myth #2 about biblical language study

If you know a little Greek and Hebrew, you are qualified to make judgments about bible translations and pontificate about bible translation theory.

The latest book by Leyland Ryken Understanding English Bible Translation has unleashed a blog storm of commentary by numerous bible translation wannabes, some of whom have a passing familiarity with the relevant ancient languages but are not qualified in the least to talk about translation theory. These people should simply shut up. I know, that sounds harsh, but why should we endure endless rants by amateur linguists. I find the english bible translation wars an interesting feature of evangelical subculture. That is the only reason I read the stuff on the blogs.