Help Oxford University Transcribe Papyri from Oxyrhynchus - Greek not essential

Oxford University have requested help in transcribing around 200,000 papyri fragments from Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. Each fragment has been scanned and placed online and volunteers are requested to use the website to identify the letters in the fragment. Knowledge of Greek is not  essential as the site provides help in choosing the appropriate letter. Some are easier than others to do, as the quality of the writing varies considerably while some contain no discernable text at all. To read the full Daily Mail article click here, To visit the Ancient Lives project click here.

Where were the nail-prints in Jesus’ hands - in his wrists or his palms?

This question was raised last Saturday during a day conference on biblical archaeology at Tyndale House in Cambridge. Put simply the problem was stated as follows:

Crucifixion normally involved nailing the victim to a horizontal beam through the wrist between the radius and the ulna (the two bones of the forearm). The nail was then firmly trapped by the carpals from ripping out of the hand between the fingers. If the victim were nailed through the palm of the hand the weight of the suspended body would simply cause the nail to pull through the flesh between the metacarpals (see here for an illustration of the bones involved). That much seems clear. However, in John 20:27 Jesus commands Thomas to:

“…See my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” [Italics mine]

Surely, the argument goes, if the nail marks where in Jesus’ wrists then he would have told Thomas to look there for them and not in his hands?

Solution

I think the answer to the problem is fairly straightforward, once we look at the Greek text. The Greek word for hand – χειρ – which is used twice in the passage cited above means “A hand or any relevant portion of the hands, including, for example, the fingers.” (Nida & Louw, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, Vol. 1, p. 98.). The question is whether the word “hand” in Greek also included the wrist. The word “wrist” or “wrists” appears only in Acts 12:7 in the NIV New Testament. In the Old Testament it appears twice in the Genesis 38:27 & 30, in Jeremiah 40:4 and Ezekiel 13:18. In Acts 12:7 and in the Septuagint of the OT verses the “wrist” is a translation of χειρ. So, it would seem that “wrist” was included within the semantic range of χειρ and so the problem seems to be solved. John 20:27 could quite accurately be translated: “…See my wrists. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Nida & Louw note that there is a precedent for using a specific body part in place of the general term “hand”. Luke 15:22 reads “…Put a ring on his χειρ…” χειρ here is to be translated finger, not hand.

Wayne Grudem on "Does kephale ("Head") Mean "Source" Or "Authority Over" in Greek Literature? A Survey of 2,336 Examples"

The following article is now on-line in PDF:

Wayne Grudem, "Does Kephale ("Head") Mean "Source" or "Authority Over" in Greek Literature? A Survey of 2,336 Examples," Trinity Journal ns 6.1 (Spring 1985): 38-59.

This is an important article for those interested in the role relationships of men and women because it fatally undermines the oft-repeated and unfounded argument that kephale means 'source' and not 'head' in the NT. Grudem's later article on this subject is also available on-line:

Wayne Grudem, "The Meaning Of kephale ('Head': 'An Evaluation Of New Evidence, Real And Alleged," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 44.1 (2001): 25-65.

I have recently added another article that addresses the issue from a complimentarian position that is worth a read:

The New Testament Teaching on the Ministry of Women (P.G. Nelson)

J. Harold Greenlee on When you Don't Need to Learn Greek

The following article is now available in PDF:

J. Harold Greenlee, "No, You Don't Have to Know Greek," His 25 (1965): 34-35.

A short but helpful article on the value of learning New Testament Greek.

J. Harold Greenlee on the Importance of Greek Syntax

The following article now available in PDF:

J. Harold Greenlee, "The Importance of Syntax For the Proper Understanding of the Sacred Text of the New Testament," Evangelical Quarterly 44.3 (July-Sept. 1972): 131-146.

Dr. Greenlee explains why word order helps us in our understanding of the Greek New Testament.

Bible Translator Vol. 11 - 20 Table of Contents On-line

As I mentioned before The Bible Translator has been on-line for some years. I have created a more search-engine and user-friendly front end for the PDF documents in the form of a HTML table of contents. Here are some of the articles from volumes 11-20 that caught my eye:

J. Harold Greenlee, "'If' in the New Testament," Bible Translator 13.1 (Jan. 1962): 39-43.

Harold Keeling Moulton, "The names and attributes of God," Bible Translator 13.2 (April 1962): 71-80.

J. Clifford Hindley, "The meaning and translation of covenant," Bible Translator 13.2 (April 1962): 90-101.

Harry Mowvley, "The concept and content of "blessing" in the Old Testament," Bible Translator 16.2 (April 1965): 74-80.

Edgar V. McKnight, "Is the New Testament written in 'Holy Ghost' Greek," Bible Translator 16.2 (April 1965): 87-93.

William A. Smalley, "The place of linguistics in Bible translation," Bible Translator 16.3 (July 1965): 105-112.

Peter R Ackroyd & Michael A. Knibb, "Translating the psalms," Bible Translator 17.1 (Jan. 1966): 1-11.

Ronald E. Clements, "Divine titles as a problem of Old Testament translation," Bible Translator 17.2 (April 1966): 81-84.

Charles R. Taber, "Exegesis and linguistics," Bible Translator 20.4 (October 1969): 150-153.

The Bible Translator's Table of Contents

The Bible Translator, the journal of the United Bible Societies has been online for some time in the form of scanned images (one per page). I have just completed a HTML table of contents of the first 10 volumes, which I hope will both make this splendid resource more accessible and easier for search engines to catalogue. It will also make it possible for me to insert the relevant articles into my subject listings. I hope to complete the remaining volumes by the end of the year. Here are some useful articles that appeared during the first 10 years of the journal's publication:

J. Harold Greenlee, "The Genitive Case in the New Testament," The Bible Translator 1.2 (April 1950): 68-70.

J. Harold Greenlee, "Kurios 'Lord'," The Bible Translator 1.3 (June 1950): 106-110.

J. Harold Greenlee, "The Greek Definite Article," The Bible Translator 1.4 (October 1950): 162-165.

Erwin Nestle, "How to Use a Greek New Testament," The Bible Translator 2.2 (April 1951): 49-55.

J. Harold Greenlee, "Psuche in the New Testament," The Bible Translator 2.2 (April 1951): 73-75.

J. Harold Greenlee, "Word Suffixes in the Greek New Testament," The Bible Translator 2.4 (October 1951): 159-161.

J. Harold Greenlee, "The Preposition EIS in the New Testament," The Bible Translator 3.1 (January 1952): 12-14.

J. Harold Greenlee, "Verbs in the New Testament," The Bible Translator 3.2 (April 1952): 71-75.

G. Henry Waterman, "What is Koiné Greek?" The Bible Translator 3.3 (June 1952): 127-131.

F.F. Bruce, "The Old Testament in Greek, Part I," The Bible Translator 4.3 (July 1953): 129-134. [An extract from The Books and the Parchments (1952)]

F.F. Bruce, "The Old Testament in Greek, Part II," The Bible Translator 4.3 (October 1953): 156-162. [An extract from The Books and the Parchments (1952)]

J. Harold Greenlee, "New Testament Participles," The Bible Translator 5.3 (July 1954): 98-101.

Dewey M. Beegle, "The Meaning of the Qumran Scrolls for Translators of the Bible," The Bible Translator 8.1 (January 1957): 1-8.

F.W. Gingrich, "Leads from a Lexicon," The Bible Translator 10.1 (January 1959): 35-37.

Nigel Turner, "The Preposition en in the New Testament," The Bible Translator 10.3 (July 1959): 113-120.

F.F. Bruce on the Importance of Learning New Testament Greek

The following article is now available on-line in PDF:

F.F. Bruce, "The Greek Language and the Christian Ministry," Clifton Theological College Magazine (Trinity Term 1956): 5-10.

My thanks to Susan Brown, Librarian at Trinity College Bristol for her help is obtaining permission to reprint this article - and for supplying me with a copy.

The article could also be entitled "Why every Christian needs to be a Greek scholar".