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Greek Lessons
- The Gift of Tongues as Known Languages: Witness of the Early Church Fathers
- From Jerusalem with Scrutiny: Fronting and Focus in Mark 7:1
- Speaking in Tongues in the Bible
- Grace Beyond Demand: Participles and Imperatives in a Kingdom Ethic
- Reverent Burial and Narrative Simplicity: A Koine and Classical Greek Comparison of Mark 6:29
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Category
Author Archives: New Testament Greek
What Is Biblical Greek
The isolated position of the Greek found in the Septuagint and the New Testament has been the problem dividing grammatical students of this literature for generations past. That the Greek Scriptures, and the small body of writings which in language go with them, were written in the Κοινή, the “common” or “Hellenistic Greek” that superseded the dialects of the Classical period was well enough known. But was most obviously different from the literary Κοινή of the period. It could not be adequately paralleled from Plutarch or Arrian, and the Jewish writers Philo and Josephus were no more helpful than their “profane” comtemporaries.… Learn Koine Greek
Greek Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
First Personal Pronoun
Second Personal Pronoun
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Nominative
εγω, I
ημεις, we
συ, you
υμεις, you
Genitive
εμου or μου
ημων
σου
υμων
Dative
εμοι or μοι
ημιν
σοι
υμιν
Accusative
εμε or με
ημας
σε
υμας
For the third personal pronoun, he, she, it, the three genders of an adjective-pronoun are employed: αυτος, self.
Singular Plural Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter Nominative αυτος αυτη αυτο αυτοι αυται αυτα Genitive αυτου αυτης αυτου αυτων αυτων αυτων Dative αυτω αυτη αυτω αυτοις αυταις αυτοις Accusative αυτον αυτην αυτο αυτους αυτας αυτα Reflexive PronounsReflexive pronouns combine the personal pronouns with the oblique cases of αυτος.… Learn Koine Greek
Punctuation In The Greek New Testament
In the edition of the New Testament down to that of Griesbach inclusive, the punctuation was not only deficient in uniformity, but was also excessive. To make the meaning clearer, editors introduced a profusion of stops, especially commas; and in doing this often intruded on the text their own interpretation of it. Knapp was the first who bestowed closer attention on the subject, and attempted to reduce it to fixed principles. Schulz, Lachmann, and Tischendorf (who usually agrees with Lachmann), have followed in the same track, but with still greater reserve: no one of these however, has given a general exposition of his principles.… Learn Koine Greek
Posted in Grammar
Tagged colon, comma, Georg Benedikt Winer, Griesbach, Lachmann, punctuation, Tischendorf
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The Origin of the Greek Definite Article
The Sanskrit and Latin did not develop any article at all, and the Greek never developed the indefinite usage to any extent. Moreover, the Greek was slow in creating the definite article, though in Homer we do have the beginning of the article. The forms ο, η, το are occasionally used in Homer with the force of “the,” chiefly with adjectives, proper names, or for contrast. It is just in Homer that we see the evolution of the article, for this same form ο, η, το is very common here as a demonstrative and appears also as a relative. Hence ο is originally a demonstrative that was gradually weakened to the article or heightened to the relative.… Learn Koine Greek
Posted in Beginners
Tagged A.T. Robertson, demonstative, relative, η, ο, ο δε, ο ην, ον δε, ον μεν, ος, ος δε, ος μεν, το
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The Indefinite Article In Greek
The Latin had no article, as the Greek has no indefinite article. Not even in the modern Greek has the indefinite article of the Teutonic and Roman tounges developed, though occasionally εις or τις is used with little more force than the English a (an). Even in the New Testament we see traces of this use of εις in Mat 8:19 where εις γραμματευς is equivalent to “a” in English
Matthew 8:19 και προσελθων εις γραμματευς ειπεν αυτω διδασκαλε ακολουθησω σοι οπου εαν απερχη
and a certain scribe having come, said to him, `Teacher, I will follow thee wherever thou mayest go
In fact, the English one, Scotch ane, French un, German ein is simply the cardinal “one” adapted to this very usage.… Learn Koine Greek
Comparison of Adjectives
There are two general forms.
(1) First FormComparative -τερος -τερα -τερον
Superlative -τατος -τατη -τατον
(a) These terminations are added to the adjective stem. Thus:-
πιστος faithful
πιστοτερος πιστοτερα πιστοτερον – more faithful
ευγενης noble
ευγενεστερος ευγενετερα ευγενετερον – more noble
Βαθυς – deep
Βαθυτερος Βαθυτερα Βαθυτερον – deeper
and :-
πιστοτατος πιστοτατη πιστοτατον – most faithful
ευγενεστατος ευγενεστατη ευγενεστατον – most noble
Βαθυτατος Βαθυτατη Βαθυτατον – deepest
(b) The stem-ending ο (in the First Form of adjectives) when preceded by a short vowel, is changed in the comparative and superlative into ω. Thus:-
σοφος wise
σοφωτερος σοφωτερα σοφωτερον – wiser
σοφωτατος σοφωτατη σοφωτατον – wisest
νεος new
νεωτερος νεωτερα νεωτερον newer
νεωτατος νεωτατη νεωτατον newest
(c) The declension of the First form of comparative and superltive follows that of the First Form of the adjectives.… Learn Koine Greek
The Voices of the Greek Verb
The system of three voices of the verb – active (transitive), passive (instransitive), and middle (i.e. transitive with the reference to the subject) – remains on the whole the same in the New Testament as in the classical language. In the former, as in the latter, it frequently happens in the case of individual verbs that by a certain arbitrariness of the language this or that voice becomes the established and recognized form for a particular meaning, to the exclusion of another voice, which might perhaps appear more appropriate to this meaning. It is therefore a difficult matter to arrive at any general conception for each of the voices, which when applied to particular cases is not bound at once to become subject to limitation or even contradiction.… Learn Koine Greek
Posted in Grammar
Tagged active, Aποκρινομαι, Friedrich Wilhelm Blass, intransitive, passive, transitive, αγαμαι, απεκριθην, απεκριναμην, αποθανουμαι, αποθνησκω, αποκριθησομαι, αποκρινουμαι, απολωλα, δραμουμαι, εδραμον, εστηκα, εστην, εστησαμην, εφανην, εφανθην, ηγασθην, θαυμαζομαι, θαυμαζω, θαυμασθησομαι, θαυμασομαι, θρεξομαι, ισταμαι, λυπουμαι, σταθησομαι, τεξοσομαι, τικτω, τυπτομαι, τυπτω, φαανθην, χαιρω
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Greek Numerals
(1) Δυο has genitive δυο, dative δυσιν (plural inflection). (2) In compounds of δεκα with units, at least from thirteen upwards, δεκα occupies the first place (this practice is more frequent in later language than in the older: in modern Greek except in the case of eleven and twelve, it is universal): (i) δεκατεσσαρες in Matthew 1:17
πασαι ουν αι γενεαι απο αβρααμ εως δαβιδ γενεαι δεκατεσσαρες και απο δαβιδ εως της μετοικεσιας βαβυλωνος γενεαι δεκατεσσαρες και απο της μετοικεσιας βαβυλωνος εως του χριστου γενεαι δεκατεσσαρες All the generations, therefore, from Abraham unto David are fourteen generations, and from David unto the Babylonian removal fourteen generations, and from the Babylonian removal unto the Christ, fourteen generations.… Learn Koine Greek
What Is Koine Greek
Koine Greek (Ελληνιστική Κοινή) “Hellenistic common (language)”; or ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, “the common dialect” is the popular form of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity (c.300 BC – 300 A.D.), developing from the Attic dialect, with admixture of elements especially from Ionic. Koine Greek arose as a common dialect within the armies of Alexander the Great. Under the leadership of Macedon, which colonized the known world, their newly formed common dialect was spoken from Egypt to Mesopotamia. Though elements of Koine Greek took shape during the Classical Era, the post-Classical period of Greek is defined as beginning with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.,… Learn Koine Greek
Greek Adjectives
An adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified. Every word joined to a substantive, in the character or quality of an adjective, (as adjectives, participles, pronouns, articles) must agree with the noun in number, gender, and case. Greek adjectives follow precisely the inflection of Substantives. Every declension, almost every form, reappears, but in different combinations.
In respect of form, adjectives are divided into three classes:
(i) Those which combine the first and second declension. (ii) Those which combine the first and third declension. (iii) Those which follow exclusively the type of the third declension.… Learn Koine Greek
