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Not a competition.

There are those who will pursue *false* relationships for whatever the motivations stir their dark hearts.

I was writing of those of honest minds, *no matter their station in life*, who desire to love with all their hearts and souls.

It's a natural inclination to be together with their beloved, whether that means extra time spent holding hands at lunchtime, or in discussing mutual scholarly interests.

Greek is your specific topic, but the idea of *setting a limit* on pursuing further knowledge is alien to the greater subject matter.

God knows the heart of the scholar and also the cleaning lady. He knows who is "all" in.

Matthew 22:36-40

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Indeed, not a competition at all. Every disciple pursues greater understanding of the Lord and what He has revealed to us through the Scriptures, in whatever capacity he is able as the Lord has blessed him.

I enjoy the study of Greek, shallow though my knowledge is. Again, my aim is not to disparage the study of it, but to demonstrate that the Scripture itself corrects our errors independent of Greek scholarship. (I think the two examples in the OP illustrate this point.)

There are, of course, instances where knowledge of the Greek sheds light where the translators could've perhaps done a better job by doing less interpretive work. A notable example is in the translation of ekklesia: If it were translated consistently, Jesus' statement about building HIS ekklesia would be clearer, i.e. as a contrast to the ekklesia of Israel.

So once again, I intend no disparagement of the study of Greek nor of those who study it in pursuit of greater understanding of God's revelation. My aim is rather to demonstrate that the Bible itself explains itself, and corrects our and even the translators' errors - if we let it. I apologize if I didn't make that clear before.