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Greek Lessons
- “What to Us and to You?”: Demonic Recognition and Eschatological Grammar in Matthew 8:29
- Whispers of Identity: From Prophets to Pronouns in Mark 8:28
- The Field of Blood: Passive Voice and Temporal Clauses in Matthew 27:8
- Declensions in the Storm: Case Usage in Matthew 8:26
- Testimony on the Road: Aorist Participles and Mission Grammar in Acts 8:25
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Category
Author Archives: Biblical Greek
The Guarded Law: Prohibitions, Aspect, and Compound Expressions in Leviticus 19:19 LXX
Τὸν νόμον μου φυλάξεσθε τὰ κτήνη σου οὐ κατοχεύσεις ἑτεροζύγῳ καὶ τὸν ἀμπελῶνά σου οὐ κατασπερεῖς διάφορον καὶ ἱμάτιον ἐκ δύο ὑφασμένον κίβδηλον οὐκ ἐπιβαλεῖς σεαυτῷ (Leviticus 19:19 LXX)
You shall keep my law; your cattle you shall not mate with one of a different kind, and your vineyard you shall not sow with mixed seed, and a garment woven from two kinds of material, false, you shall not put upon yourself.
One Law, Three ProhibitionsThis verse presents a triad of prohibitions bound together under the imperative to keep God’s law. Each clause carries its own verb of prohibition, and the sequence shifts between future indicative forms with prohibitive force and participial descriptors.… Learn Koine Greek
If That’s the Case: Marriage and Discipleship in Matthew 19:10
Λέγουσιν αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ· εἰ οὕτως ἐστὶν ἡ αἰτία τοῦ ἀνθρώπου μετὰ τῆς γυναικός, οὐ συμφέρει γαμῆσαι. (Matthew 19:10)
His disciples say to him: “If this is the situation of the man with the woman, it is not advantageous to marry.“
After Jesus’ strict teaching on divorce, the disciples respond with an almost stunned objection. Their words in Matthew 19:10 are brief but packed with realism—and their grammar reflects that intensity. This isn’t a question, it’s a conclusion. Their reaction reveals just how radical Jesus’ view of marriage sounded in a first-century context.
Grammatical FoundationsThe verb λέγουσιν is present active indicative, 3rd person plural: “they say.”… Learn Koine Greek
From Sleep to Strength: The Aorist Narrative Drive of Judges 16:3 LXX
Καὶ ἐκοιμήθη Σαμψων ἕως τοῦ μεσονυκτίου καὶ ἀνέστη περὶ τὸ μεσονύκτιον καὶ ἐπελάβετο τῶν θυρῶν τῆς πύλης τῆς πόλεως καὶ τῶν δύο σταθμῶν καὶ ἀνεβάστασεν αὐτὰς σὺν τῷ μοχλῷ καὶ ἐπέθηκεν ἐπὶ τῷ ὤμῳ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀνήνεγκεν αὐτὰ ἐπὶ τὴν κορυφὴν τοῦ ὄρους ὅ ἐστιν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον Χεβρων καὶ ἔθηκεν αὐτὰ ἐκεῖ (Judges 16:3 LXX)
And Samson slept until midnight, and he rose about midnight, and he seized the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and he lifted them up with the bar, and he placed them on his shoulder, and he carried them to the top of the mountain which is opposite Ḥebron, and he set them there.… Learn Koine Greek
From Jebus to Jerusalem: Apposition, Enumeration, and the Grammar of Inheritance
Καὶ Ιεβους αὕτη ἐστὶν Ιερουσαλημ καὶ πόλεις καὶ Γαβαωθιαριμ πόλεις τρεῖς καὶ δέκα καὶ αἱ κῶμαι αὐτῶν αὕτη ἡ κληρονομία υἱῶν Βενιαμιν κατὰ δήμους αὐτῶν (Joshua 18:28 LXX)
A Tribal Boundary Cast in Syntax
This verse concludes the allotment of the tribe of Benjamin, listing its final city — Jebus (Jerusalem) — and summarizing the total number of cities and villages. The Greek text uses apposition, numeric phrasing, and final summarizing formulas to bind geography with identity and to reflect how tribal inheritance is encoded grammatically.
Καὶ Ιεβους αὕτη ἐστὶν Ιερουσαλημ — Naming by Apposition Grammatical Structure: Ιεβους: “Jebus” — the ancient name of the city later known as Jerusalem αὕτη ἐστὶν Ιερουσαλημ: “this is Jerusalem”This is a classic case of naming through apposition:
αὕτη (“this”) refers back to Ιεβους ἐστὶν is the present indicative of εἰμί Ιερουσαλημ is in the predicate position, renaming the subject Theological Implication:The grammar identifies Jebus — once a Canaanite stronghold — as Jerusalem, the future capital and spiritual center of Israel.… Learn Koine Greek
The Double Cave Before Mamre: Ownership, Memory, and Genitive Layers in Genesis 49:30
Ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ τῷ διπλῷ τῷ ἀπέναντι Μαμβρη ἐν τῇ γῇ Χανααν ὃ ἐκτήσατο Αβρααμ τὸ σπήλαιον παρὰ Εφρων τοῦ Χετταίου ἐν κτήσει μνημείου (Genesis 49:30 LXX)
Introductory Reflection
This verse from the Greek Septuagint encapsulates the burial site of the patriarchs — the Cave of Machpelah, in the land of Kenaʿan, purchased by Abraham. The sentence is a tapestry of articular participles, genitive chains, and prepositional phrases that embody the deep themes of inheritance, death, and ownership.
Location Layers: Nested Prepositional Phrases ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ τῷ διπλῷ τῷ ἀπέναντι Μαμβρη ἐν: locative preposition — “in” τῷ σπηλαίῳ: “the cave” — dative singular, the object of location τῷ διπλῷ: “the double” — adjective modifying “cave”; Machpelah = “double cave” τῷ ἀπέναντι Μαμβρη: “which is opposite Mamre”This pile-up of three articular phrases with shared gender, number, and case (dative singular neuter) forms a stacked attributive structure:
“in the double cave, the one opposite Mamre”
Such layering emphasizes specificity — not just any cave, but the exact one, tied to memory, geography, and history.… Learn Koine Greek
Gestures and Grammar: Sequential Aorists in Exodus 18:7 LXX
Ἐξῆλθεν δὲ Μωυσῆς εἰς συνάντησιν τῷ γαμβρῷ αὐτοῦ καὶ προσεκύνησεν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐφίλησεν αὐτόν καὶ ἠσπάσαντο ἀλλήλους καὶ εἰσήγαγεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν σκηνήν (Exodus 18:7 LXX)
And Moshe went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed to him, and he kissed him, and they greeted one another, and he brought him into the tent.
Hospitality in Five MovementsThis verse records a warm meeting between Moshe and his father-in-law. The narrative is driven by a chain of aorist verbs, each presenting a distinct and complete action. The result is a step-by-step portrayal of Middle Eastern greeting customs, where movement, gesture, and speech follow a time-honored sequence.… Learn Koine Greek
Hearing, Seeing, Setting: The Imperative Symphony of Ezekiel 44:5
Καὶ εἶπεν Κύριος πρός με υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου τάξον εἰς τὴν καρδίαν σου καὶ ἰδὲ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς σου καὶ τοῖς ὠσίν σου ἄκουε πάντα ὅσα ἐγὼ λαλῶ μετὰ σοῦ κατὰ πάντα τὰ προστάγματα οἴκου Κυρίου καὶ κατὰ πάντα τὰ νόμιμα αὐτοῦ καὶ τάξεις τὴν καρδίαν σου εἰς τὴν εἴσοδον τοῦ οἴκου κατὰ πάσας τὰς ἐξόδους αὐτοῦ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἁγίοις (Ezekiel 44:5 LXX)
A Verse of Triple Command
In this verse, the prophet is addressed with a striking triad of imperatives: τάξον (“set”), ἰδὲ (“see”), and ἄκουε (“listen”). These are not merely random commands; they form a deliberate rhetorical and grammatical pattern.… Learn Koine Greek
Posted in Ancient Greek, Septuagint Greek, Theology
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“The Land They Sojourned In”: Grammatical Roots of Covenant Memory in Exodus 6:4
Καὶ ἔστησα τὴν διαθήκην μου πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὥστε δοῦναι αὐτοῖς τὴν γῆν τῶν Χαναναίων τὴν γῆν ἣν παρῳκήκασιν ἐν ᾗ καὶ παρῴκησαν ἐπ᾽ αὐτῆς (Exodus 6:4 LXX)
Divine Covenant as a Grammatical Act
The verse begins with divine initiative in the perfect tense: καὶ ἔστησα τὴν διαθήκην μου πρὸς αὐτοὺς — “And I established my covenant with them”
ἔστησα: aorist active indicative of ἵστημι — “I set up, I established” The covenant is not fluid or metaphorical — it is a fixed, grounded structure in time. τὴν διαθήκην μου: “my covenant” — a legal, enduring agreement πρὸς αὐτοὺς: toward them — shows directionality and personal relationshipThis is a grammatical declaration of divine will, anchoring the covenant in past action with continuing implications.… Learn Koine Greek
As Olives Cling to the Top: Conditional Syntax and the Rhetoric of Remnant
Καὶ καταλειφθῇ ἐν αὐτῇ καλάμη ἢ ὡς ῥῶγες ἐλαίας δύο ἢ τρεῖς ἐπ᾽ ἄκρου μετεώρου ἢ τέσσαρες ἢ πέντε ἐπὶ τῶν κλάδων αὐτῶν καταλειφθῇ τάδε λέγει Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς Ισραηλ (Isaiah 17:6 LXX)
A Remnant in the Branches
Isaiah 17:6 LXX presents a vivid agricultural metaphor — scattered olives left clinging to high branches — as an image of the surviving remnant after judgment. The Greek grammar delicately balances conditional syntax, comparative imagery, and divine speech formula, capturing the tension between devastation and hope.
Main Structure: A Conditional + Declarative OracleThe verse consists of:
A conditional-like participial construction: καὶ καταλειφθῇ… — “and if there should be left…” A simile: ὡς ῥῶγες ἐλαίας… — “like olive berries…” A prophetic declaration: τάδε λέγει κύριος…This creates a flow:
Consequence of judgment (few left) Visual metaphor (scattered olives) Divine authentication (YHWH’s voice) καταλειφθῇ ἐν αὐτῇ καλάμη — The Leftover Stalk Verb: καταλειφθῇ: aorist passive subjunctive, 3rd singular of καταλείπω — “might be left behind” The subjunctive form suggests possibility, or a conditional potential: “if it should be left…” Subject: καλάμη: “stalk” or “stubble” — singular feminine nominative, likely subject of καταλειφθῇ ἐν αὐτῇ: “in it” — referring to the land/city implied from the context Syntactic Note:This opening conditional clause sets the tone: only a stalk, not a harvest, remains — a remnant, not abundance.… Learn Koine Greek
Placed Before the Holy: Future Imperatives and Sacred Space in Leviticus 16:7 LXX
Καὶ λήμψεται τοὺς δύο χιμάρους καὶ στήσει αὐτοὺς ἔναντι Κυρίου παρὰ τὴν θύραν τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου (Leviticus 16:7)
And he will take the two goats and he will set them before the LORD beside the door of the tent of the testimony.
A Quick OrientationThis verse stands at the heart of the Day of Atonement ritual: the priest “takes” and “sets” the two goats in a precise location. The grammar does more than narrate; it legislates. The future indicative forms function like commands, while the prepositional phrases choreograph sacred space with exactness.
Q&A with a Student of the LXX Q1.… Learn Koine Greek