PARABLE OF THE GREEK PLAQUE
HEBREWS 4:12
A tour group is about to enter a Christian chapel in Greece. A young red haired woman stops and looks at a plaque written in Greek. Not knowing the Greek language, she asks the tour guide to come over.
Politely, she begs the guide to translate each Greek word into English. At first he was hesitant, but the young woman smiles, saying, "Please, can you read it exactly into English."
The tour guide speaks loud for the entire group to hear. "For living the word of God and efficient and sharper than every sword two edged, even penetrating to division both of soul and spirit, of joints both and marrows, and a discerner of thoughts and intents of heart. Hebrews 4:12"
As the tour guide moves away, a young pastor walks over to the young woman saying, "Sometimes translating from one language to another, we add prepositions and switch the order of the words to make it more understandable and readable."
The young woman replies, "You're right, it was difficult listening to his exact translation from ancient Greek.
The young pastor recites from the English Standard Version. "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
After thanking the young pastor, a couple in their 30's walk over to the young woman. The wife asks, "Do you really understand that verse?' Her husband speaks, "If you don't understand, maybe instead of a word for word translation, we can look at a thought for thought translation. My wife loves to read the New Living Translation."
"For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires."
The young woman replies, "I am beginning to understand."
A college hipster walks over the young woman next. He tells her, "You need to paraphrase into words we speak today."
Young woman replies, "OK, what's your take on it. It better be cool."
The hipster reads from the Message Bible.
"God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one can resist God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what."
A 12 year old girl, tourist walks over to her, saying, "Everyone has big words in their vocabulary. I believe, simple words are better. That is why I read the Easy English Bible."
The young woman smiles, saying, "OK sweetie, read your Bible."
"So be careful! God's message to us is alive and powerful. It is like a sword that has two sharp edges. Even more than a sword, God's message goes very deep into us. It cuts between our soul and our spirit. It is like a sharp knife that can cut deep into our body between our bones. God's message shows what we are really thinking. It shows what we really want."
The tour group gathers by the door to the church. The young lady asks the tour guide, "Will you allow me a minute to speak to everyone?"
"I never fully understood why there are so many translations of the Bible until now. Not only are there many ways to translate from Greek to English, but we have different vocabularies and reading levels in America. After hearing word for word, thought for thought, paraphrase, and easy reading translations, I'm beginning to understand Hebrews 4:14 more."
As the pastor passes by, she tells him, "My favorite translation is the word for word."
Everyone in the tour group smiles at the young red haired woman standing by the door, as they enter the chapel listening to a choir singing inside.
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