Why should a man preparing to be a faithful preacher and pastor give special attention to the study of Koine Greek and Classical Hebrew? Does he need to know these archaic languages in order to be a faithful preacher and pastor? The simple answer to this question is yes. Only by mastering them will he be able to rightly to handle the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15). The validity of this claim rests on two factors: First, the divine role and function of Scripture; and second, the use of Scripture in preaching.

The first reason a man preparing for ministry should study Greek and Hebrew rests on the divine role and function of Scripture. The divine role and function of Scripture contains three interrelated elements: 1) the nature of Scripture; 2) the authority of Scripture; 3) the use of Scripture in the Christian life. 

Writing about the nature of Scripture, the Apostle Paul says that “all Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Tim 3:16 ESV). The Word of God which is contained in the writings of the Old and New Testaments is directly inspired by the Holy Spirit. He is the one who inspired men of old to speak on God’s behalf and record these messages (1 Thess 2:13; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 3:15-16). Original revelation of the canon contained no misplaced or extraneous words. Every iota and every dot have their place in God’s revelation of Himself.

One of the principal battle cries of the Reformation was Sola Scriptura, Scripture alone. This is a claim about the authority of Scripture. If the Scripture is the inspired word of God, and it is, then it is intrinsically authoritative. Louis Berkhof stated the essence of this point well. “The whole Bible is given by inspiration of God, and is as such the infallible rule of faith and practice for all mankind.”¹  Scripture is the foundation upon which the church stands, and serves as the standard by which the church must judge and resolve all matters of (WCF 1.10). 

The third element is the use of Scripture in the Christian life. Returning to 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul states that Scripture as the inspired word of God is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” This is because “all things necessary for [God’s] own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from scripture” (WCF 1.6). The goal of Scripture’s teaching, reproving, correcting and training is that “the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:17). The Holy Spirit uses the word to sanctify and perfect the people of God (Eph 5:26), so that over the course of their lives the people of God become more and more like Christ (2 Cor 3:18; Eph 4:22-24).

The nature, authority, and use of Scripture in the Christian life underscore the central significance that it holds in the life of the church. One therefore ought to handle the oracles of God with great care and due reverence. In order to do this well, one must be conversant in the languages in which the word was inspired. This leads to the second factor. 

The second factor is the use of Scripture in preaching. The preacher is a herald of the Great King. He has no message of his own, but must preach only what the Lord has spoken. The preacher’s task is to guard the deposit of the faith (1 Tim. 6:20-21; 2 Tim. 1:13-14; Titus 1:9; Jude 1:3) and publicly communicate its truth to others (1 Tim. 4:13-16; 6:2b-3). In other words, the preacher’s task is similar to the task of the Old Testament prophet: he preaches the word of God without reservation or modification. The content of his sermon must come from the text of Scripture; and if the preacher is to guard the deposit of the faith, he must be able to work with the original languages. 

One example will suffice. Cults like Jehovah’s Witnesses make much of the absence of the definite article in John 1:1. They argue that the text rightly read means that “the Word was a god.” However, this misconstrues the meaning of the sentence and actually forces it to say precisely the opposite. The syntax of the Greek in John 1:1 differs from the syntax of the English translations, and its thrust is that Jesus Christ is qualitatively identical with the divinity of the Father. However, the absence of the article underscores that the Word is not identical to the person of the Father. Jehovah’s Witnesses prey on the ignorance of the people they encounter. A knowledge of the Greek would allow the preacher not only rightly to preach the text, but to refute the false teachings of cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

If the preacher is to communicate the truth of Scripture faithfully in his preaching, he must attend to the Greek and Hebrew. English translations will often obscure wordplays, assonance, repeated words, and other helpful structuring devices found only in the original language. For instance, in a moving passage in the Book of Ruth, we are told that God had visited his people “lātēt lāhem lāḥem.” English versions blandly translate this as “to give to them bread/food,” but the cadence of the Hebrew is richer and underlines the generosity of God. Bethlehem, the house of bread, had suffered under a famine, but now God had come lātēt lāhem lāḥem (to give to them bread) in Bethlehem. He was restocking the barren cupboard. This is but one example among others, but it suffices to show that knowledge of the original language helps to bring to life the text in ways that the use of an English translation does not. 

English translations are good. They are useful and have their place. Nevertheless, the preacher and pastor should be able to exposit the text to bring forth its riches, and this requires knowledge of Greek and Hebrew. He should be able to defend the teachings of Scripture against the gainsayers and those who would twist the Word to lure the unwary. Scripture is the deposit of God’s inspired Word. The preacher and pastor must be able rightly to handle it to guard and to build up the church.