Erasmus on Greek

On Erasmus' Latin translation of the Greek New Testament:

“Let them not drag me into court if the text does not agree with the original word for word, for, try as you may, it cannot be done.”

-Erasmus, Apologia 170:20-1

The picture: Dedication (to Pope Leo X) of Erasmus' New Testament, 1516.

Erasmus on Greek

“It is a fairly troublesome business to learn to recognize the shapes of letters at sight, to pronounce readily, to decline and conjugate. Do you think a man has achieved nothing who has digested all this tedious stuff?… And maybe he is content with that, for the only reason he wishes to learn Greek is to be able to spend his time with more profit and more sure judgment on the Scriptures.”

-Erasmus, Letter to William Latimer, February 1517

The picture: Erasmus, by Hendrik Bary, 1671.

William Latimer on Greek

“Greek is a complex and many-sided business, as you know, and more than a little involved; and though it is toilsome rather than difficult, yet it needs time, at least until it can be got by heart. Do not think I judge other people’s mental powers by my own slow pace… But neither of you [Erasmus and Thomas More], I think, will say that he ran through these difficulties so fast that after a month or two he could go where he would without a guide; the more so as one meets so many meanders and side-turnings everywhere that they might lead even an expert astray.”

-William Latimer, Letter to Erasmus, January 30, 1517

The picture: Title page of Erasmus' first edition of the Greek New Testament, 1516. William Latimer, a theologian and Greek scholar, assisted Erasmus by proofreading the first edition.

Greek Quotes

As you may have noticed, I have been posting a number of quotes about learning Greek and using Greek (see here for all quotes). I first became interested in such quotes when Alan Gomes, my Church History prof at Talbot School of Theology, shared a quote from Augustine about the pain of learning Greek as a boy (I'll post that one later).

When I began teaching Greek, I tried to find other similar quotes for use in my lecture notes. Mostly, I found quotes that were already being circulated among Greek profs, such as well-known quotes by Zwingli and Wesley (also coming soon). But I found the motherlode of useful quotes on the topic while doing a doctoral paper on the history of textual criticism. I decided to read the letters of Erasmus to try to find out a little more about his text-critical approach when he was editing the first published Greek New Testament. It turns out that Erasmus didn't talk much about his methods in his letters, but he did talk a lot about the value of reading the Scriptures in the original languages. I'll be sharing more of those quotes over the next several days.

Erasmus' interest in Greek and Hebrew had several important results. Erasmus not only compiled (and repeatedly revised) the first Greek New Testament, but also made a fresh Latin translation. Despite Martin Luther's dislike of Erasmus, Luther used Erasmus' Greek New Testament as the textual basis for his influential German translation.

Seminarians of the time did not usually learn Greek and Hebrew; in fact, many theologians were wary of the possible heretical influence of the original languages (see some interesting quotes on this in the next few days). Erasmus encouraged other scholars to learn and teach the original languages, and eventually this became part of the standard seminary curriculum - a fact which causes modern seminarians to either bless or curse the name of Erasmus.

Do you have a favorite quote about learning and using the biblical languages? Please share it!

The picture: Title page of Erasmus' Greek New Testament, 3d edn., 1522.

Erasmus on Greek

Erasmus, commenting on the labor of editing his Greek New Testament, the bestselling book of the early 16th century:

“I am immersed in work, especially in the revision of the New Testament – I wish I had never touched it. If this is what a scholar’s work is, much better to go on sleeping.”

-Erasmus, Letter to Hermann von Neuenahr, November 30, 1517

The picture: Erasmus of Rotterdam, by Albrecht Durer, 1526.

Zwingli on Greek

Zwingli: … He then, in order to show that Christ, although of Divine Nature, had taken upon Him the form of a servant, and been made like to us, cited in the Greek text the passage from Philip. ii.7.
Luther: Let the Greek alone, quote it in Latin or German.

Zwingli: Excuse me; during the last twelve years I have only made use of the Greek New Testament.

-Text of a debate between Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli on Oct 1, 1529. Quoted in Zwingli: or, the Rise of the Reformation in Switzerland, by R. Christoffel, 1858.

Erasmus on Greek

"My readings in Greek all but crush my spirit; but I have no spare time and no means to purchase books or employ the services of a tutor. And with all this commotion to endure I have hardly enough to live on; and this is what I owe to my studies!"

-Erasmus, letter to Jacob Batt, 1500.

The picture: Studies of the Hands of Erasmus of Rotterdam, Hans Holbein the Younger, 1523.

Erasmus on Greek

Erasmus, commenting on the value of studying the Scriptures in Greek and studying other Greek literature:

“And where meanwhile are those who say that Greek literature is of no value in the study of Holy Scriptures? Where are those individuals – camels rather than men – who bleat that nothing comes out of Greek literature except heresies?”

-Erasmus, Letter to Carondolet, 1523.

The picture: Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam, by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1523. Erasmus commented that the portrait made him look much too handsome.

Top Ten Things To Do While Learning Greek

10. Loudly discuss your pastor’s incorrect Greek usage after the sermon.

9. Find infallible proof that [insert name here] is the Antichrist by translating his name from Greek to Aramaic to English to Elvish.
8. Feel really cool when you write your name in Greek and start all your e-mails with charis humin kai eirene.

7. Discover ancient prophetic messages hidden in the Greek letters of the New Testament: "Jesus calls the antichrist the abomination of desolation, bdelugma eremoseos. The letters in that phrase can be rearranged to form the phrase a submerged eel moos, meaning that one of the signs of the apocalypse will be the creation of mutant eel-cows."
6. Come up with really descriptive word pictures based on Greek: "It says here that 'rivers of living water will flow from' the believer. In Greek, that word flow is rheo, from which we get the English word diarrhea."
5. Find secret Satanic messages in fraternity and sorority names.
4. Consider yourself more holy than the heathen in your church who don’t know Greek.
3. Whisper sweet nothings to your honey in Greek: chairein, brephe. kalle puge (= Greetings, baby. Nice buns).

2. Regularly interrupt your Bible study by saying, “Well, in the Greek New Testament…”
1. Improve your chances of getting a date with an ancient Greek.

Biblioblogger Rankings

Biblioblogger just posted its monthly ratings of Biblical Studies blogs for August. It's fun to read some of the top ten blogs and see all the trash talk going on at the end of each month.

Eutychus' ranking moved up from 230 to 159 - Yay! I think if I want to crack the top 50 I'll need to start writing more often - or maybe I can just start writing some seriously crackpot posts. I'm thinking of starting by claiming that Jesus was really a time-traveller from the 1960s, which explains the robe, long hair, and all the talk about peace.