Proverbs 20:27 The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord
    that sheds light on one’s inmost being.

This verse exposes a characteristic of both major Biblical languages that can be very frustrating for speakers of other languages. Both Hebrew and Greek use the same word for spirit, breath, and wind, ruach in Hebrew and pneuma in Greek. In Hebrew it goes so far as to be a letter of their alphabet! At times that can be very meaningful, as in the renaming of Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah, because in both cases the spelling change was the addition of ruach, in this particular instance clearly meaning the Spirit of the Lord. In this verse in Proverbs it doesn’t seem nearly as clear. English translations generally go with “spirit,” but the Japanese translation I use says “breath,” somewhat to my shock. The grammar doesn’t seem to be that easy to sort out either, with both the Japanese and the ESV saying “the spirit/breath of man is the lamp of the Lord,” but the 1984 version of the NIV going with, “The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man.” Translation is not an exact science! That’s why we need the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit every time we read the Bible. The Bible is clear that there are plenty of lying spirits in the world, so we need to choose to place our spirit in submission to the Holy Spirit so that we won’t be led astray. There are plenty of “spiritual” people who aren’t controlled by the Holy Spirit! This whole issue makes me very grateful to be able to do my devotions in two languages, because I regularly get insight or clarity by comparing the two. That would probably be true for any two languages you could choose. Those who are limited to English still have a wide variety of translations they can read to accomplish much the same purpose. That’s one of the huge blessings of the Internet websites that let you read the Bible in multiple translations. That said, we’re back to the necessity of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. After all, He’s the Author of the whole book in the first place!

I was blessed to be raised with an awareness of this issue from before I started reading, actually. My father had gotten his ThM degree in Hebrew and his PhD degree in Greek, and he taught both languages to Japanese, in Japanese. It was not unusual for him to listen to a Japanese sermon, follow the Scripture in either Hebrew or Greek, and make notes in English. When I was baptized at age 7 the full Bible my parents got for me was RSV, because my father judged that it was the best balance of accuracy and readability at the time. I have used various translations since then, only recently going to the ESV in English, because it is what is paired with the Japanese in my current bilingual Bible. (My first bilingual full bible used the 1984 NIV, but I wore that out to the point that Ephesians falls out if I’m not careful!) Preaching bilingually keeps me focused on the meaning of what I’m reading and saying, and I’m grateful. However, the most important thing is again, listening to and depending on the Holy Spirit, and not any human translator or commentator, however helpful those might be at times. And of course, I’ve got to apply what He tells me, and not just give it intellectual assent.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I certainly didn’t expect to write on this when I started reading! Help me indeed hear what You are saying to me and what You want to say through me, so that Your Word may indeed accomplish everything for which You send it, (Isaiah 55:10-11) for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!