I started learning Greek last fall. After beginning to learn Latin (and discovering that I enjoyed it!), I opened a book that had been sitting on my shelf from another pastor’s library. The book was John Dobson’s Learn New Testament Greek, and I was shocked to find myself understanding and reading Greek. I have since discovered that Dobson has a reputation for being one of the best books for self-study, and his book certainly has my vote.

Soon I discovered the Biblical Languages Podcast, which I would now place among my top five favorite podcast shows, and after a great deal of listening (particularly their excellent six-part series on pedagogy), I signed up for the ten-day trial, and I wish I had done so sooner.

My elevator pitch for Biblingo is that it is essentially Duolingo for learning Biblical Greek and Hebrew, except far better than Duolingo and very much worth the paid subscription.

The overall philosophy of Biblingo’s creators is that the biblical languages ought to be learned as languages rather than as linguistic puzzles to be solved. Thus, their goal is to help people be able to read the Bible in Greek and Hebrew rather than simply being able to decode sentence after sentence. That happens to be my goal as well, which is why I gave Biblingo a try in the first place.

In order to do this, each lesson gives a brief grammar lesson video (typically from 2-8 minutes), followed by new vocabulary words, and ends with several full sentences to practice. Vocabulary is introduced through pictures or short videos for making a direct visual association with the word rather than needing to use English as a mediating language. Grammar sentences are presented the same way. Each lesson gives four repetitions of each new word and sentence, and it is best to say them out loud each time.

During the fourth repetition, you have opportunity to exercise active knowledge by typing the words or sentences out, using Greek or Hebrew keyboards that can be installed onto your computer. Honestly, this feels quite tedious at the beginning, especially when trying to remember Greek’s accent marks, but it does become fluid over time and is an invaluable output method. Although you can choose from a word bank, it is worth the investment to learn to type in Greek or Hebrew.

Beyond the regular lessons, reading comprehension exercises. These are simple stories that use the grammar and vocabulary that you already know (although occasionally introducing a new word that can be figured out through context). These are quite fun because they give you the immediate joy of actually reading and understanding Greek.

There are also fluency drills, which are exercises to help make the various grammar elements automatic. They may not sound very fun, but they are extremely helpful for cementing what you have learned. Unfortunately, the fluency drills stop after the aorist thematic is introduced, leaving the remaining verb conjugations without that extra practice.

There is also a flashcards section, where you have daily lists from past lessons to review. You can also review vocabulary by lesson or even by each chapter in a number of popular textbooks. So, if you wanted to use Mounce alongside Biblingo, you can use Biblingo to review each chapter’s vocabulary list.

Finally, there is a Bible reading module and a community forum that subscribers have access to.

But if you have any interest, it is best to simply test Biblingo for yourself, which you can do for ten days, no credit card required.

When it comes to learning a language, there is no silver bullet that makes everything effortless, but there are more or less helpful tools and methods of learning. Biblingo does not remove the motivation and discipline necessary for learning the biblical languages, but it is a great tool that follows a great method for learning a second (or third) language. Time, effort, and attention are still necessary, and Biblingo is a great platform for getting the necessary amount of meaningful input and output to acquire another language.

But the greatest strength of Biblingo, as I see it, is that it gives a clear and understandable path for any Christian to learn the biblical languages.

Now I am increasingly convinced that pastors who are called to the weekly preaching of the Word ought to devote themselves to the study of Greek and Hebrew. As the 1689 Confession says, the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament are the church’s final appeal in matters of controversy (I.8). Without an ability to go himself to that ultimate appeal, the preacher is handicapped in his task to “hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9).

But as pressing as it ought to be for preachers to learn the biblical languages, Greek and Hebrew are by no means limited to them! Luther attributed the Reformation to his study of the Bible in the original languages:

If the languages had not made me positive as to the true meaning of the word, I might have still remained a chained monk, engaged in quietly preaching Romish errors in the obscurity of a cloister; the pope, the sophists, and their antichristian empire would have remained unshaken.

Indeed, because Luther beheld the truth of the gospel through the original languages and because the Reformation was so able to spread through the relatively recent invention of the printing press, we should be able to understand Luther’s lament:

It is a sin and shame not to know our own book or to understand the speech and words of our God; it is a still greater sin and loss that we do not study languages, especially in these days when God is offering and giving us men and books and every facility and inducement to this study, and desires his Bible to be an open book. O how happy the dear fathers would have been if they had our opportunity to study the languages and come thus prepared to the Holy Scriptures! What great toil and effort it cost them to gather up a few crumbs, while we with half the labor–yes, almost without any labor at all–can acquire the whole loaf! O how their effort puts our indolence to shame!

If Luther was shamed by the abundance of resources that the printing press had made available in his day, we who have access to the Internet and speak English ought to be triply shamed! Resources for knowing God’s Word are immediately available to all who have the motivation and discipline to use them. Indeed, one of the greatest fruits of the printing press and the Reformation was the explosion of Bible translations into the ordinary languages, which made it possible for people to read the Scriptures for themselves.

As wonderful, necessary, and reliable as translations are, my prayer is that through the Internet and the resources that are available through it, there will be a similar explosion of Christians learning the biblical languages for themselves. Biblingo (as well as other programs like Aleph with Beth and Alpha with Angela) are making that dream and vision possible.

Indeed, whenever it becomes normal for ordinary Christians to learn the biblical languages and even for parents to teach or learn them to/with their children, a new reformation will surely be afoot.