Category Archives: Grammar

New Testament Greek Grammar

Greek Verb: Present, Indicative, Active

A Verb Ending In -ω In The Present, Indicative, Active

Most Greek verbs end in ω in the first person singular of the present, indicative, active.

(1) I believe πιστευω και ευθεως κραξας ο πατηρ του παιδιου μετα δακρυων ελεγεν πιστευω κυριε βοηθει μου τη απιστια (Mark 9:24)

and immediately the father of the child, having cried out, with tears said, `I believe, sir; be helping mine unbelief.’

(2) You believe πιστευεις πιστευεις βασιλευ αγριππα τοις προφηταις οιδα οτι πιστευεις (Act 26:27)

You believe, king Agrippa, the prophets? I have known that you believe!’

(3) He believes πιστευει ιησους δε εκραξεν και ειπεν ο πιστευων εις εμε ου πιστευει εις εμε αλλ εις τον πεμψαντα με (John 12:44)

And Jesus cried and said, `He who is believing in me, does not believe in me, but in Him who sent me;

(4) We believe πιστευομεν τη τε γυναικι ελεγον οτι ουκετι δια την σην λαλιαν πιστευομεν αυτοι γαρ ακηκοαμεν και οιδαμεν οτι ουτος εστιν αληθως ο σωτηρ του κοσμου ο χριστος (John 4:42)

and said to the woman–`No more because of thy speaking do we believe; for we ourselves have heard and known that this is truly the Saviour of the world–the Christ.’… Learn Koine Greek

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Hebrew-Aramaean Complexion of The New Testament Diction

The popular Greek dialect was not spoken and written by the Jews, without some intermixtures of a foreign kind. Particularly did they intermix many idioms and the general complexions of their vernacular language. Hence arose a Judaizing Greek dialect; which was in some good measure unintelligible to the native Greeks, and became an object of their contempt. All the idioms of the vernacular language of the Jews, which have been transferred to the Septuagint and the New Testament, have been ranked under the appellation of Hebraisms; to which however, many phrases have been assigned; that more properly should be named Aramaeisms, or which belonged to the popular Greek.… Learn Koine Greek

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Declension of Nouns

There are three declension of nouns i.e general forms of inflection. (1) The first declension belong to all whose stems end in α (2) The second declension belong to all whose stems end in ο (3) The third declension belong to all whose stems end in other than

The first and second declensions are parisyllabic, i.e. the terminations are blended with the stem-vowel in one syllable. The third declension is imparisyllable, i.e the termination of most of the cases forms an additional sylable to the stems.

First Declension

Feminines, in the nominative case, exhibit the simple stem, excepting that in cetain cases the alpha is lengthened into η.… Learn Koine Greek

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Greek Verb “To be”

The conjugation of verb to be in the indicative mood

Present Singular Plural ειμι I am εσμεν We are ει You are εστε You are εστι(ιν) he (she, or it) is εισι(ν) They are Past Singular Plural ην I was ημεν We were ησ (or ησθα) You was ητε You were ην he (she or it) was ησαν They were Future Singular Plural εσομαι I shall be εσομεθα We shall be εση You shall be εσεσθε You shall be εσται he (she or it) shall be εσονται They shall be

All verbs has the personal endings like ει-μι, εσ-σι, εσ-τι. … Learn Koine Greek

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The Cases (Πτοσεις)

There are five cases in New Testament Greek that you should remember by heart: (1) nominative (case of the subject) (2) genitive (or possessive) (3) dative (conjunctive) (4) accusative (case of the object) (5) vocative (used in direct address).

Τhe nominative is the case of the subject. “A verb must agree with nominative case in number and person” (The first Concord). Nouns are of the third person.

When the subject is a personal pronoun, it is implied in the form of the verb, and is not separately expressed unless emphatic. In the third person singular, the omitted subject will be he, she, or it, and is to be learned from the connexion.… Learn Koine Greek

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Nouns

Nouns in Greek have three genders: (i) masculine (ii) feminine (iii) neuter… Learn Koine Greek

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Greek Vowel

Vowels

There are seven vowels in Greek: (1) α (2) ε (3) η (4) ι (5) ο (6) υ (7) ω

Of these ε and ο are always short, and take about half the time to pronounce as η and ω, which are always long.

A diphthong combines two vowels in one syllable. The second vowel is or ι or υ. The diphthongs are αι, ει, αυ, ευ, ου, ηυ, and, υι. ι written below the line of α, η, and ω is called iota subscript. These are improper diphthongs.… Learn Koine Greek

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Use of the Interrogative Pronoun τις

The pronoun τις is sometimes put for the relative; as in Latin qui and quis, and in English, who is both relative and interrogative. Examples, (1) Where τις retains its interrogative meaning, and still must be rendered in Latin by quis or quod. E.g. Mat 20:22

Matthew 20:22 αποκριθεις δε ο ιησους ειπεν ουκ οιδατε τι αιτεισθε δυνασθε πιειν το ποτηριον ο εγω μελλω πινειν και το βαπτισμα ο εγω βαπτιζομαι βαπτισθηναι λεγουσιν αυτω δυναμεθα

But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”… Learn Koine Greek

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Aramaic Style of the Greek New Testament

The national Aramaic or Hebrew element influenced Greek-writing Jewish authors of the Greek New Testament in a threefold manner: (1) It is proable that the speaker or writer quite involuntarily and unconciously rendered a phrase by his mother tounge by an accurately corresponding phrase; (2) The reading and hearing of the Old Testament in the Greek version of the Septuagint coloured the writer’s style, especially if he desired to write in a solemn and dignified manner (just as profane writers borrowed phrases from the Attic writers for a similar objects); (3) A great part of the New Testament writings (the three first Gospels and the first half of the Acts) is in all probability a direct working over of Aramaic or Hebrew materials.… Learn Koine Greek

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Indefinite Article

Greeks have no indefinite article. When they wish to designate an individual in a manner undefined, they make use of  τις. This usage is fully adopted in the New Testament.… Learn Koine Greek

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