Programs in Biblical language and literatures teach people the ancient languages of the Near East. Students learn how words began and languages spread through Sumer, Judea, Egypt, Babylon, Syria, Persia, and Anatolia. Students learn from inscriptions on coins and buildings. They also study the different texts that make up today's modern Bible.

The Bible tells us that Abraham, the father of Judaism, was born in Ur, a city in Chaldea, formerly Sumer. Ur is now a city in northern Iraq. Babylon was about 50 miles south of Baghdad. Although Ur still remains, Chaldea, Sumer, and Babylon are no more. When you can read the Bible in its original languages, you can investigate references and correlate them with information from other ancient sources, including early historians such as Philo and Josephus, writings from the same period that were not included in the Bible, and findings by archeologists that complement those histories.

In Biblical language and literature programs, you typically learn how to read Greek and Hebrew. Learning Hebrew allows you to read and study the Old Testament. Learning Greek allows you to read and study the New Testament. In many programs, you also learn about the culture of the people and the land that spoke those ancient languages.

It shouldn't be a surprise to learn that you study the Bible in detail. Depending on the program, this can mean that you study it for religious meaning as well as to study it like another work of literature. Often your courses will split the Bible into segments or focus on a specific person. Obviously, many courses will focus on important people such as Moses and Jesus Christ. You can also study the Torah, the Psalms, or the gospels of the New Testament. In addition, most programs offer courses about how the Bible was written and translated over time.

About 30 colleges and universities offer bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in Biblical language and literature. A few two-year colleges offer the first two years of study. Students can often transfer these credits to a four-year school. Master's degrees typically take five or six years of full-time study after high school. Doctoral degree programs typically take three to five years after the master's degree. Most people with graduate degrees become professors.

Students who major in Biblical language and literature may be able to choose concentrations such as:

• Conversation
• Dialects
• Folklore
• Interpreting
• Linguistics
• Literature
• Specific Language Groups
• Teaching
• Translation