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How Languages Work

Some good thoughts from Josh, which apply to translators as well as preachers…

A couple of friends of mine told the following story from an experience on the mission field in Mexico:

As Samuel was preparing to set up a plastic table for the youth lunch we were hosting, I mentioned to him that the table’s “piernitas” (little legs) were in the next room. He smiled, and I knew that I had used the wrong word. “So they’re not called ‘piernitas,’ are they?” I asked him. “No,” he said, (really laughing now), “only humans have ‘piernas’. Animals and tables have ‘patas’ (paws). But calling them piernitas sounds curious.”

…A great example of how the Spanish idiom is ‘funny’ (or foreign) to the native English speaker. We don’t call table legs ‘paws’, but they do in this area of Mexico…

…We know language works this way; It’s obvious. The friends I’ve mentioned above are working diligently to understand local idioms in the spoken language. They make mistakes, learn the language better, and then move on with greater precision. The same should be true with those who study the Bible. Unfortunately, I’ve known many who receive training and acquire tools to accurately study and teach the Scriptures, but later they leave their tools in the tool shed to rust and deteriorate. (read the whole post)