebrews 4:15. Their savior, Jesus, has gone through what they’re going through. He has fought the battle with temptation. He fought against temptation right up to the end.

They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him. (Mark 15:27-32)

The interesting thing in those conversations is that what happens next isn’t always the same. One type of person will hear the truth of Hebrews 4:15, take it in, and use it as an encouragement to fight the battle that’s before them. They will push on in the strength of Jesus knowing that he’s been there and and fought that battle. Another type of person will hear the truth of Hebrews 4:15, take it in, and wonder if Jesus can really understand since he never sinned. They’ll wonder if if he really has experienced what they’ve gone through.

Jesus never sinned, they’ll wonder, so how can he really know what I’m going through?

With all due respect to the second type of person, there’s a fundamental misunderstanding of their relationship to temptation and sin—one that I think we all naturally gravitate to until we’re shown the full truth of it. When we think of temptation and sin we often link our experience of temptation to the fact that we sin.

How do we know the full force of temptation? We sin.

This, however, is not true. We don’t know the full force of temptation because we sin. We’ve never exhausted temptation’s strength, because it has never had to use all of it’s strength to get us to sin. We give in at some point and willingly go along with the temptation to sin.

Jesus never did this.

He’s the only person ever to have felt the full force of temptation. And he felt that full force precisely because he did not sin. Temptation gave everything it had to make him want to sin and it could not do it.

Turn this stone to bread.
We’ll kill you if you keep talking that like that.
Even his brothers and sisters didn’t believe in him.
Judas betrayed him.
Barabbas was freed instead of him.
Save yourself from the cross and we will believe.

And yet, Jesus did not sin. How can we be encouraged to fight temptation by someone who never experienced sin like we have? Because the one who never gave into temptation knows exactly what it takes to stand up against it.

Exegetical Meditations (11)

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:3a, NIV)

How we talk about Jesus matters. It matters because our speech about him is a reflection of what we believe to be true about him, and what we believe to be true about him directly shapes the relationship we’re in with him. If we believe Jesus to be less than what he’s revealed to be in Scripture then we could be in danger of worshiping someone who is no real Jesus at all. Therefore, it makes sense to examine what we say because we know that what we say is a window into what we believe. We can do this not only with ourselves but with the authors of Scripture to see if we believe what they believed. In this particular instance, we can put this into practice with the author of the letter to the Hebrews.

In Hebrews 1 we come across three statements in a row that are packed together and delivered in one sweeping sentence in English. It’s great how so much truth can be found in a single sentence and yet, it’s often in these types of sentences where we run the risk of missing what has actually been said. Knowing that, let’s breakdown the sentence in Hebrews 1 so we put up what the God-inspired writer has written against what we believe to be true.

Statement 1: The Son is the radiance of God’s glory…
Jesus (the Son) exists in such a way as to emit, reflect, or radiate the glory of God to the world. Similar to how the Holy Spirit is constantly putting the focus upon Jesus, Jesus is constantly shining forth God’s glory so that his glory can be seen by those who have eyes to see. This means that when we look at Jesus we can see the glory of God on full display. It’s not as if Jesus is merely a door to the glory of God or even a window into what that glory looks like. Windows and doors are things we look and go through to experience whatever is on the other side. Jesus, however, is the experience. If you want to experience the glory of God in its truest form, Jesus is the one to whom you need to go.

Statement 2: …and the exact representation of his being…
Jesus exists in such a way as to give the clearest picture of God. Even here, though, that language of picture doesn’t quite do it justice to what’s actually going on because a picture is not actually the thing in which it’s showing. Jesus, on the other hand, is both displaying the being of God and Jesus is that God in the flesh. When some read the above statement in Hebrews they may think that Jesus was so good at living life the way it needed to be lived that one could say his life was God-like. That description, however, is missing something very important about the nature of Jesus. Jesus is God. Since Jesus is God, the life he lived, he lived as God would have lived it because…since Jesus is God, God lived it. Whatever Jesus did while he was on earth was as the God-man because that’s who he is and, therefore, he is the exact representation of God’s being.

Statement 3: …sustaining all things by his powerful word.
Jesus exists in such a way as to not only be the creator of all things but to be the one who sustains all created things. Since Scripture tells us that God spoke and things came into being, it can probably be safely assumed that things remain because God’s speaking has not ceased. It’s as if when God wanted to create a tree he said, “tree!” and there it was. The tree remains because God has not yet stopped saying, “tree!” God’s creation is brought into existence by his speech and his speech is what keeps it in existence. He then (Jesus) sustains all things by his powerful word. His word that not only creates but sustains what has been created.

With all of that, we now have the chance to stack up our beliefs with those of the writer to the Hebrews and, thus, God’s. When you talk about Jesus do you talk about him as the radiance of God’s glory, the exact representation of his being, or the one who sustains all things? If not, is this because you can’t possibly say everything there is true about Jesus all the time (of which I will amen right along with you!) or is it because, over time, you’ve crafted a Jesus more to your liking and less to the scriptural testimony? If it’s the second reason, I would suggest that you let yourself off the hook of trying not only to make a better Jesus but to defend that Jesus to the world. Embrace the Jesus of the Scriptures and rest in spending the rest of your life aligning with what the Scriptures tell us to be true.