Ancient Languages: How to Learn a Biblical Language

For the last few hundred years, the study of the biblical languages has climaxed, leaving hundreds -- if not thousands -- of books dealing directly with the linguistical and textual origins of words. Since the original manuscripts of the Old and New Testament (OT and NT, respectively) are no longer extant, the process of uncovering the biblical languages has sometimes been difficult. Scholars are perplexed as to how some words are fully pronounced, as well as where accents are placed. Even when a word's connotative meaning is widely known, disagreements arise as to how that word is interpreted within its wider context. But these differences should not dissuade the prospective student from learning one, or all, of the biblical languages. Matter fact, it should do the very opposite. Perhaps the student can contribute to the infinitely vast amount of knowledge already in the world, in order to better open up the biblical text, helping others to understand the principles and spiritual truths contained.

If you are interested in studying a biblical language, or are already in the process, you can be overwhelmed in how to be organized, how to endure through hours of sweat-inducing study, and how to most effectively retain the information that you learn. As one who has already been through that refiner's fire, I can offer you invaluable advice that will set you on your way to learning the languages of the Bible. For reasons of brevity, I will only list the language of the NT -- Koine Greek -- as an example in the following paragraphs, but please understand that Hebrew and Aramaic are included as well; that is, except the first paragraph to which we now go.

Be Patient: