Greek Studies??

[A.W. Bowman]

Over this past year or so I have often stated that the Hebrew language is a conceptual (verb - action based) language, while Greek and English are concrete (noun-object based) languages. While I can't sure I ever posted such on this forum or not, I really don't know. However, at least my correction will get some exposure if posted here.

While being correct in some other technical aspects, I have also committed a major error. While my initial Hebrew instructor and mentor, Robert Allon, provided me with the correct information, I did not receive it as presented.

The following excerpt from "His Name is One" by Jeff A. Benner, clearly rectifies my misunderstanding, and presents the correct approach to understanding the difference between the Hebrew and English languages.

For the confusion I created over this issue I offer my apologizes.

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Abstract vs. concrete thought:

We have previously discussed the differences between the modern Western thinkers method of describing something compared to the ancient Hebrew Eastern thinker. Here we will look at another major difference between the two which impacts how we read the Biblical text.

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One of the major differences between our Western culture and the Eastern culture of the ancient Hebrews is how someone or something is described. The Hebrew was not so concerned with the appearance of someone or something, as he was with its function. A Western mind would describe a common pencil according to its appearance, something like; “it is yellow and about eight inches long.” An Eastern mind describes the same pencil according to its function, something like; “I write and erase words with it.” Notice that the Eastern description uses the verbs “write” and “erase,” while the Western description uses the adjectives “yellow” and “long.” Because of Hebrew’s form of functional descriptions, verbs are used much more frequently then adjectives in the Bible.

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The Eastern mind views the world through concrete thought that is expressed in ways that can be seen, touched, smelled, tasted or heard. An example of this can be found in Psalms 1:3 where the author expresses his thoughts in such concrete terms as; tree, streams of water, fruit, leaf and wither.

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither.” (NIV)

The Western mind views the world through abstract thought that is expressed in ways that cannot be seen, touched, smelled, tasted or heard. Examples of Abstract thought can be found in Psalms 103:8;

“The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” (NIV)

The words compassion, grace, anger and love are all abstract words, ideas that cannot be experienced by the senses. Why do we find these abstract words in a passage from concrete thinking Hebrews? Actually, these are abstract English words used to translate the original Hebrew concrete words. The translators will often substitute a concrete word for an abstract word because the original Hebrew concrete imagery would make no sense when literally translated into English.