A parishioner once asked me, “Why did you need to learn Greek and Hebrew?  The Bible has already been translated for us?  Is Greek really all that necessary?”  I responded with a wholehearted “Yes!”  When we read the Old and New Testaments in English, we are reading a translation – someone else’s translation of the original.  I then used an analogy originally given by my Greek professor:

“The difference between reading the New Testament in English and reading it in Greek is the same as the difference between watching a baseball game on a black and white television and sitting behind home plate in the ballpark.”

Martin Luther, in the year 1524 wrote: 

"In the measure that we love the Gospel, let us place a strong emphasis on the languages.  For it was not without reason that God wrote the Scriptures in two [primary] languages, the Old Testament in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek.  Those languages which God did not despise, but rather chose above all others for His Word, are the languages which we also should honor above all others.”

The Bible was written in Hebrew (some Aramaic) and Greek.  And in order for pastors to teach the faith to the people of God vividly and speak with understanding, they must learn those original languages.  It’s not so that we pastors can feel superior to all others.  We learn and study the languages out of love for God’s people; that we might speak and teach the Word of God for the salvation of those who hear it.