When I graduated from seminary in 2017, I completed 21-course hours studying Koine Greek and 15-course hours studying Biblical Hebrew. Some courses I was blessed to take included Greek Exegesis of Ephesians with Dr. Benjamin Merkle, Greek Exegesis of Colossians with Dr. Charles Quarles, and Septuagint with Dr. David Alan Black and Dr. Chip Hardy. These were excellent courses taught by excellent teachers. Despite these challenging courses, I graduated with good grades, a love for biblical languages, and an eagerness to use them in ministry.
Like many, I desired to maintain both languages while serving in pastoral ministry. Early on, my habits reflected this desire. While preparing for sermons through Colossians and the Gospel of Mark, I did most of my work in the Greek New Testament. To keep up with Hebrew, I preached from Ruth and Jonah, spending considerable time reading the Hebrew Text using a helpful reader’s edition. My desire to maintain a love for the languages as I used them in ministry was working. That was until life and ministry got much busier.
In 2020, COVID-19 disrupted life, and pastors everywhere had to make quick decisions on how to best care for their people and respond to government mandates regarding gatherings. Right before COVID-19 began to spread in the States, I had begun preaching through James (not the hardest, but certainly not the easiest book to read in Greek). This is when I made an unfortunate misstep. Preparing sermons from the Greek New Testament didn’t seem reasonable in such an odd, busy season of ministry. I even felt guilty for dedicating time to reading Greek and Hebrew because one might perceive it as “unproductive.” So, I stopped. I became pragmatic. I needed to be prepared to preach, and returning to an English translation was the most pragmatic way to prepare.
Three years passed without me returning to the languages in any meaningful sense. They felt lost, and guilt ensued. Then, one ordinary evening, after hearing me express a desire to return to the languages I once loved, a friend said, “You just need to do it.” I don’t know what it was about this sister saying something so simple, but that night, I permitted myself to reserve the time to retrieve my Greek and Hebrew.
My only exposure to learning the biblical languages was the grammar-translation method, so I did what I knew. I picked up an elementary grammar and downloaded the GNT Vocab app. I reviewed elementary grammar over 12 weeks, studying two chapters a week and completing the exercises. After 12 weeks, I read all of 1 John, reviewing grammar and vocabulary as I read each day. To my surprise, there was so much that I remembered. It felt like a review rather than relearning.
Most importantly, what I came to remember is how much I enjoyed studying Greek. I remembered how fulfilling it was to pursue a deeper understanding of the Scriptures. Studying Greek is once again a source of personal joy and excitement!
I am now back to reading the Greek New Testament daily and preparing sermons from the Greek text. I’m also currently working through an intermediate grammar, building vocabulary, and learning about new pedagogical methods. I was recently exposed to podcasts and articles advocating for a comprehensive input method, and I am exploring how that may deepen my knowledge and assist with fluency. Jennifer Noonan’s recent book, A Handbook for Second Language Acquisition for Biblical Studies, is on its way, and I look forward to her insights.
My plan now is to work through the New Testament books, from easiest to hardest, as listed in Merkle and Plummer’s Greek for Life. Read, read, read will be the path I will take this time over against reading about grammar or debates in secondary literature. This is the advice I would give to others as well: read, read, read.
Are my skills the same as they were after graduation? No. Can they be even better? Absolutely. Once I finish reviewing my intermediate Greek grammar, I’ll focus on Hebrew. Will my skills be the same as they were after graduation? No. Am I confident they can be even better? Absolutely.
I’ll never advance in my Greek and Hebrew studies to gain mastery and expertise. Most busy pastors won’t either. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t seek to learn as much as we can. The words of A.T. Robertson advocating for pastors to learn textual criticism also apply to learning the languages themselves.
“Even if one does not become an expert in it, he will gain a sense of independence in reaching probable conclusions that will be satisfying…There is also a splendid training in clear thinking in this study. One balances the various forms of evidence before he reaches his final conclusion. This mental process calls for insight, weighing evidence, delicate balancing of probabilities, clear grasp of the data, honesty in deciding. These qualities are not confined, to be sure, to this study, but they are so demanded by it that one gains a fine intellectual drill in the exercise of them.” (A.T. Robertson, Studies in the Text of the New Testament ,58)
Perhaps you’re like me. It feels like you’ve lost them and wasted your time and money. You didn’t. You can get it back—at least you can start to, and you’ll find great joy in the pursuit of knowing God’s Word better. No matter how long it has been. You can get it back. Check out Daily Dose of Greek and Daily Dose of Hebrew. Look into helpful review resources like Merkle’s Exegetical Journeys in Biblical Greek or Rodney Whitacre’s Using and Enjoying Biblical Greek.
If I can start to get it back, you can too. So, let’s take up the text, read it, and encourage each other to read again tomorrow.
πᾶσα γραφὴ θεόπνευστος καὶ ὠφέλιμος πρὸς διδασκαλίαν, πρὸς ἐλεγμόν, πρὸς ἐπανόρθωσιν, πρὸς παιδείαν τὴν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, ἵνα ἄρτιος ᾖ ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος, πρὸς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἐξηρτισμένος. ( 2 Ti 3:16–17)
Nathaniel R. Martin 