Recommendation

Recommendation
In his book, Introduction to Biblical languages, Dr Franklin Jabini contributes creatively to the growing collection of resources that give theology students access to the Bible in its original languages without struggling through one or two years of Hebrew and Greek grammar. By introducing students to two open access internet resources, E-Sword and The Word, he guides them through the first steps of interpreting the original Greek and Hebrew texts of the Bible. Traditional grammar courses in Greek and Hebrew for theology students produce a small number of Bible translators and some language specialists, but not many church ministers who regularly use the Hebrew Bible and the Greek New Testament to prepare sermons and Bible studies. This book aims at achieving the latter objective. By opting for two free internet resources, Dr Jabini’s approach is eminently sensible, especially for students in church communities across the global South with limited funds and limited access to Greek and Hebrew specialists.
Direct engagement with the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures by leaders of a Christian community is an essential prerequisite for a deeply contextual theology. No authentic self-theologising can take place without this engagement, since it enables a community to make creative connections between its own world and the life-worlds of Israel, Jesus and the apostles. This book will help theological students become competent users of these resources and thereby (hopefully) life-long creative interpreters of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures within their contexts.
Prof J.N.J. (Klippies) Kritzinger
University of South Africa