The Biblical Languages Podcast (brought to you by Biblingo)

Matthew Bates, author of Gospel Allegiance, discusses in this podcast the meaning of εὐαγγέλιον (Gospel) and πίστις (Faith/Allegiance). The podcast explores Bates' understanding of the pistis word group, euangelion, and their relationship with other concepts in the Bible. They also touch on controversies, response, challenges, and upcoming projects.

Deuteronomy 6:5 is typically translated, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength." But what does it really mean to love the Lord with your "heart"? The word translated "heart" here is לֵבָב, which is a word that does, in fact, refer to the organ that we call "heart". Here, the word is obviously being used metaphorically, just like we use "heart" metaphorically in English. But the key question is whether לֵבָב and "heart" are used metaphorically *in the same way*. In this video, Dr. Kevin Grasso shows how this Hebrew word actually has a different metaphorical use than you might expect, and that there may be a better English word than "heart" to get its meaning across. Check out our previous episode on Deuteronomy 6:4 here: https://youtu.be/_DRu1aE4y-s

The podcast explores the interpretation and translation of the Shema in Hebrew, focusing on the difficult word אֶחָד. It discusses whether אֶחָד refers to God's oneness or a class of things belonging to God. The chapter delves into the true meaning of 'ahad' in Deuteronomy 6:4, emphasizing its reference to a unique individual. It also explores the significance of 'ahad' in understanding the Shema and its call for exclusive devotion to God.

Matthew Thomas read through the entire Septuagint and New Testament in 2022. In this episode of the Biblical Languages Podcast, Kevin Grasso interviews Matthew about his experience and why others should consider doing it. *Note: in the episode, we repeatedly reference reading through the Septuagint, when in fact, Thomas' experience was reading through the Septuagint AND the Greek New Testament. If you're looking for ways to advance your Greek or Hebrew in 2023, join one of our free reading groups. For Hebrew, we're reading through the entire Hebrew Bible. For Greek, we're reading through the whole Greek New Testament and the whole Septuagint. Join us at community.biblingo.org.

This is a recording of a live discussion and Q&A with Dr. Kevin Grasso about our series on Key Terms in Pauline Theology. Kevin offers a summary and synthesis of  what was covered in the series, offers more of his own analyses of Greek terms and key texts, and answers questions from the live viewers. In this series, we interviewed expert guests on their research focusing on key terms on Pauline theology. These terms and the texts in which they appear have been the subject of centuries of debate, with thousands of pages devoted to each. The way we understand these terms has a massive impact on how we understand Paul’s letters and theology. We covered χριστός (Christ, Messiah) with Joshua Jipp and Matthew Novenson, πίστις (faith, trust, faithfulness) with Teresa Morgan, δικαιοσύνη (righteousness, justification) with James Prothro, νόμος (law, Torah) with John Collins, and Ισραήλ (Israel) with Jason Staples. In addition to these interviews, Dr. Kevin Grasso did a series of episodes on key texts in which these terms appear, showing how a close reading of the Greek, along with the tools provided by theoretical linguistics, can bring a lot of clarity. He covered Romans 10:4, Galatians 3:22, Romans 1:17, Romans 3:24, Romans 2:14, and Romans 2:28-29.

Who is truly a "Jew" in Romans 2:28-29? Does Paul essentially redefine what it means to be Jewish? And what do ellipsis and constituent negation have to do with circumcision? In order to better understand and translate these verses, Dr. Kevin Grasso unpacks three key characteristics of biblical Greek syntax: ellipsis, negated constituents, and contrastive focus. This is a bonus episode for our series on Key Terms in Pauline Theology. Go to biblingo.org/podcast to learn more and subscribe to the Biblical Languages Podcast. Show notes: - Basic Pragmatics Concepts: https://youtu.be/h1xtO_Ozxiw -  Matthew Thiessen, "Paul and the Gentile Problem": https://academic.oup.com/book/7322 - Andrew Carnie, "Syntax: A Generative Introduction": https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Syntax:+A+Generative+Introduction,+4th+Edition-p-9781119569237

Jason Staples, Assistant Teaching Prof. at NC State Univ. & author, discusses the meaning of Ισραήλ (Israel) in Paul with Kevin Grasso. They explore the difference between Israel and Jews in texts like Romans 2:13, Romans 9:19-22, and Romans 11:25-26. They challenge assumptions, analyze Paul's relationship with the prophets, reevaluate interpretations of Romans 2, and discuss Gentile inclusion in Paul's arguments. They emphasize that Israel includes both Jews and Gentiles who've received the Spirit, arguing against supersessionism.

How should we understand φύσει in Romans 2:14? Does it mean that the Gentiles "naturally" do what the Law requires, as suggested by most translations (e.g. ESV)? Or does it mean that Gentiles do not "naturally" have the Law, as suggested in translations like the CSB? And how does this distinction change what Paul is trying to communicate about Gentiles? In this short explanation, Dr. Kevin Grasso looks at how φύσει functions adverbially in other biblical Greek texts, as well as broader ancient Greek texts. He uses this analysis along with the context of the verse to better understand the meaning of the verse and how it should be translated. This is a bonus episode for our series on Key Terms in Pauline Theology. Go to biblingo.org/podcast to learn more and subscribe to the Biblical Languages Podcast.

In this episode of the Biblical Languages Podcast, Kevin Grasso talks with Dr. John Collins about the meaning of νόμος (Law or Torah) in Paul. A native of Ireland, Professor Collins was a professor of Hebrew Bible at the University of Chicago from 1991 until his arrival at Yale Divinity School in 2000. He previously taught at the University of Notre Dame. He has published widely on the subjects of apocalypticism, wisdom, Hellenistic Judaism, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and he has numerous scholarly accolades that would take far too long to enumerate. Here, we primarily discuss his book “The Invention of Judaism: Torah and Jewish Identity from Deuteronomy to Paul.” Kevin and John discuss various scholarly positions on Paul and the Law/Torah, the significance of apocalypticism, the Law of Moses vs. the Law of Christ, diaspora Jews vs. Palestinian Jews on Torah, Torah for Jews vs. Gentiles, the Messiah and Torah, and much more! As always, this episode is brought to you by Biblingo, the premier solution for learning, maintaining, and enjoying the biblical languages. Visit biblingo.org to learn more and start your 10-day free trial. If you enjoy this episode, be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app and leave us a review. You can also follow Biblingo on social media @biblingoapp to discuss the episode with us and other listeners.

How should we understand the word δικαιούμενοι in Romans 3:24? It's often translated as "justified", but here we argue for the translation "made righteous." In this short discussion, we first look at recent proposals for what this word means. We then present some linguistic tools that you can use to think through what words mean and how to interpret them. In light of these tools, we will take another look at justification language in Romans 3:24 and in Romans more broadly.   The Meaning of δικαιόω (Justify) in Paul with James Prothro: https://youtu.be/rDZTV4m5TUA Basic Semantic Concepts: https://youtu.be/Ul_4JWrx0O4 Kennedy & McNally on Scale Structure: https://semantics.uchicago.edu/kennedy/docs/km-scales05.pdf This is a bonus episode for our series on Key Terms in Pauline Theology. In this episode, Kevin dives into Romans 3:24 to show how the Greek can help us better understand how these terms relate, and ultimately better understand the text.  Go to biblingo.org/podcast to learn more and subscribe to the Biblical Languages Podcast.