An American Baptist missionary who teaches biblical Greek, a language that no one speaks.
Santa Marta confirms her reputation of being a multifaceted city, and soon may be considered very close to the Holy Land. Thanks to the work of Jonathan Boyd, a biblical language is being revived here in the city.
Jonathan, who is a Baptist missionary, has lived in Colombia for 10 years, the last seven of which have been here in the capital of Magdalena. He’s married and has four children.
The Boyd family serve in the Impacto Bíblico church.
He has a BA in missions and master’s degrees in biblical studies and divinity from Faith Baptist Theological Seminary in Ankeny, Iowa, U.S.A.
He loves studying the Bible and is passionate about sharing its message; for that reason he works in five languages: his native English, Spanish, biblical Greek and Hebrew and some Latin.
BIBLICAL GREEK
This language, also known as koine Greek, has been dead for almost 1,500 years. However, it was the language in which the New Testament was written.
For the last 20 years, Jonathan has studied this language that predates Byzantine, medieval and modern Greek. He practices reading the language between 15 and 20 minutes each day.
This is how the first two lines of the hymn of Santa Marta sound in ancient Greek:
Understanding this biblical language immerses him in the culture of the era, and he believes that it is essential for teaching the Word of God, which is his principal mission.
Few people are interested in learning a language like this one, but there are students in Santa Marta.
Because the New Testament is limited in scope, learning 319 vocabulary words and their conjugations enables one to read 80% of the New Testament.
HIS OTHER LANGUAGES
Being a missionary in Colombia has allowed him to perfect his Spanish on a daily basis. It’s hard for him to pronounce the costeñol of the samarios, but a coastal word like pelaos occasionally slips out in his speak.
He’s a man who transmits confidence and integrity; perhaps having the Bible in so many languages in his head has brought him closer to heaven.
At the present time, the use of Latin is limited to the Catholic Church and small groups that meet online
It might seem that Jonathan has already learned everything, but that’s not the case. Two years ago he began to study Latin, the language that died at the end of the medieval age. He studies the language to be able to read the church fathers, especially Saint Augustine.
Santa Marta isn’t just the oldest city in Colombia; it’s now a place in which a missionary revives one of the oldest languages of Christianity.
In Spanish: Jonathan Boyd, el profesor de una lengua muerta en Santa Marta.
