TP 15

Something happened in the bus today that was both fantastic and terrible (not at the same time). Before you can understand what I am going to say, and in order to relate to it, there needs to be a short(ish) introduction to the matter at hand.

I meet with my supervisor and one other PhD student to read Greek New Testament and to talk about some pieces of literature we have been reading biweekly. They both have so beautiful Greek NTs with wide margins, nice fonts, and most importantly - they look like they have been used. Maybe it is just me, but when I see people carrying their Hebrew Bibles or Greek New Testaments, I subconsciously have to inspect how worn they (the Bibles, not the scholars) are.

I am very proud of my Finnish Bible that has been falling apart the last decade or so (mostly on the NT side), but obviously I cannot use it here in the UK. I left my old trusty NA27 back home and brought only the 2-in-1 Biblia Sacra with me. I thought it would be handy having both the Hebrew OT and Greek NT in one, and there was only so much I could take into plane or ship here. The problem? It is so new (I just got it this spring) that it lacks all academic credibility (besides being really big).

Well, today in the bus on my way home I was reading Mark 8, and I noticed a cross-reference to 1 Chronicles. When I flipped there two pages came off. My first reaction was, "Wow, finally I am becoming a true scholar!" Sadly, almost instantly the joy turned into sorrow over my pricey Bible, especially because I knew deep down there that it was falling apart either because of me misusing it, or simply because it was not bound properly.

The saddest thing is that I know it matters very little how used my Bible looks like...