The Difference Between Language and Tongues

Finding an acceptable solution for the Greek keyword glôssa γλῶσσα and why Christian doctrine of tongues is the best catch-phrase for the subject.

Glôssa is pivotal for the doctrine of tongues. This word is found in Paul’s address to the Corinthians and Luke’s description of the first Pentecost. This noun is further used by later Greek ecclesiasts and authors on the subject.

The challenge is how a contemporary researcher is to translate this word without a modern bias.

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The Unknown Tongues in the English Bible

How the adjective unknown became a crucial contributor to the modern christian doctrine of tongues. No, it was not started by Paul in the first century. The tradition of unknown tongues begins with the Reformation in the sixteenth and evolves from there.

This article is the story about how this unfolded.
Unknown tongues English Bible

Click on image for a full version.

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Latin and the Subjunctive

Understanding the various uses of the Latin subjunctive and how to properly translate it.

Ambrosiaster on the workers of miracles

The Ambrosiaster text gives a fourth century or later Latin perspective on the workers of miracles as described by St. Paul.
Paul wrote about this function in his First letter to the Corinthians (12:28).
Here is the actual Biblical citation:

And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.”(NIV)

The key-text here is the “workers of miracles” which in the Greek text is δυνάμεις and in Ambrosiaster’s text, virtutes.

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Attempts on Translating Rashi and Jewish Aramaic

Rashi, an 11th century French Rabbi, is one of the most important commentators of the Talmud and is central to the contemporary study of it. In fact, some texts of the Talmud are difficult to understand without reference to him.

One would think that his works would be ubiquitous for the English reading audience, but English translations, outside of his commentary of the Torah, are almost non-existent.

This forces curious researchers such as myself to look at texts in the original language, which in this case is a complex mixture of classical Hebrew, Rabbinic Aramaic and at a lesser rate, old French.

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