I'd always heard that the New Testament was written in "Koine Greek," but I never really knew what that meant until this morning. "Koine Greek" basically means "Common Greek." During Jesus' day, there was Common Greek and there was Classical Greek. Common Greek was, of course, the language of the common people. Classical Greek was the fancy language of the erudite.
The difference between Common Greek and Classical Greek is something like the difference between conversational English and, say, what you would read in a King James' Bible.
Isn't that interesting? God could have used the fancy language, but He chose the common one.
If you've ever viewed the KJV Bible translation as more holy or pleasing to God than the "dumbed down versions," then you need to think about this.
Also, if you've ever complained about "The Message" paraphrase, you also need to think about this.
I'm not saying the KJV is a bad thing or that The Message is a great paraphrase. I'm not qualified to answer those questions. But I will say this: it's more important for you to understand the Bible than for it to sound fancy.
