While the Bible does not explicitly state that knowing the original biblical languages is necessary for Christian ministry, it emphasizes that the word should be treated with the highest reverence and care. For instance, 1 Timothy 2:15 exhorts Timothy in his pastoral role to "do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth" (ESV). The Greek term for "rightly handling" is ὀρθοτομέω, which Strong’s Dictionary translates as "to make a straight cut" or "to dissect (expound) correctly" the divine message, meaning to rightly divide.1
Just as a surgeon needs extensive knowledge, skill, and instruments to cut the flesh of their patient in exactly the right way to correct or restore their physical well-being, so much more must the minister of God cultivate biblical knowledge and exercise sharp analytical skills to distinguish truth from error for the spiritual health of those under his care. Paul understood how easily even faithful teachers could veer from the truth, fall into distortion, and quarrel about words, despite operating within a single language.2 Writing to Timothy in a context where the Scriptures and apostolic teaching were encountered in one language, Paul nevertheless recognized how easily error and distortion could arise and therefore exhorted him to handle the word of truth with care and precision. If such misunderstandings arose when only one language was in view, the challenge is only exacerbated in our current day, where the proliferation of translations across multiple languages often gives rise to the same quarrels and foolish controversies that Paul warned Timothy to be prepared for.
It is important to recognize that every translation is, by nature, an interpretation. This does not necessarily render translations unreliable, but it does mean they stand one step removed from the original language through which God gave his inspired word (with paraphrased versions standing even further removed). For the pastor, this means that reliance on translations involves entrusting a wide range of interpretive decisions to the translators, including matters of number (singular or plural), person (first, second, or third), gender (grammatical rather than natural), and verbal features such as tense, aspect, voice, and mood. These are features that English often cannot express with the same precision, as seen in distinctions such as you versus you all, or between imperfective and perfective action.
As a first‑year Greek student, I have found this insight especially helpful in my ministry leading men who struggle with sexual addiction. Many men wrestle with shame and despair after slip‑ups and relapse because they feel that if they cannot attain sobriety within a relatively short period of time, they are failures in the Christian life. Worse yet, some might also begin to question their salvation. For this reason, Romans 8:13 has become especially instructive. The ESV renders Paul’s exhortation with the phrase “put to death,” which can easily be heard as a decisive, once‑for‑all act. However, the verb θανατοῦτε is in the present tense and carries an imperfective aspect, portraying the action as ongoing rather than punctiliar.3 The Greek suggests not a single moment of victory, but a continual practice of mortification by the Spirit. While English translations faithfully convey the command contextually, they cannot as clearly communicate this ongoing force, a distinction that has proven pastorally significant when helping men understand sanctification as a daily, Spirit‑empowered struggle rather than a one‑time event.4
In conclusion, a working knowledge of Biblical Greek greatly enhances the pastor’s ability to rightly divide (ὀρθοτομέω) the word of truth, clarify interpretive ambiguities that often arise from translation, and handle Scripture with the precision and care required to stand before God as an approved worker, unashamed and faithful in ministry.5
James Strong, The New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996).↩︎
2 Tim. 2:13, 23-26↩︎
William D. Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar, ed. Verlyn D. Verbrugge and Christopher A. Beetham, Fourth Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2019), 151.↩︎
The English Puritan theologian John Owen, in The Mortification of Sin, a work rooted primarily in Romans 8:13, repeatedly emphasizes that mortification is not the eradication of sin but the daily weakening of its power by the Spirit, a lifelong work even for mature believers. This biblically grounded view aligns closely with the imperfective force of θανατοῦτε, reinforcing the idea that Paul envisions mortification as a continual practice rather than a single decisive act.↩︎
References:
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025.
Strong, James. The New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996.
Mounce, William D. Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar. Edited by Verlyn D. Verbrugge and Christopher A. Beetham. Fourth Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2019.
Owen, John. The Works of John Owen. Edited by William H. Goold. Vol. 4. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, n.d.↩︎