Gentlemen, be seated. (Luke 5)

In many cultures, teachers sit when addressing their audiences. For example, in the synagogues of our Lord's day, everyone would stand to hear the day's reading from the sacred scroll. Then, the teacher would sit down, and begin to apply the scripture. The great Native American leader Sitting Bull was a "wise teacher." The buffalo bull was the emblem of wisdom, and teachers sat when giving instruction.

Luk 5:3 İki tekneden Simun'a ait olanına binen İsa, ona kıyıdan biraz açılmasını rica etti. Sonra oturdu, teknenin içinden halka öğretmeye devam etti.

And a few words:

• binmek -- to mount (a horse, camel, etc.); to get in (a car); to get on (a bicycle, motorcycle, etc.); to board (a ship, train, airplane); to get on (a mobile thing such as a seesaw, swing, etc.); (for an animal) to enter (a truck, trailer, etc.)
• inmek -- the opposite of binmek.
  
• oturmak -- sit, seat, reside
  
• tekne -- boat.
• teknenin içinden -- from the boat's inside
• halka -- to the people
• öğretmeye devam etti -- he a teaching gave
  

Jesus got into the boat, then sat down to teach.

American preachers are noteworthy for lively pulpit mannerisms. After the fall of the Soviet Union, a number of well-wishers from the States flocked to the former Soviet republics with a message of new hope. And the local Orthodox priests began to adopt their peripatetic[1] style of oration.

Yes, an exciting message can make it hard to keep one's seat. Still, I wonder if some of the reverence due God's word and its proclamation is lost when preachers act like cheerleaders.

And, I'd like to ask my Turkish readers -- do your imams sit, walk, or stand, when they preach? Thanks!

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[1] from the Greek -- means "walking around."