I am closing in on the last assignments of my first class in biblical Hebrew and I can say, it has been a joy to study. I cannot say that I have not wrestled with the grammar (and lost) or fought with my own inability to learn quickly due to my ever-diminishing memory. Yet, when I clumsily translated my first biblical sentences (flipping through my lexicon and rechecking against grammatical rules) I was overcome by a sense of awe, that God, the Creator of the universe would speak to lowly men in a language they can comprehend.
I have often heard seminary students and pastors lament over having to undergo the torture of learning Hebrew and Greek in seminary. It is almost as if we view the learning of biblical languages as antiquated, old-school and irrelevant. I was somewhat discouraged by a conversation with a colleague, also in seminary and studying Hebrew. We decided that perhaps it is not as necessary to "master" these languages as it might have been in the past. After all, we already have an abundance of translations and commentaries to help us with the Text - HOW WRONG WE WERE!
Today, we have all the exegetical tools (software), printed books, grammars, online resources and so much more to make learning the biblical languages not only achievable to the average student but also enjoyable. Still we complain at this labor. Here, I must consider the words of Martin Luther.
Since it becomes Christians then to make good use of the Holy Scriptures as their one and only book and it is a sin and a shame not to know our own book or to understand the speech and words of our God, it is a still greater sin and loss that we do not study languages, especially in these days when God is offering and giving us men and books and every facility and inducement to this study, and desires his Bible to be an open book. O how happy the dear fathers would have been if they had had our opportunity to study the languages and come thus prepared to the Holy Scriptures! What great toil and effort it cost them to gather up a few crumbs, while we with half the labor--yes, almost without any labor at all--can acquire the whole loaf! O how their effort puts our indolence to shame! Yes, how sternly God will judge our lethargy and ingratitude!
An excerpt from: "To the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany That They Establish and Maintain Christian Schools" (1524)
As I was finishing my study of the Hebrew construction chain, I received great encouragement from one of my favorite expositors of God's Holy Word, John Piper. It was an article he had written in 1983 and included at the end of the chapter in my Hebrew grammar. It is entitled, Brothers, Bitzer Was a Banker!
I have quoted portions of this article that resonated with me greatly and I have given the link to two versions of his article at the end of this post. I have to say that I am so thankful to Piper for writing this article and to my professor and mentor Dr. Blake Hearson for his encouragement and expertise in the Semitic languages.
The more a theologian detaches himself from the basic Hebrew and Greek text of Holy Scripture, the more he detaches himself from the source of real theology! And real theology is the foundation of a fruitful and blessed ministry! - Heinrich Bitzer
Weakness in Greek and Hebrew also gives rise to exegetical imprecision and carelessness. And exegetical imprecision is the mother of liberal theology. Where pastors by and large can no longer articulate and defend doctrine by a reasonable and careful appeal to the original meaning of biblical texts, they will tend to become close-minded traditionalists who clutch their inherited ideas, or open-ended relativists who don't put much stock in doctrinal formulations. In both cases the succeeding generations will be theologically impoverished and susceptible to error.
...when we fail to stress the use of Greek and Hebrew as crucial in the pastoral office we create an eldership of professional academicians. We surrender to the seminaries and universities essential dimensions of our responsibility as elders and overseers of the churches.
The theory is good: continuing education makes for better ministers. But where can you do a D.Min. in Hebrew language and exegesis? Yet what is more important and more deeply practical for the pastoral office than advancing in Greek and Hebrew exegesis by which we mine God's treasures?
"If languages had not made me positive as to the true meaning of the word, I might have still remained a chained monk, engaged in quietly preaching Romish errors in the obscurity of a cloister; the pope, the sophists, and their anti-Christian empire would have remained unshaken"
"It is certain that unless languages remain, the Gospel must finally perish."
- Martin Luther
Modified version from John Piper's Book: www.uu.edu/centers/biblical/documents/piper/bitzer.pdf
Version that appeared in The Standard, June 1983. http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Appeal/appeal.html