A fascinating article in the Wall Street Journal asks this question to begin: "Do the languages we speak shape the way we think?" The short answer: yes.
The article provides several examples from recent studies that demonstrate that our native tongue plays a significant role in how we think about the world. Obviously, this research has huge implications for the study of Scripture.
I don't desire to sound elitist. Everyone can come to the scriptures and through careful study (even in English) glean something from the text. But we must always be aware of the ancient text that has been translated for us into our own language. We must see that learning the biblical languages is important! If we want to understand the Scriptures better we must make an effort to learn the languages.
Pastors and scholars will have more time and perhaps interest in this endeavor. But if we are to correctly understand the Bible we must make the effort to, at the very least familiarize ourselves with the biblical languages and how they function. One example from the article pointed out that when people were asked to place pictures showing a sequence of events, English speakers arranged the pictures left to right and Hebrew speakers right to left. That's a pretty minor difference but probably just the beginning of many significant differences between speakers of Hebrew and speakers of English. Logos Bible software has created a resource to help every Bible student develop their language skills called Learn to Use Biblical Greek and Hebrew with Logos Bible Software. Check it out.
If this new research is correct, then Bible colleges and seminaries that do not require students to learn Greek and Hebrew are doing their students and the church a great disservice. These institutions need to look carefully at this current research and redouble their efforts to equip pastors and teachers for correctly handling the ancient text.
If language shapes the way we think then D.A. Carson's advice concerning word-study fallacies from his book Exegetical Fallacies is exceedingly appropriate: "The solution, of course, is to learn more Greek, not less, and to gain at least a rudimentary knowledge of linguistics" p. 64. Obviously this advice applies to Hebrew as well.
How can you grow in your knowledge of the scriptures by becoming more familiar with the biblical languages? What steps can you take to explore the Bible in it's original languages?
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