This lesson is part of Mel Lawrenz’ “How to Study the Bible” series. If you know someone or a group who would like to follow along on this journey through Scripture, they can get more info and sign up to receive these essays via email here.

Do we need to know Hebrew and Greek in order to properly study the Bible?

We may have gotten that impression if we have listened to teachers and preachers who frequently refer to the “original” text of Scripture, telling us about all the meanings hidden from the eyes of people who do not know Hebrew or Greek.

This is tragic. Believers need to plunge into the study of the Bible, confident that the word of the eternal God—and its specific meanings—are available to us. Otherwise we will have divided the Christian community into the elites who know something like secret languages of God, and the masses who are dependent on those elites.

I speak as someone who did learn Hebrew and Greek in my training to become a pastor, and as someone who appreciates the finer points of Bible interpretation we get from the original languages. But a wise person told me a long time ago that it is not fair to a congregation if we continually allude to the meaning of the “original” biblical texts because all that does it to tell people that the Bible is a huge step removed from them. That is not true.

This is important. If you use a Bible translation that came from the diligent work of Bible scholars who know how to do the work of linguistics and textual analysis and translation, you are indeed holding the word of God in your hand. The vast and sweeping story of God and the human race in Scripture reveals the truth of God in the big, bold, repeated propositions. The fine points are important, but minor points must always be interpreted in the light of major points. And the major meaning of Scripture, including specific passages, can be and are rendered well in careful, responsible, translations.

What about all the allusions to Hebrew and Greek (and Aramaic) meanings in the Bible study tools we use? What are we to make of the commentaries, Bible dictionaries, and other tools that speak about the meanings we get from the original languages? What do we do when different tools make differing points about the original languages?

If you do not know Hebrew or Greek, you are in no position to judge which authority to agree with. The best thing you can do is to use a reputable commentary or Bible dictionary or handbook in the first place. Take the benefit of what those Bible scholars have presented, but always place the finer points in subservience to the major points.

Note that some commentaries go from one Hebrew or Greek phrase to the next. These “technical” commentaries may be awkward to use if one does not know Hebrew or Greek. Most commentaries will discuss the meaning of the original language where necessary.

What about the places where our study Bibles or other tools mention variations in the manuscripts we have of the Bible? What are we to make of a footnote like “some manuscripts have…”? Those notes come from Bible scholars who believe it is important to note that there is an alternative wording in the Hebrew or Greek of a passage. These instances are few and far between, and never does a major doctrine of the faith hang on which Hebrew or Greek language wording was most-likely original. We have some textual variants because scholars are working with the thousands of Hebrew and Greek manuscripts that we have from the ancient world. They compare them with great precision in order to determine what the original text would have been (since no one possesses the papyrus Matthew or Paul or James wrote on).

For thousands of years the Bible has been a revelation of God that has transformed lives and shaped history. The main meanings of the word of God has held people together with their specific revelations, even though there are doctrinal differences between believers.

The Bible itself says that God was intent to speak to us through the prophets and the apostles, and through his Son, the Lord Jesus, and with the inspiration and illumination of the Holy Spirit. The books of the Bible may have been written in Hebrew and Greek and Aramaic, but their meaning is available to us all, and we benefit from the diligent work of Bible scholars who guide us on the fine points.

Mel Lawrenz trains an international network of Christian leaders, ministry pioneers, and thought-leaders. He served as senior pastor of Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, for ten years and now serves as Elmbrook’s minister at large. He has a Ph.D. in the history of Christian thought and is on the adjunct faculty of Trinity International University. Mel is the author of 18 books, the latest, How to Understand the Bible—A Simple Guide and Spiritual Influence: the Hidden Power Behind Leadership (Zondervan, 2012). See more of Mel’s writing at WordWay.