I submit the authors were capable of writing more clearly.
My understanding is that they did indeed write clearly (peace to you all!)... as such clarity applied to the times they were living in and circumstances they were living under.
My dear husband and I were just talking a day or so ago about the "evolution" of language, particularly the English language. He was taken aback that "Presidents Day" often no longer contains the possessive apostrophe. After trying to reason with him that the term can be stated without the possessive (i.e., with, it stands for a day FOR Presidents - you know, their day- without, it just means a day OF Presidents, and pretty much any KIND of president at that, not just governmental. He didn't by it, BTW), we started talking about how language evolves anyway. Always has.
And so it's really... ummmmmm... interesting to watch folks try to "figure out" what writers meant at least 2,000 years ago (if not, many, many years more)... AND in languages more than 3, 4, sometimes 4 or more times removed from English!! Not just Hebrew, but Egyptian, Assyrian, Chaldean/Babylonian, Aramaic, Greek, Latin (Roman), Spanish, German, Old English, and Middle English... and probably more if we accept that there may have been local/tribal dialects, customs, and cultures involved... before we EVER get to today's English! There were probably even forms of what we term to today as "Spanglish" (i.e., Hebryptian, Assyrianolonian, Aramagreek, Greekoman, Latinanish, etc.).
In additon, one can study the writings all one wishes to... there is STILL the false styluses of the copyists, the agendas of those who commissioned the copying, as well as human error! Not to mention the similarity in stroke and appearance of alphabetic symbols between one or more language... which mean absolutely different things between them!
So, how can we possibly know? We know because "scholars agree"? Well, okay, if that sits well with one, and I guess if it really isn't that important, it can sit well. For me, I would much rather hear it from the horse's mouth... or at least someone who was there... and/or had something to DO with what was written, perhaps even commissioned. Brings the whole "potential for error in understanding what was truly meant... or stated" thing WAY down, IMHO.
But, then, that's just me. Personally, the whole "I'm SO sick of folks lying to me" thing really got to me. I wanted the truth... so I turned to the Truth. Just couldn't "see" any other Way to get it. Glad I did.
Again, peace to you all!
A slave of Christ,
SA, who wonders why man always needs to make certain things so difficult for himself...