Let the Bible convert your worldview, not accommodate it.

To demonstrate the importance of interpreting the Biblical text from within its worldview rather than our own, let's use the word "faith," as an example. In modern Western thinking, it is commonly understood as an abstract idea rooted in mental belief. However, in ancient Hebrew thinking, it is about the concrete action of being firm and steady in one's position, such as we see in the following passage where the word emunah, usually translated as "faith," is here, translated as "steady."

Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. (Exodus 17:11–13, ESV)

The Hebrew word emunah is derived from the root aman, which is usually translated as "believe," such as it is in Genesis 15:6 where it states that, "Abram believed YHWH." Within our cultural worldview, this is understood to mean that Abram intellectually accepted that YHWH would do what he promised. Again, this abstract interpretation fails to capture the concrete meaning embedded in its original cultural context, which can be seen in the following passage where this root word is translated as "firm."

I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat of honor for the house of his father. (Isaiah 22:23, NIV)

Our modern Bibles are filled with many modern abstract terms like faith, believe, hope, bless, holy, love, hate and a myriad of others. When we come across such words, we should be prepared to use the resources available to us to uncover the true concrete meaning behind these terms. To do otherwise is to perpetuate the error of viewing the Bible from our modern worldview rather than from the worldview of those who wrote it.

I have invested twenty years of my life into learning the culture and philosophy of the people of the Bible and have incorporated what I have learned into a series of resources that will assist you in taking your biblical studies to the next level. If you'd like to learn more and go beyond the translations, click the link below.