Silva in his work, God, Language and Scripture concludes with this quote that I heartily agree with:
But I fear most of all for the future of biblical scholarship. Many are the students who have acknowledged that, if they had not been forced to take Greek and Hebrew, they would not have done so, thus missing what they now consider a foundational element in their theological education. Dropping the language requirement leads inexorably to a drain in the pool of potential scholars. Can we afford to abandon the scientific study of the Bible and leave it in the hands of those who have no regard for its authority?