Bryan supplied several good reasons for pastors to learn Hebrew in the form of verses from Hosea. For those who are regular readers of this blog it should come as no surprise that I think pastors ought to know Hebrew and Greek, and know them well. I also think that laity ought to learn the original languages as a matter of course. I think someone’s religious experience can only benefit from learning the original languages.
So, since Bryan was nice enough to provide some reasons for learning Hebrew, I thought I might provide an example as well. The Hebrew Bible is filled with various word plays. These commonly occur in the poetic sections of the canon, though they are not uncommon in the prose sections as well. In particular I direct your attention to 1 Samuel 6.5 which reads:
ועשיתם צלמי עפליכם וצלמי עצבריכם המשחיתם את־הארץ ונתתם לאלהי ישראל כבוד אולי יקל את־ידו מעליכם ומעל אלהיכם ומעל ארצכם
English: You shall make images of your tumors and images of your rats, the ones destroying the land. Also you shall give glory to the God of Israel, perhaps he will lighten his hand from upon you and from upon your gods and from upon your land.
Some background to this verse is necessary. The Ark of the Covenant had recently been lost to the Philistines. The circumstances surrounding that event, although interesting, have no direct bearing on the point of this post. Suffice it to say that the Philistines got more than they bargained for. First they put the Ark in Dagon’s temple. Apparently YHVH didn’t like sharing a house because within a couple days Dagon’s idol had been pretty well demolished. After this, the Ark gets passed around the Philistine cities, and wherever it is the Philistines are afflicted with tumors (and…uh…rats?). As you might imagine it doesn’t take them long to figure out they want nothing to do with Israel’s God, and so they ask their religious leaders what they ought to do. Verse five, above, is part of the instructions which they are given.
The really fun bit is a wordplay that simply doesn’t come through in English. The Philistines are told to give glory (כבוד) to the God of Israel. The idea being that if they do so, maybe YHVH will “lighten (יקל) his hand.” In other words, maybe YHVH will stop afflicting them. The fun thing here is that the basic meaning of כבוד has to do with being heavy. The juxtaposition of the two words creates a subtle, or perhaps not so subtle, wordplay. The Philistines ought to make God heavy, and perhaps he will lighten his hand.1
One would never notice the wordplay in an English translation since our word “glory” has no relation to our word “heavy.” Limiting oneself to reading the Bible in English ensures that one will never be exposed to the plethora of brilliant literary features within the text. Learning Biblical Hebrew is an activity in which all serious students of the Bible ought to be engaged.
- N.B. this is not a good way to translate the verse. This simply brings out the wordplay in English. The Philistines are not being told to somehow change God’s mass or the like. It’s simply that the word for “glory,” and the verb “to be heavy” are the same word in Hebrew. ↩
Thanks for your post about the need to learn Hebrew. I totally agree. Learning Hebrew is essential for anyone wanting to understand the Scriptures. Without it, you are dependent on a translation, and you will never appreciate the beauty and wonder of God’s Word, and will always be hostage to whichever translation you read. All believers should make an effort to understand the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible).
Calvin,
Thanks for sharing this insight. I teach biblical languages at Houston Baptist University, but I get to teach OT Survey courses,too. I find myself constantly referring to matters that are only visible to one who can read Hebrew, and I tell them so. Then I invite them to come and take Hebrew so that they can see these things for themselves. I’m excited for people like you and Mandy who are passionate about getting doctorates and showing people how to read the Text. May your tribe increase!
Phillip,
Thanks for your comment. I had an OT prof who taught both Hebrew language and OT survey courses when I was an undergrad. He is largely the reason that I now love the Hebrew Bible so much.
Great post – I was one of the rare students who perhpas went overboard on his MDiv with language classes, but maybe not, at least where I was it seemed so. It’s situations like thia I tend to like Hebrew over Greek – it seems to me more descriptive and colorful.
Brian, if it wasn’t obvious from the blog, I always prefer Hebrew over Greek.
At GCTS, students are encouraged to learn the original languages, but even so, most M.Div. students take only two semesters of Hebrew, and probably three of Greek. In fairness our exegesis courses (an M.Div. student is required two OT and two NT) have a heavy language requirement, but even so…
Well, somehow I managed to take three Hebrew exegesis classes – before AGTS I was at Fuller and there I took a exegesis class on the Psalms, then when I followed the Lord’s direction to go to AGTS I was able to take an exegesis class with Exodus as the book of focus and also one with Micah-Joel as the focus – so I got some exegetical experience in the Law, the Prophets and the Writings – so that was unusual.
GCTS has good programs. I have a friend who went through the ThM program about a year ago. I like the looks of the DMin program options,
I’m not at all familiar with the DMin program at GCTS, so I can’t really speak to that. I would love to see a DMin concentration in Biblical studies, however. Then I could recommend it to pastors. Ah, well.