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Introducing… Emphatic Negations: What Are They?

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Have you ever wondered if knowing a thing or two about the Bible’s original languages would help aid your personal Bible study? Wish you knew more about them?

Well, this is how we aim to serve you with our new Biblical language series of blogs. So far, we have looked at the Hebrew in Psalm 23.

Starting next week, Justin Alfred will begin a new series relating to “emphatic negations” in the original languages.  Justin will provide some introductory material that will be a bit more technical than the last series on Psalm 23.  Those of you familiar with grammatical structures won’t have any problem.  But if you are like me and struggle a bit with grammatical rules (I was sick the week they taught grammar in grade school :)), I would just exhort you to stick with it—even if it doesn’t make 100% sense at this point.  The reason is that there will be a lot of very fruitful application when Justin gets into some of the examples.  You might not remember all of the Greek particulars, but you will benefit greatly from the exegesis of the translated English text.  As an example, in Romans 4:8 we see the following:

“Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.” (NKJV – emphasis added)

The English-translated “not” is originally written in what is called the “emphatic negative.”  This means that in the context of Romans 4, a person justified by faith in Christ, will NOT have sin imputed to them—ever, or as I like to put it “no no never ever, nuh uh uh!”  Well, you can see why Justin is our language expert and not me!

So please join us starting next week to begin a journey of some of the more impactful emphatic negations in the Biblical text. We pray that it serves you well.

Comments

  3. Thank you! This is going to be awesome! Studying the Bible through the original languages through tools like Blue Letter Bible has changed my Christian life. The Bible has become more alive than ever.

  6. I am so looking forward to this! What a great opportunity to spice up my study time, learn new things, and keep this heart and brain active in Christ. And I am so ever, eternally, emphatically grateful to the Lord Jesus that God will “never, ever, no, nuh-uh” impute sin to me because of my faith in Christ. Thank you, Blue Letter Bible and Jim Milligan! 🙂

    It’s another beautiful day in Portland, Oregon.

  7. I love it…and I also can’t wait to get started! Thanks for explaining what emphatic negations are, and for the encouragement to delve into the challenge. Pastor Justin’s work has given me a new appreciation for the complexity of Scripture. What other book can one study for a lifetime and still have nuances to discover? A Jewish friend once told me that the Jewish people consider Scripture to be like a cut diamond held up to the light – as it catches the light, it continually reveals new beauty. I look forward to discovering new beauty through this study!

  9. Brother Jim : Shalom to all , to all that posted ; Excellant … allways Eagar to Learn … !!! … We as Christians are Suppose to Imatate in likeness and Actions of Yeshua Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior ( Mirror Him )… Psalms147:1-5 … James1:21-27 KJV … !!! … Why i Put a post on the Man in Linen … with an * Inkhorn * by his Side * Was and is Jesus * ? 🙂 !!! Your * Inkhorn * is Posting * Testimony 4 Christo * with your laptop or computer …( All around the World ) ??? … Rev.14:6 KJV … * Languages in Translations of the Bible is Very Important … as languages Vary … so Do Translations … and Meanings … of Scripture …? !!! … How Blessed we are to Have Help from B.L.B. to Bless God*s Children … to Grow with in the Knowledge of God our Father through Christ … in Truth and Love …!!! … I Love you all in Christ … Christ and our Father Loved us First … 1John4:18-21 KJV … Thanks Praise Glory Blessings Honour to God through Christ … amen 🙂 shalom bye !!!…

    • Shalom to all , My Love is Not my Own … My Love comes from The Father and his Christ … By * Reading and Hearing … the * Word of God * … I Get Love from God to Love myself and to Give to Others … !!! … In Humility and Submission to God*s Spirit … Holy Spirit … I Have Learned … ( It*s Backwards … The Kingdom of God is Closed to those that think they are a God to themselves … John10:34-35 … ??? !!! …Come as a CHILD … Matt.18:1-6 …)…!!! … Please Read your * Bible * it*s Your Connection to God … Our Maker … !!! Letting it Collect Dust … Is a Shame … !!! … Faith Hope Peace Mercy Love from Mount Zion … amen shalom bye !!!…

  10. So if your interpretation of the Scripture in the original Greek/Hebrew cause you to translate the Scripture then is that ok? I would say no. Proverbs 21:2. Do you believe that God has given you His Word in the language you can read? Just saying the caution should be taught when going down this path. Most of the time it deteriorates a person’s faith in the Word of God.

    • It’s true that caution should be used in handling the Word. You don’t want to cause others to stumble because you read your own ideas into what the Scripture says.

      But, even if I were fluent in Greek/Hebrew, I would be translating the scripture in my mind, as I read it, because my first language is not Greek/Hebrew. By your logic, it would not “be ok” for me to even read the Word. I don’t think that’s what Proverbs 21:2 is talking about.

    • Chris,

      i respectfully disagree with you. I have never seen a case where studying the Bible in its original languages “deteriorates a person’s faith in the Word of God.” How could that even happen? Actually, the opposite is true. Learning the meanings and nuances of words as they were originally intended would increase one’s knowledge and faith. In addition, whatever version of the Bible you are now reading is the result of someone’s interpretation of the original languages, so your argument doesn’t hold because that would mean that your faith has been deteriorated.

      In Christ~
      Barbara

    • Chris, I agree with you about the divine origin of the Word, but you must remember that scripture was originally wirtten in a language different than English and those writtings were as declared in 2 Peter 1:21, the translations were not. So to study the original languages would be an act of preservation of the Word of God and therefore a building of ones faith. Even if we are unfaithful God is still faithful towards us, His faithfullness never changes. Our’s is subject to us and therefore changes, we must train ourselves in the Word to develope an unwavering faith. Hope this edifies you. Thanks for your comment, iron sharpens iron man. Keep the faith Bro. – Dan

  11. I’m looking forward to this series. Pastor Justin is a great teacher (and also answers the question: what would Foghorn Leghorn sound like if he were a believer).

    • Frank, That’s too funny, now I can’t get that image and voice out of my mind. Good sense of humor, God Bless. – Dan

  12. I have been enormously blessed since discovering Blue Letter Bible several years ago, especially with the Greek and Hebrew Lexicon it provides. Studying His Word in the original language has brought me so much nearer to YHWH and any study that examines the original language and the context in which it is written is well worth one’s time.
    In response to Jim’s great essay above.

    Romans 4:8, “Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”(NKJV) This is a referring back to David’s Psalm 32:1-2. It goes on to say in v.5 that David had to confess his sins first:

    Psalm 32:5:
    I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah (NKJV)

    John confirms David’s testimony in 1 John 1:9-10
    If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

    This is to be a daily continual confessing of our sins, a continual examination of our lives to see how we are lining up with Christ’s example.

    James 5:16
    Confess [your] trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

    And Paul confirms:
    1 Thessalonians 5:17 says: pray without ceasing,

    Selah