Problems in deciphering and translating.
There is also need for due caution on the part of the Christian as to accepting without question the interpretation made of the many inscriptions found in the diverse ancient languages.
In some cases, as with the Rosetta Stone and the Behistun Inscription, the decipherers of the languages have been given considerable insight into a previously unknown language by parallel presentations of that language alongside another known language.
Yet, it should not be expected that such helps solve all problems or allow for a full understanding of the language with all its shades of meaning and idiomatic expressions.
Even the understanding of the basic Bible languages, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, has progressed considerably in recent times, and these languages are still under study.
As to the inspired Word of God, we can rightly expect that the Bible’s Author would enable us to obtain the correct understanding of its message through the available translations into the modern languages. This is not the case, however, with the uninspired writings of the pagan nations.
Illustrating this need for caution and also manifesting again that an objective approach to the problems existing in the deciphering of the ancient inscriptions is often not as prominent as one might think, the book The Secret of the Hittites, by C. W. Ceram, contains the following information concerning a prominent Assyriologist who worked at decoding the “Hittite” language (1956, pp. 106-109):
“His work is absolutely phenomenal—a brilliant intermingling of wild blunders with remarkable perceptions . . . Some of his errors were supported by arguments so cogent that decades of study were necessary to overcome them. His ingenious reasoning was backed by such a wealth of philological learning that winnowing the chaff from the wheat was no easy affair.”
The writer then describes the strong obstinacy of this scholar about any modification of his findings; after many years he finally did agree to make some changes—only to change the very readings that later proved to be the correct ones!
In relating the violent dispute, fraught with personal recriminations, that arose between this scholar and another decipherer of the “Hittite” cuneiform, the author states:
“Yet the very fanaticism which brings on such quarrels is a necessary motive force if scholars are to make discoveries.”
Hence, although time and study have eliminated many errors in the understanding of ancient inscriptions, we do well to realize that further investigation may likely bring additional corrections.
The preeminence of the Bible as the source of reliable knowledge, truthful information, and sure guidance is enhanced by these facts.
As a body of written documents, the Bible gives us the clearest picture of man’s past, and it has reached us, not by excavation, but through its preservation by its Author, Jehovah God. It is “alive and exerts power” (Heb 4:12) and is “the word of the living and enduring God.” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like a blossom of grass; the grass becomes withered, and the flower falls off, but the saying of Jehovah endures forever.”—1Pe 1:23-25.
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