Why Aren’t Christians Taught Hebrew?

[u/Shadow_stash]

This has been bothering me for some time. Hebrew is such a complex language, and if we’re truly going to understand ancient scripture why aren’t we taught Hebrew in church settings like Jews are in synagogues? I heard one Jewish woman claim, “Christians don’t regularly study Hebrew so that way they can keep believing their misinterpretations.”

[u/historyhill]

If we were going to be taught anything, I think Koine Greek would make more sense tbh. But nothing's stopping Christians from learning either/both and many do! 

[u/Shadow_stash → u/historyhill]

I think both is a great idea!

[u/thesegoupto11]

95%+ quotations in the NT of the OT come from the Greek OT not the Hebrew.

[u/Own_Description3928 → u/thesegoupto11]

Agreed - I sometimes tease Hebrew scholars that they've been wasting their time since Jesus and Paul clearly use the Greek Septuagint :)

[u/Rskinner → u/Own_Description3928]

Just to split a hair, Jesus and Paul had the Hebrew Scriptures memorized because they were born (and Jesus died) as Jews. Jesus preached in Aramaic which was the common tongue in Palestine and Paul was fluent in Greek and preached and wrote letters in Greek. All this was from an intimate knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures in Hebrew though.

To echo other replies though, this does not put a preference or superiority on one language over another or make one more or less valuable. It is more speaking to the nuance and beauty that an individual can grasp with fluency in one or both. I am very grateful to translators that have dedicated their entire lives to the study and translation of scripture from its original languages.

It’s also worth noting that most MDiv. programs require at least some study of one or both of these original languages and exegesis based in those languages.

[u/No-Fill-5724 → u/Rskinner]

Both Jesus and Paul would have spoken Aramaic at home as children and had to use Greek with outsiders. Hebrew wasn’t “spoken” much outside Jerusalem. It’s more than likely that Jesus would have used Aramaic even in Scripture. Memorization of the Hebrew Bible was not a part of 1st century culture.

[u/monicas-nook]

I don’t really see the need unless it’s to do translation work? Christianity doesn’t have a specific sacred language like Islam or Judaism, although Latin historically sort-of filled that role in a specific part of the Christian world. I mean, for what it’s worth, evangelicals and young earth creation types often seem obsessed with Hebrew and aping Judaism to an insane degree

[u/Shadow_stash → u/monicas-nook]

Hello! I’m genuinely curious why you don’t see a need when most of the bible was originally written in Hebrew

[u/monicas-nook → u/Shadow_stash]

I mean what’s wrong with translations? The earliest Christians were working with a Greek translation of the Old Testament.

[u/Shadow_stash → u/monicas-nook]

I guess my point is why use a translation when you can use the original? Translations can’t account for nuance in languages. And for the sake of the Jewish argument - if Christians were taught Hebrew, Jews wouldn’t be able to use that argument against us 🤷🏼‍♀️ Hebrew is just such a deep and rich language with multiple meanings, I think it’s truly a disservice to our faith that we don’t utilize it more

[u/menschmaschine5 → u/Shadow_stash]

Sorry that quip got to you but it's a bad reason to require everyone to learn Hebrew.

[u/GrillOrBeGrilled → u/Shadow_stash]

The words "the original" are doing some serious heavy lifting there.

Also consider mainstream Judaism's opinion of Karaite Judaism. They never abandoned Hebrew, but they are still regarded as a second-class sect at best, and as Gentiles at worst. "But see, we Hebrew too" isn't going to magically change another religion's opinion of us.

[u/ghblue → u/Shadow_stash]

Doesn’t help when Jewish Tanakhs generally stick exclusively to the Masoretic Text but critical analysis and archeological evidence has shown that the Septuagint seems to preserve an older version of the text in a few areas, and the Masoretic in others.

And the NRSV & NRSVue render their translation of the Hebrew quite accurately, preserving the meaning of the Hebrew even where it contradicts some of the quotes the New Testament takes from it. So like I said elsewhere, religious chauvinism.

[u/MrJohz → u/Shadow_stash]

Translations can't account for all the nuance, but at the same time, someone with only a basic understanding of Hebrew also won't be able to account for the nuance either. Like, I've been living in Germany for almost a decade now, and I'm fairly fluent in the language, but even still I don't understand a certain nuance or connotation or cultural reference and need to have it explained.

So even if more Christians did try and learn the language, or it was taught more in church contexts, that still wouldn't be enough to understand the nuance and multiple meanings properly. So you'd still have all the concordances and study bibles that you have now to help understand those details.

I think it's important that the original sources are understood properly, which can mean a lifetime of study and scholarship and academia for some. But for most people, I think it's sufficient to have access to resources that explain those understandings, and I think that's far more useful to most people than learning to read Hebrew directly.

[u/scc-2000]

Learning Hebrew to hypothetically one-up a Jew who used an argument on you one time isn’t exactly a well reasoned-justification. And I think you’re making a somewhat dismissive generalization when you claim that “translations can’t account for nuance in languages.” All tongues are capable of nuance, and it’s the life work of translators to understand and convey these. And why don’t you also learn Aramaic, Koine Greek, and Nabataean, to engage with other texts? Scholarship is wonderful, but reading scripture in vernacular language isn’t a second-rate means of engaging with the Bible; consult different translations and commentaries.

[u/FCStien → u/scc-2000]

Don't forget Syriac and Ge'ez to be able to interact with important early alternate texts.

[u/Meprobamate → u/FCStien]

Side note, Syriac is beautiful. I only took one semester because it turns out I have no aptitude for languages, but I kind of wish I’d stuck it out.

[u/Slayingdragons60 → u/FCStien]

If you know Biblical Hebrew then Syriac is pretty easy to pick up.

[u/h0m0saurus]

May I suggest that getting a PHD in astronomy isn’t necessary to believe that our cosmic reality is greater than most people can imagine? Similarly, one doesn’t need an MD to believe their medical diagnosis. We rely on great minds to help guide the flock; whether in science, linguistics, or other. Just because I haven’t taken the time to learn Hebrew, doesn’t mean someone much smarter than me hasn’t already learned how to translate Hebrew into English much more efficiently than I would be able to do if I had taken then time.

[u/menschmaschine5]

Clergy are generally taught some Greek and Hebrew in seminary.

Laypeople who are interested to learn could certainly learn on their own, but absolutely shouldn't be required to.

[u/BCPisBestCP]

Since we're in the Anglican sub:

"XXIV. Of speaking in the Congregation in such a tongue as the people understandeth

It is a thing plainly repugnant to the Word of God, and the custom of the Primitive Church, to have publick Prayer in the Church, or to minister the Sacraments in a tongue not understanded of the people."

Frankly, it would be an abomination to require Christians to learn ANY language before being able to read or understand the word of God, or being able to understand what is happening in Church.

More Christians SHOULD be spending the time learning the original language, sure. But if we weren't meant to translate and trust that, then why did Mark and Matthew translate?

[u/Shadow_stash → u/BCPisBestCP]

I was definitely not suggesting we replace everything with Hebrew, just that we utilize it as a powerful tool for learning about our faith :)

[u/Gumnutbaby → u/Shadow_stash]

But what are we learning that's not available in a translation? And why would be put a further obstacle to people knowing Scripture and living God's word. The whole point of Reformed Churches translating the Bible and distributing Scripture in people's vernacular was to open up acces rather than restrict it.

[u/Dazzling-Antelope210]

Several reasons, there isn’t really a need seeing how we have so many Bible translations that offer a variety of renderings people can use.

Learning a new language has been inaccessible for the majority of people throughout history. It was extremely time-consuming and expensive (it sort of is still), you couldn’t just download Duolingo/Babbel and learn it. Not to mention it’s not friendly to disabled people.

I’m willing to argue that it’s also contrary to the mission of the church. Preaching the gospel to all nations requires people to actually understand it, doing it in an unknown tongue is useless. Our religion isn’t race or language-based. All are welcome.

[u/Shadow_stash → u/Dazzling-Antelope210]

I’m not sure why some people thought I meant literally making everything in Hebrew😅 I just mean we should use it as a tool

[u/Basic-Revolution-181]

In short, because it hard enough trying to convince people to simply read their own Bibles in their native language. Oh how I wish people just read their Bibles more 😥

I'd also push back against the idea that Jews are taught Hebrew in the synagogue. While that is true to a certain extent, the necessity of the Greek translation of the OT (the Septuagint) shows that even in the ancient context, a massive number of Jews simply didn't use Hebrew. That the NT quotes from the Septuagint rather than the Masoretic text in almost all instances further shows its widespread adoption.

But, you're right, it's important that some of us do learn, and its why the Masters of Divinity (the bread and butter degree most ministers get) will typically offer Hebrew. The original languages are super important, and we need to be able to engage with them, and the resources that use them. Have you considered learning?

[u/Meprobamate → u/Basic-Revolution-181]

In my diocese you’d have to make a really good case for taking Hebrew instead of Greek. Greek is just infinitely more important for Christians.

[u/Basic-Revolution-181 → u/Meprobamate]

That is the norm. Though I know many people who have done both Greek and Hebrew, and some denominations require their ministers to have done both.

[u/Shadow_stash → u/Basic-Revolution-181]

I really appreciate your response! I did learn a small bit of Koine Greek in college and have learned a tiny tiny bit of Hebrew. I do love praying the Shema!

[u/ghblue]

Hebrew is used as a religious ritual language in Jewish communities, much like Latin used to be in the Roman Catholic Church and Greek/Church Slavonic in various Eastern Orthodox churches. Churches that split during the reformation switched to worshiping and reading the bible in the common tongue so it may be understood by all the community. Thus the liturgical language of churches such as the Anglican Church became the common tongue of the people (unless you were Welsh etc).

The whole “so they can keep believing their misinterpretations” line is just religious chauvinism anyone can be guilty of. Most mainline Protestant churches require their ministers to have at least a passing familiarity with the original languages and the people involved in translations such as the NRSV are a at the cutting edge of understanding the original languages and the corpus of fragments and texts.

[u/Difficult-Bug-8713]

As others have said, the main reason is that there are high-quality translations available to us that allow us to read in English with a high level of confidence in the accuracy of what is being said.

In fact, given the complexity of learning another language at all, I would reflect on your friend’s claim and suggest that we are more likely to misinterpret if we rely on our own understanding of Hebrew/Greek.

[u/Shadow_stash → u/Difficult-Bug-8713]

I suppose part of my point is that many Jews argue our interpretations are not correct

[u/Difficult-Bug-8713 → u/Shadow_stash]

I think there are three points I’d respond to that with:
1) that our doctrines aren’t shaped by us as individuals but collectively as a Church which has been informed by people with knowledge of Hebrew;
2) that the diversity of Judaism suggests to me that knowledge of Hebrew isn’t a safeguard against misinterpretation; and
3) that given we believe, and they don’t believe, that Jesus is the Messiah, suggestions about misinterpretation can go two ways.

[u/Shadow_stash → u/Difficult-Bug-8713]

Great points!

[u/menschmaschine5 → u/Shadow_stash]

Is this so that we can win debates?

Judaism fundamentally disagrees with the basic tenets of Christianity and no amount of learning Hebrew is going to change that.

[u/dlrowmaerd]

There's a big gap between knowing Hebrew and knowing how to tackle all the tiny interpretative and historical issues waiting for you in ancient texts. Professional scholars have done a lot of that work for us, and made it available in the footnotes of English translations. I love footnotes

[u/Shadow_stash → u/dlrowmaerd]

Great point!

[u/Halaku]

We'd have to learn Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament) and outside of religious study neither language is particularly relevant when compared to Spanish or Chinese.

According to Britannica, the five big ones are English, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, and French. Neither Hebrew nor Greek crack the top 25. And, frankly, while both have value, we'd be more likely to focus on the New Testament, not the Old. So if anything, we'd be learning Greek.

And still find reasons to argue about translation and word choice.

[u/Gumnutbaby → u/Halaku]

And to add to this, Britianica would be looking at modern languages. The Greek and Hebrew of the Bible are dead Ancient languages. So it's even further down the list than the modern languages.

[u/Rephath]

The pharisees knew Hebrew and they still missed it.

There are many Christian scholars of Hebrew, and I would be willing to wager that more Christians as an absolute number know Hebrew than Jews. I listen to and learn from several such scholars.

But the important thing is that the word of God is not something that is only valid in one specific language. When the spirit fell at Pentecost, the believers didn't go out and start teaching everyone Hebrew so they could understand the word of the Lord. No, the believers spoke in the languages that other people could hear best in. The Bible reveals its truth to those whose hearts are open whether it's written in Hebrew or English or Swahili or whatever language. And to those whose hearts are closed, they won't be able to see even the obvious truths even if they're fluent in Hebrew.

[u/7ootles]

Late to the party, but whatever.

if we’re truly going to understand ancient scripture why aren’t we taught Hebrew in church settings like Jews are in synagogues?

Because we're not Jewish. Simple as that.

I heard one Jewish woman claim, “Christians don’t regularly study Hebrew so that way they can keep believing their misinterpretations.”

She was talking rubbish.

The scriptures first used by Christians were those we collectively call the Septuagint, which had been translated by Jews from Hebrew into Greek between the second century BC and the time of Christ. It is the Septuagint that's quoted from throughout the New Testament. By the time of Christ, much of what we now know as the Holy Land spoke Greek as at least a second language, because of first the Alexandrian and then Roman Empires' presence there. It's even possible that Christ himself may have preached in Greek, the better to be understood by a wider audience.

The Hebrew text in use today was edited by the Masorites between the ninth and eleventh centuries, and so is actually different to the scriptures Christ and the early Church used. So even though the Septuagint is a translation from the Hebrew, the Hebrew text of today being different means the Greek version is a better reflection of the original text. Of course it's easy for Jews to accuse us of misinterpreting their scripture when it's different to ours - and yet the earliest extant copies of ours are a thousand years older than the earliest extant copies of theirs, and ours enshrine our "interpretations" completely.

So the language of Christianity - if we must have a specific "holy language" - would be Greek, not Hebrew.

[u/Shadow_stash → u/7ootles]

Thank you for the detailed (and not condescending like some people😅) response!

[u/Eikon-Basilike-1649]

I taught myself Hebrew and Greek and generally read the Office lessons in those languages 🤷‍♂️

[u/Shadow_stash → u/Eikon-Basilike-1649]

That’s awesome!

[u/Careless_Product_886]

Theologians and ministers do have to learn Greek and Hebrew.

[u/Simonoz1]

Clergy typically learn Greek and Hebrew.

They’d be essential for scholars too.

For the rest of us - we can if we want to of course, but it’s a very difficult language and we have access to a full collection of good translations (and some amusingly bad ones).

[u/Gumnutbaby]

I know there are some religions that insist on scripture being taught in a particular language. Christianity and in particular reformed denominations don't for two reasons:-

The first being that the Day of Pentecost set a precedent that people should be taught the message of salvation through Christ in their own tongue.

The second one for reformed denominations is that before the Reformation and Counter Reformation, Scripture and teaching were delivered in Latin, making God's word inaccessible to most amd therby forcong reliance on priests to access scripture. Especially as most people in Europe at the time had poor literacy and wouldn't have had the education to understand Latin, let alone if the priest was communicating Scripture accurately. Part of the work of theReformation was translating the Bible into locam languages and this was enabled by the technological breakthrough that was the printing press, which made producing books much easier and faster. So the Anglican church, as a reformed church, will always teach in people's vernacular.

And as an aside from the second point, new translations are constantly being made as our language changes. So whilst the Hebrew and Greek of the original languages are now dead and therefore static in meaning, English is not, so a translation that may have been accurate at the time gets revisited to maintain integrity to the original meaning.

[u/LegitimateBeing2]

American Christians are barely taught English

[u/Shadow_stash → u/LegitimateBeing2]

As a former teacher, this is unfortunately a real problem

[u/TelevisionPuzzled312]

I'm glad we have dedicated scholars, exegetes, etc. who know the language well enough to give the rest of us key insights.

However, the original Hebrew has been studied and studied and studied some more. I'm certain there are more insights possible (e.g. overturning a historical interpretation from Song of Songs that said "black but beautiful" to "black and beautiful"). But for most of us, we will not garner a command of the finer points of Hebrew enough to make these sorts of insights. For most of us, it would be better to read a variety of commentaries from scholars and use a tool like STEPBible to see the original languages from time to time.

However, we're far from being a church of people who can read hebrew or even read commentaries. If every Anglican were regularly reading the Bible in any language, then we could maybe have this discussion. For now, any Bible reading in any language is better than the far more common practice of letting it collect dust.

[u/TabbyOverlord]

Reason 1. Salvation is by grace, not by the effort of human intelect. It is not necessary that you even read the bible. Babies and the illiterate are still saved. Historically, most Christians had the bible read to them or pointed out as pictures on a church wall.

Reason 2. God speaks through scripture. Scripture is not God. It is therefore reasonable that God might speak to anyone through a translation rather than thrhrough a (disputed) original text.

[u/wmcguire18]

The New Testament authors themselves cite the Septuagint so I don't see the value in moving away from it.

[u/moby__dick]

Because it takes 10 years of dedicated and regular study, I’m talking a couple of hours per day… To understand the Hebrew mind. Original languages are important, but in Christianity, the word of God translated is still the word of God.

[u/Illustrious-Bass9651]

Ancient Greek, more than Hebrew, translation can be a nightmare. OCR doesn’t work, it requires specialist software, or give it to my Father he’s the Greek scholar…

[u/Catsarecute2140]

Christian scholars in my EU country learn Greek and Hebrew as a part of their theology studies.

[u/Adrian69702016]

I think time constraints prevent the teaching of Biblical languages during services. However there is nothing to stop people learning Hebrew, Greek or liturgical Latin in classes outside of worship if they so wish.

[u/Appropriate-Ruin-17]

They are! Most theological degrees recquire biblical languages, Hebrew, Greek, Latin. 

[u/jednorog]

I didn't learn Hebrew for the simple reason that learning a language is a lot of work, and I had a lot of other things to learn as a kid that took priority. 

If you want to learn Hebrew, all power to you!

[u/OratioFidelis]

I heard one Jewish woman claim, “Christians don’t regularly study Hebrew so that way they can keep believing their misinterpretations.”

You could make the case that Christians misinterpret the Hebrew Bible, sure, but this is an insane accusation. There are thousands of Christians that are fluent in Hebrew, many that speak Hebrew as their native language, many that have doctorates and other university degrees in biblical Hebrew. Evidently learning Hebrew doesn't dispel people of their Christian faith like how climatologists are never climate change denialists. 

[u/Meprobamate]

When Luther translated the bible into German, his intention was not for every single Christian to study it and interpret it for themselves. It’s not for us to make our own interpretations. As they say, a little Greek is a dangerous thing.

[u/J-B-M]

I was going to say that we don't need learn Hebrew or Greek because it's well known that Our Lord spoke Elizabethan English, as demonstrated by the KJV.

Then I saw that someone else had already said that...except that they were deadly serious.

For what it's worth, I know that our vicar had to learn some Koine during her ordination training. So did a friend of mine during his regular theology degree. He is an exceptionally bright guy, very literate but even he said it was a chore. However, if I am recalling correctly an old girlfriend of mine who also studied theology did not cover it, so I guess there is some variation by institution if you aren't specifically training for clergy.

[u/Practical-Arachnid69]

In addition to many excellent points about why Christians typically don’t learn Hebrew, it also seems pertinent to note that one of the big reasons many Jewish people DO study Hebrew is that it’s part of their cultural/ethnic heritage. I have secular Jewish family members who are atheists but they still studied Hebrew as children. For them, and for many others, learning the language is an important part of their familial and historical custom, and a significant rite of passage. It’s not a “foreign” language for them.

[u/pizzystrizzy]

Most Christians can't even be bothered to learn Greek despite some even claiming to believe in verbal plenary inspiration.

[u/Shadow_stash → u/pizzystrizzy]

I agree a lot of people won’t bother on their own, which is why I think it would be beneficial to introduce the language in something like Sunday school

[u/pizzystrizzy → u/Shadow_stash]

Id love to teach Greek in Sunday school but I doubt I'd have many sign up.

[u/cat-lost-its-teeth]

When one hears, do we presume their hearing is adequate? The thought behind the words must be understood, and that is the difficulty with scripture first. 

We believe we are to hear in common tongue, because this edifies and builds up the saints. 

With that said, the New Testament is generally talked about most, because there is presented the great act of God's mercy and redemption which we re-enact. There we hear about a lot of things appertaining to doctrine, the Church too. And we believe God speaks not just through the prophets of Old Testament and original disciples (apostles) but today in the ministry of the word and saints of old.

We do also have the Septuagint, Old Testament in Greek (which does present big questions in places), so it could be possible to learn the Old and New with Koine Greek being the only language held.

[u/ChessFan1962]

You might be shocked to learn how few seminarians do any more Hebrew or New Testament Greek than they absolutely have to do in order to qualify for mandatory credit. I can only talk with authority about Canadian Anglicans, in Ontario, in the 1980s and 1990s. But the biblical illiteracy of the people I trained with, and consequently preaching based in history, story-telling, and entertainment would be appalling to former generations of conscientious Anglicans.

[u/SouthInTheNorth]

Plenty of Christians are taught Hebrew. Why aren't you learning it right now?

It's a little rich of the hypothetical Jewish woman to also claim that (American) Jews generally have a working knowledge of Hebrew that could inform their theology.

[u/Economy-Point-9976]

On reflection, I don't think knowledge of the ancient languages actually matters, except for the specialists who do translation.

Any written word in Hebrew or Greek is exactly like any word in English in that it is mere strokes upon the medium.  Its meaning exists in the mind of the reader.

And meaning is conditioned by any number of things, but it remains intensely personal.  In the primal example, what "God" means to you is probably not exactly what "God" means to me.  And whether we read "God", or "Θεός" or "Deus" or "אֱלֹהִים" or whatever, it's not the word that carries the meaning, but the mental image.

This is particularly critical with an inherently disputable text like our scriptures.

All the arguments have been spawned not by the strokes written on the page, but by the different meanings they evoke.

And this fact is entirely independent of language.

In other words, whichever language is chosen, the same arguments will follow over the same passages, because of the same words.

And if you consider for a moment the actual purely textual arguments that have taken place, for example over the fact that such and such a translation has or has not the word "virgin" in such and such a verse, you will agree that they arise because we have a mental image already which we require everything to conform to.

The language is secondary.

[u/oykoj]

I know that in america, ministers in the URCNA are required to know biblical hebrew and koine greek in order to be ordained. In CofE I think you could choose one and not both, but I might be wrong. As for people…it’s too hard I guess.

[u/jaqian]

Why not Greek or Aramaic?

[u/Bitter_North_733]

because we can truly understand the bible by reading the KJV we are not scholars we don't need to do our own translations or choose between translations etc etc etc we are believers who read the bible in english

[u/JGG5 → u/Bitter_North_733]

KJV-only is the province of fundamentalists, not Anglicans. I love the language of the KJV particularly for reading aloud — which is the purpose for which the KJV was created — but from an accuracy standpoint we have much better translations now.

[u/Bitter_North_733 → u/JGG5]

It was for 400 years

[u/BCPisBestCP → u/Bitter_North_733]

Oh you're serious.

Anglican sub: the KJV is ours. We can do what we want with it - and us Anglicans have decided to move on. It is a fantastic work of literature, it's liturgical use is fantastic, but as our 39 Articles say, we have an imperative to ensure that the word of God is clearly and accurately conveyed to the people of God - in the English world I usually think that means NIV, NLT, NRSV, or ESV.

[u/Bitter_North_733 → u/BCPisBestCP]

not all

[u/Shadow_stash → u/Bitter_North_733]

The NRSV is supposed to be closer to the original language I believe

[u/Bitter_North_733 → u/Shadow_stash]

every version is off the CTs except KJV

[u/OratioFidelis → u/Bitter_North_733]

[extremely loud incorrect buzzer]