“So they set out, they and all their armies, many people, in number like the sand at the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.”-Joshua 11:4
In verse 4, we’re told the number of Canaanites was so great they were “like the sand at the seashore”.
It should be obvious that this is simply an idiomatic expression, one of many contained in the Bible.
This actually represents a perfect opportunity to a address a controversial question folks often ask.
Namely, should we take the Bible literally?
The answer is YES but with a caveat.
And that caveat is that we have to define what we mean when we say “literally”.
Because here’s the truth.
There’s no such thing as a direct word-for-word translation in the Bible.
It simply doesn’t exist.
Because if we did literally translate the Bible word-for-word from the original languages, it wouldn’t make any sense at all.
The reason is because each language has its own unique grammar structure where their verbs and adjectives are located in different places in relation to the nouns they’re modifying or the prepositions they’re connected to.
And in some languages, prepositions aren’t used at all.
Consider Latin for example.
In Latin, all of the adjectives and verbs are bunched together and based on the context, the reacher has to determine which verb and adjective is modifying which noun.
Also, did you know that Hebrew does NOT have any past or future tenses?
That’s right.
Hebrew only has perfect and imperfect tenses and these are different than the present and future tenses in our English.
We have to understand that every language has words unique to their culture that don’t have their direct equivalents in other languages
The Hebrew word “shalom” is a perfect example of this.
Most of our English Bibles translate SHALOM to mean “grace” or “peace” but the word has so many other meanings.
In fact, it would be more correct to categorize the word “Shalom” as a concept or an idea rather than just a word.
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