Practicing What He Preached

In 1962, as a student in Jerusalem, I found my church home at the Narkis Street Baptist Church. Dr. Bob Lindsey was the pastor of this small congregation of about twenty-five people. I particularly enjoyed his Bible studies before the worship service.

What caught my attention was his approach to studying the Gospels. He had been preparing a new Hebrew translation of the New Testament for the Hebrew-speaking, Christian congregations in Israel. As he translated the Greek synoptic Gospels, he discovered, to his amazement, that their word order and idiom were more like Hebrew than Greek. This convinced him that the original Life of Jesus had been written in Hebrew. Consequently, when studying a saying of Jesus, he always liked to ask, “What did Jesus say in Hebrew?”

Lindsey in a moment of reflection (circa 1975–1980; photo: Kurt Ben-Joseph). Following the death of Robert L. Lindsey on May 31, 1995, Jerusalem Perspective magazine published a memorial issue (October-December 1995, No. 49). Included in that issue were eight tributes to Lindsey written by his colleagues and students, including that of Halvor Ronning above. “How to Know Jesus? Follow Lindsey!” by David Flusser “Blessed Be the Faithful Judge!” by David Bivin “The Jesus Who Changes People’s Lives!” by Steven Notley “To My Teacher, Pastor and Beloved Friend” by Brad Young “A Doer of His Father’s Will” by Joseph Frankovic “Excerpts from a Eulogy” by Ken Mullican “Jesus at the Center” by Dwight Pryor