My women’s Bible study focused on Revelation this spring. Revelation, the final book in the Bible, opens with this encouragement:
“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3).
Students of Scripture are promised a unique blessing for Revelation aloud. Taking this to heart, my study members and I committed to reading all of Revelation aloud over the course of our twelve-week study. This required us to face two fears: 1) the fear of studying this difficult book and 2) the fear of mispronouncing difficult words.
Even strong readers are terrified into stuttering when asked to read a passage of Scripture aloud. It is right to respect the Bible, but we too often act as though mispronouncing part of it is a sin. I encouraged my study members that God commands us to read his Word seriously—not pronounce its words perfectly.
While perusing the foreword of William Strunk’s Elements of Style earlier this week, I found the perfect quote to share at my next Bible study. Author E.B. White, reflecting on Strunk as a professor, writes:
“He felt it was worse to be irresolute than to be wrong. I remember a day in class when he leaned far forward, in his characteristic pose—the pose of a man about to impart a secret—and croaked, ‘If you don’t know how to pronounce a word, say it loud! If you don’t know how to pronounce a word, say it loud!’” This comical piece of advice struck me as sound at the time, and I still respect it. Why compound ignorance with inaudibility? Why run and hide?”
– E.B. White, Introduction to 1979 Edition of The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.
This is how I will open my next Bible study: “If you don’t know how to pronounce a word, say it loud!” Be bold! Guess confidently at the names of the seven churches of Asia Minor. Take a wild stab at the names of long-dead kings. March confidently through the names of ancient places and battlegrounds.
No Bible teacher I know has thought less of a student for mispronouncing a tricky or unfamiliar name. Your fellow students are probably also unsure. Be their Moses, leading them through the desert of confusion to, at last, the promised land of proper pronunciation. Don’t let timidity keep you from speaking Scripture. As choir directors often say, “I can’t fix notes I can’t hear!” In the same way, your Bible teachers can’t help you pronounce words you won’t read.
Remember Revelation 1:3. Trust that reading Scripture aloud will bring blessing—not embarrassment. Reading Scripture aloud despite your nervousness or uncertainty is an act of obedience. Read boldly, believing that God’s word will not return to him empty no matter how badly you pronounce “Thyatira” or “Nebuchadnezzar” or (horror of horrors!) “Kibroth-hattaavah.”
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10–11).
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Ryanne Molinari 