Learn to Read the Bible in the Original Hebrew and Greek Languages

is it worth the investment to learn biblical languages absolutely I think it's absolutely essential that you need to have an understanding of the language in which the text was written in order to see the nuances the texture of what God has revealed in his word think of buying shares you have met someone who has invested heavily in a company and regrets it sure lots of people like that have you ever met someone who's invested heavily in learning biblical languages and has regretted it I think that's pretty unlikely pastors and scholars since the time of the Apostles have urged the study of Hebrew and Greek as crucial for proper teaching within the local church writing from Bethlehem the Christian scholar Jerome encouraged the study of Hebrew to subdue the promptings of sin I put myself in the hands of one of the Brethren who had been a Hebrew before his conversion and asked him to teach me his language from Africa the bishop Augustine of Hippo urged his lay leaders to study both Greek and Hebrew those men I teach who speak the common tongue need two other languages for the knowledge of Scripture Hebrew and Greek the knowledge of these languages is necessary on account of the diversities among translators years later one of the primary features of the Protestant Reformation would be a revaluation of the biblical languages as Martin Luther wrote for the devil smelt a rat and perceived that if the languages of the Bible were revived a hole would be knocked in his kingdom which he could not easily stop up again let us be sure of this we will not long preserve the gospel without the languages the languages are the sheath in which this sword of the Spirit is contained similar sentiments were voiced by leaders of revival and Reformation within English and American Protestantism do I understand the language of the old and new testaments can I translate into English just one of David's Psalms if not how many years did I spend at school what was I doing all those years how do I expect to explain the Bible let alone defend it against all opponents every minister should aim at a tolerable proficiency both in the Hebrew and the Greek these two languages will give him a library at a small expense and inexhaustible thesaurus a mine of spiritual wealth to these original languages is always the final appeal the biblical languages while often neglected by the modern pastor must be returned to their rightful home not the Academy but the church this emphasis on the biblical language started in the early church was reaffirmed at the Reformation and remains no less important today it's a very earthy book it's not written throughout by great scholars but by people talking to ordinary believers in churches and throughout the ancient world and so to be able to see the earthy ways in which they communicated the gospel in their day very quickly by understanding the Greek in the Hebrew idioms that were used and my preaching and my pastoral ministry can also have that same depth and a resting clarity when I was at Philip College we had to learn Greek Hebrew was optional retrospectively I wish I'd learned Hebrew at college because it would have saved me a lot of time now I'm kind of playing catch-up with Hebrew my Greek is okay but my Hebrew in some elementary and I'm trying to learn Hebrew through the Bible mesh project there are many people who would love to have the privilege of being able to learn biblical languages and can't and I think that means that those who can really should consider very seriously doing so John 1:5 just a short example of how my own understanding has been deepened or impacted by it the light shines in the darkness the darkness has not understood it mastered it overcome it you get various translations I think just by doing the work on the verb you see that the darkness can't overcome it in the sense of conquer it the darkness has not understood it because the light of Christ has been resisted by the blindness of human hearts and so if you take the two together you get mastered really to overcome is to master something to understand something is to master it you might master New Testament Greek for example but just in that one verb there you are five verses into a gospel you have a dimension of understanding about the relationship of truth and darkness that you wouldn't have if you just chose one of the English translations answer the timeless call take up the scriptures in their original languages you

Channel: BibleMesh

Views: 28,701

Rating: 4.8536587 out of 5

Keywords: Bible (Religious Text)

Id: KR_L-pXzLtc

Length: 5min 31sec (331 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 22 2013