This is a real fallacy that is pervasive in some evangelical circles, especially pretrib circles. There is also the Modern Greek-Speaking Greek counterpart fallacy. But the former is more common.
Many evangelicals think that modern Jews who speak Hebrew have some special “insight” into Scripture because they are Jewish and/or speak Hebrew. They do not. Some evangelicals, if you can imagine this, even assume unbelieving, modern, Hebrew-speaking Jews have some special insight into the ancient Hebrew language.
It is a fallacy because there is no inherent exegetical value for interpreting Scripture possessed by a modern Jew, nor if they are a modern Jew who speaks modern Hebrew.
A modern Hebrew-speaking Jew can make lexical, grammatical, exegetical fallacies just as much as the non-Hebrew-speaking interpreter.
In short, there is no shortcut to having insight into God’s Word.
Certainly, you do not have to be a scholar to gain insight into God’s Word. I would never claim that. But to mine difficult exegetical questions, it does take hard work and time to learn the original biblical languages, grammar, discourse analysis, hermeneutic principles, and so forth.
We are committing this fallacy if we invest quasi-infallibility and unquestionable esteem upon modern Hebrew-speaking prophecy teachers. Consequently, we create “super-teachers” where their word is accepted as gospel and thus any criticism of their theology is met with resistance.
Let’s reaffirm the doctrine of the priesthood of believers!
