The most important reason for understanding the biblical languages is that, fundamentally, it gives you a connection to the text that you can never ever have reading the Bible in translation. It’s the most transforming part of what we do here [at RTS] for students. We enable them to read God’s word in the original languages, which transforms their relationship and connection through the incarnate work.
There’s no better way of having an intimate knowledge of God’s Word than by reading it in its original languages.The way we know and what we know about Jesus we know by and through his word. The better we know his word, the better we know this Savior. The better we know the Savior, the more we are transformed by that Savior. It’s a very super practical thing. I want people to be transformed by the power of God’s word, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and have that transform their lives in such a way and to such an effect that they can go out and do the same to others. There’s no better way of having an intimate knowledge of God’s Word than by reading it in its original languages. You pick up the nuances, the subtleties, the idioms, and the figures of speech that are alive and colorful and stick in your brain in a way that English translations never ever will for you.
