Hebrew/Greek Language Snobbery
1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
5 Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.
6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.
7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (II Corinthians 12)
There is a particular Hebraic Roots podcast that I listen to regularly. It’s from one of the very few Hebrew Roots ministries that I consider to stand upon a solid doctrinal foundation.
The hosts have taken a strong stance in relation to the abysmal state of the Hebrew Roots “movement.” And they have stood strong against much of the theological/doctrinal heresy in our movement. All of which I am extremely grateful for and encouraged by.
However …. :-)
They, at times, measure the validity of a person’s qualification to enter into Scriptural discussion by a person’s knowledge of, or lack thereof, relating to the original languages used in the Bible. Interestingly enough, only one of the hosts knows Hebrew and Greek enough to be, by them, considered worthy of scholarly conclusions worth considering. But somehow that little tidbit gets glossed over.
Recently, the one knowledgeable in the original languages put out a challenge/ultimatum. He said he was only willing to enter into deep/specific waters of theological discussions with someone who was fluent in Hebrew.
In all fairness, the challenge/ultimatum was directed at a particular area of discussion. But, from my perspective, the need for scholarly knowledge of biblical languages was superfluous to the topic.
However, it hasn’t been only in this one podcast. There has been a repeated emphasis upon the need/necessity of knowing the languages in order to adequately understand and interpret Scripture — at least on their level. And of course, you can take courses on Hebrew at their particular place of academia. And guess who is a teacher?
Let me be up front: I DETEST scholarly snobbery.
How can anyone, fairly, infer that a person should have a thorough (or even adequate) knowledge of the languages before they can ascertain the fuller intended meaning of Scripture?
So I got to thinking (which tends to get me into trouble) …
God must have known that the majority of His people, over the many centuries, would only have His Word in their particular languages. And surely, He must have known that the majority of His people would never, ever, have the opportunity to see, let alone study, the Scriptures in the original languages.
Consider this verse from Acts 4:13 —
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”
It’s fascinating to me that the early servants of God were similarly smacked down by the religious elite of their day. And yet, God somehow used these poor “ignorant” schmucks to turn the world upside down for Yeshua.
Are the original languages import? Yes, obviously. Do we need people thoroughly schooled in these languages? Again, yes, obviously. I praise God for those that have this capability. And yes, I do sit at the feet of scholars that know the languages. I do try to do my due diligence in all my studies.
But …
I do not, for one moment, believe that only those knowledgeable in the languages are qualified enough to be the sole dispensers worthy of expounding biblical truth.
To get where I coming from and where I’m going with all of this, you MUST please read my blog 20 Questions. Otherwise we’ll be here forever.
Here’s what I want us all to get a hold of.
God can and will, through the aid of the Holy Spirit, “open our eyes that [we} may see wondrous things out of [His] Torah.” (Psalm 119:18). If He can’t or won’t (except only by the knowledge of the original languages) then folks … we might as well pack it up and call it a day.
But instead of doing that …
I beg you to study the lives of some of God’s greatest servants. George Mueller for instance. Or even Spurgeon (who they admit had no formal training in biblical languages.). I for one, given a choice of whom to sit under, would choose Mueller and Spurgeon every which way come Sunday — oops, Shabbat.
When our lives equal or excel the life and ministry of the likes of a George Mueller or Spurgeon, maybe then we will have earned the right to brandish such unwarranted scholarly arrogance.
Until then I respectfully say …
Nope, better not say it :-)
Oh, by the way.
The Apostle Paul knew Hebrew and Greek very well. I think it’s safe to say better than most, if not all, of our Hebrew Roots scholars. But yet, God had to take him to the third heaven for some further instruction. And then, amazingly, there were no words for him to describe what he had seen and heard. Hebrew and Greek didn’t seem to help him then.
Perhaps our problem is that we are glorying in the wrong thing. Paul didn’t glory in his original language scholarship He gloried in his “infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon [him].”
And perhaps …
We all should take a lesson from Paul’s humility.