Why would anyone in his or her right mind want to speak a “dead” language, a language that no one speaks? The answer: Because only by speaking a language does one internalize it, and it was high time, Randall and I felt, having tasted fluency in Hebrew, that we should gain an active knowledge of Koine Greek.
What’s Happening to the Holy Tongue?
English speakers who live in Israel are reminded regularly of the inroads English is making in Hebrew.
My Knowledge of Greek: An Embarrassment for Too Long!
Until recently, I, a New Testament scholar, was often embarrassed by my level of Greek fluency, even after 35 years of studying this ancient biblical language using the traditional grammatical approach. A lack of true fluency in Greek, active knowledge of the language as opposed to passive, is a scourge. Finding myself in this situation, my disappointment was real, but it was kept hidden from my students.
Hebrew as a Spoken Language in First-century Israel
Hebrew was a living language in first-century Israel, part of a multilingual environment (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek).
Views That Have Vanished: The Photographs of David Bivin
Todd Bolen (founder of BiblePlaces.com) has created a digital collection from the best of my photographs.
Remembering Robert L. Lindsey
The late Robert L. Lindsey, the late Professor David Flusser, and their colleague, the late Professor Shmuel Safrai collaborated to birth a new school of synoptic research. In 1985 the “Jerusalem School” became a legal entity (an Amutah) in Israel, and has now joined the Oxford School, the Tübingen School, and others, as a center of synoptic research.
‘When you see the south [southeast, east] wind blow’
Israel is having a Sirocco this week, typical of April and May, with temperatures in Jerusalem soaring to 37 degrees (98 Fahrenheit) and over 40 degrees (104) in most of the rest of the country. Jesus said: “And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens” (Luke 12:55).
Pileggi Sermon: “The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand”
Listen to a sermon by David Pileggi delivered at the Narkis Street congregation in Jerusalem.