I'm in the process of refreshing my Greek so that I can spend more time reading the New Testament in the original language. Right now I'm translating the Gospel of John and made an interesting discovery. The NIV renders John 1:11 like this: He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. But verse 11 literally reads: To His own He came, and His own He they did not receive.
John seems to be emphasising a point with the use of idioi autov. I get the sense that John is amazed, flabbergasted in fact, that His own, the Jewish nation, rejected He - Jesus, the promised One of God! This emphasis doesn't really come out in the the English translations I've looked at. But it hits you right between the eyes when read in the Greek.
A friend once questioned the reasoning why the seminaries taught Hebrew and Greek. He said, "There are plenty of English translations of the Old and New Testaments. Why learn the languages?" My little "aha" moment the other day simply reinforced the need for pastors to be able to read the Scriptures in the original languages. This is the joy of digging in the Scriptures. You never know what you'll find but you're sure to be blessed!
