In Our Own Language

For many years after the creation of the human family, everyone spoke the same language. After a while, though, folks became so disobedient to God that He caused them to start speaking different languages (read Genesis 11:1-9). Today, if you want to understand a message from someone who speaks a different language, you must get that message by "translation." This simply means bringing thoughts from one language into another. If someone says: "Buenos dias," and you do not speak Spanish, someone must tell you that this means: "Good day." That's translation.

When the Bible first was written by the people God selected to do this great work, it was written in languages that most of us do not read. The 39 books of the Old Testament were written mainly in the Hebrew language (with some Aramaic). The 27 New Testament books were in Greek. The Hebrew language looks very strange. The words are read from right-to-left—just opposite from the way we read. Sometimes Greek words look a little like English.

For hundreds of years, language scholars have worked hard to translate the message of the Bible so that people who want to know God's Word can read it in their own language. The Bible has been translated more than any other book in the history of the world! It has been put into about 2,000 languages, which cover most of the world's people. How thankful we should be that we can read these wonderful Scriptures.

---

Copyright © 2014 Apologetics Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

*Please keep in mind that Discovery articles are written for 3rd-6th graders.

This document may be copied, on the condition that it will not be republished in print unless otherwise stated below, and will not be used for any commercial purpose, as long as the following stipulations are observed: (1) Apologetics Press must be designated as the original publisher; (2) the specific Apologetics Press Web site URL must be noted; (3) any references, footnotes, or endnotes that accompany the article must be included with any written reproduction of the article; (4) textual alterations of any kind are strictly forbidden; (5) Some illustrations (e.g., photographs, charts, graphics, etc.) are not the intellectual property of Apologetics Press and as such cannot be reproduced from our site without consent from the person or organization that maintains those intellectual rights; (6) serialization of written material (e.g., running an article in several parts) is permitted, as long as the whole of the material is made available, without editing, in a reasonable length of time; (7) articles, in whole or in part, may not be offered for sale or included in items offered for sale; and (8) articles may be reproduced in electronic form for posting on Web sites pending they are not edited or altered from their original written content and that credit is given to Apologetics Press, including the web location from which the articles were taken. Further, documents may not be copied without source statements (title, author, journal title), and the address of the publisher and owner of rights, as listed below.

For catalog, samples, or further information, contact:

Apologetics Press
230 Landmark Drive
Montgomery, Alabama 36117
U.S.A.
Phone (334) 272-8558

http://www.apologeticspress.org