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New Testament Greek Online: Series Introduction

utexas.edu

http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/ntgol0X.html

NewTestamentGreekOnline
HansC.Boas,Director::PCL5.556,1UniversityStationS5490::Austin,TX78712::512
4714566

SeriesIntroduction
WinfredP.LehmannandJonathanSlocum
Greekhasbeenimportantintheintellectuallifeofwesterncivilization,butnottotheextentof
Latin,exceptforecclesiasticalmatterswhereitisobviouslyofmajorimportancefor
determiningthemeaningofNewTestamenttexts.Inyearspast,Latinwasintroducedinthe
firstyearofHighSchool,followedbyGreekinthethirdyear.TheprominenceofGreekfor
intellectualmattersisevidentindesignationsofsubjectscentraltouniversitystudy,suchas
philosophy'loveofwisdom',philology'loveofwordsormoregenerallystudy',theology'study
relatedtoGod',psychology'studyrelatedtothesoulorpsyche',andsoon.
TheGreekintheNewTestamentisthesocalledkoine'commonlanguage'.Basedoriginally
ontheGreekofAthens,itwascirculatedthroughoutAlexandertheGreat'sempire.
Languagesacquiredbymanynonnativespeakersaregenerallysimplified,aswasthekoine.
Morphologicalcategorieswerelost,suchasthedualandtheoptative,thoughformsofthem
mayoccurinwrittentexts.Sentencesweregreatlysimplified,asnotedbelow.Yetmanyforms
remain,especiallyforverbs.
AdifficultywithGreekthatmayputofflearnersisthemaintenanceofanolderformofthe
alphabetthanthatusedforLatin,English,andmanyotherlanguages.Moreover,accentuation
variesinGreekwords,andinearlyGreekwasmusical.Whiletodayaccentedsyllablesare
pronouncedwithstressratherthantones,theolderaccentsarestillwritten[withaddedfor
illustration]:forthe'acute'accentorhighpitch,fortheaccentor
highlowpitch,andforthe'grave'orfallingpitch.
Furthermore,thesentencestructureandnumberofformsrequireagreatdealofattention.
Thewordsofsentencesareoftenplacedfortheiremphasis,ratherthaninaccordancewitha
patternlikethatoftheEnglishSubjectVerbObjectorder.Butwemaynotethatthesentences
ofNewTestamentGreektextsaresimplertoanalyzethanarethoseofClassicalGreek.The
writerswerestronglyinfluencedbyHebrewandAramaic,inwhichtheverbisplacedfirstin
thesentenceandisoftenaccompaniedbyparticles,inGreekand,whichmayalso
standbeforetheverb.Thissentencestructurehashadaneffectonthetranslationsintomore
modernlanguages,asintheKingJamesversion:thefirstfourversesofourfirsttext,Luke2,
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beginwithAnd,asdoverses6through10.
Evenwiththesimplersyntax,knowledgeoftheinflectionsishighlyimportant.Interpretationis
alsoassistedbytheuseofarticleswhich,likenouns,adjectives,pronounsandverbs,are
inflected.Itisessential,then,tolearnthebasicinflectionsofthesepartsofspeech.

Note:thissetoflessonsisforsystems/browserswithUnicodesupport,
includingfullGreekscript(withpolytonicletters).Lessonsrenderedinalternate
charactersetsareavailablevialinks(RomanizedandUnicode2)intheleft
margin,andatthebottomofthispage.

1.TheGreekalphabetandpronunciation.
TheGreekalphabetwastakenoverfromtheSemiticasusedinthePhoenicianarea,whichin
turnwasbasedonanEgyptianalphabet.Thesewerealsousedforthenumerals,sothatthe
orderofthesymbolswasmaintained,ifchangedattimesinsoundvalue.Thisistruealsoof
theLatinalphabet,whichwasbasedultimatelyontheGreekalphabetthe3rdsymbol,which
represented[g]asinitsnamegamma,hadthesoundof[k]inLatin,asinwordslikecarorthe
propernameCato.Thesymbolsthemselves,especiallythesmallcursives,mayalsodifferin
formfromthoseofLatinandEnglish,butonthewholethedifferencesmayreadilybe
recognized.Thealphabetisasfollows:

Notethattherearetwoformsofthesmalllettersigma:thelatter()isusedwheretheletter
appearslastinthewordeverywhereelse,theformerisused.The[h]soundbeforeavowelis
signalledbyaroughbreathingsign[withaddedforillustration]:andwhenthereisno
initial[h]soundbeforevowels,thesmoothbreathingsignis.Theroughbreathingmayalso
beusedwithinitialrho:.
Thenamesofthelettersareasfollows,inEnglishandtheninGreek:

alpha,beta,gamma,delta,epsilon,zeta,eta,theta,iota,kappa,lambda,mu,
nu,xi,omicron,pi,rho,sigma,tau,upsilon,phi,chi,psi,omega

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,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,

LatinandthereuponEnglishhasmaintainedthisorderwithmodificationsthatareapparent
fromthedifferentsoundsofthelettersandthedifferentnames.Theletterwaspronounced
liketheconsonantinadze.Theletterwaspronouncedliketheconsonantinax.Theletter
waspronouncedlikethefinalconsonantsintops.Theletterswereoriginally
pronouncedliketheaspiratedinitialconsonantsinEnglishtan,pan,canasopposedtothe
unaspiratedconsonantsinstan,span,scanbuttheyareusuallypronouncedtodaylikethe
initialconsonantsinthan,fanandtheconsonantinGermanach.
Thevowelsarepronouncedasfollows:likethevowelofbot,likethatofbet,likethatof
bait,likethatofbeet,likethatofboat,likethatofbit,likethatofbought.Thefive
vowelsotherthanmaybelongorshort.UnlikeEnglish,therearefewsilentletters.
Sentences,then,arereadwitheveryletterpronounced,asinthefollowingquotationsfrom
Luke1:46and1:68

'Praise

(the)

soul

my

the

Lord'

'MysouldothpraisetheLord.'

'Blessed

Lord

the

God

ofthe

Israel'

'BlessedbetheLordGodofIsrael.'

2.Thevocabulary.
EnglishandGreekbelongtotheIndoEuropeanlanguagefamilytheirearlierversions
separatedfromeachothersomefourthousandyearsago.Wordsofthesameoriginareoften
disguisedbecauseofchangesthathavetakenplaceinbothlanguages.Forexample,an
initial[s]soundbeforevowelsinGreekevolvedinto[h],asin(cf.Englishsix)Latinsex,Greek
heks,written(cf.hexagon).Thewordcorrespondingtoseveniswritten(cf.
heptagon).MoreovertheIndoEuropeanconsonantsrepresentedasbh,dh,ghevolvedtoph,
th,kh,,,asin'brother'.NewsoundshavealsobeenintroducedinGreekwith
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theirownletterinthealphabet,suchasforthevowelcorrespondingtothe[a]inhate,and
forthecombination[ks]asinsix.
Thegreatestdifference,however,mayhaveresultedfromamassivechangeofconsonantsin
Germanic(henceEnglish)wellbeforeourera.Thechangewasformulatedbythegreat
Germanscholar,JakobGrimm,andisknownasGrimm'slaw,whichislistedeveninsmaller
dictionariesofEnglish.Atthistime,p,t,kevolvedintosoundsthattodayarerepresentedbyf,
th,h.Amongexamplesare:father,compareGreek,three,compareGreek,
hundred,compareGreek,literally'onehundred'.Andthesoundsrepresentedbybh,
dh,ghinIndoEuropeanwerechangedtothesoundsthattodayarerepresentedbyb,d,g.
ThesesoundswerealsochangedinGreek,asnotedabove.AmongexamplesareEnglish
brother,compareGreek,door,compareGreek,goose,compareGreek.At
thesametime,b,d,gwerechangedtop,t,k.AmongEnglishexamplesareten,compare
Greek,kin,compareGreek.(IndoEuropeanhadalmostnowordswithb.)
Itisinterestingtocomparesuchcognatewords,butthechangesthatbothlanguageshave
undergoneoftenconcealtherelationships,asforthenumeralsforfourandfive.Someofthe
othersaretransparentlyrelated,inspiteofchanges:one,Greektwo,Greekthree,
Greekfour,Greekfive,Greeksix,Greekseven,Greekeight,
Greeknine,Greekten,Greek.SincedictionariesmayprovidetheGreek
cognatesofEnglishentries,controlovertheGreekvocabularycanbegainedbynotingthem.
Etymologicaldictionariesareofgreaterassistance.
Asnotedabove,byfarthegreatestnumberofsimilarwordsarefoundinacademicand
ecclesiasticallanguage,whereEnglishsimplytookovertheGreektermsthroughlong
influenceonwesternculturefromthesespheres.Wordswerepronouncedinaccordancewith
theEnglishspellings,ratherthanwiththeirpronunciationinGreek.Someexamplesarecited
here.
TheacademictermsareinaccordancewiththeinfluenceofAristotle,whoconductedhis
teachingintheAtheniangroveknownastheAcademy,whichwasnamedafterthehero
Akademos.Wehavealreadynotedtermsendinginlogy,towhichothersmightbeaddedlike
biologyandneurology.Thelastpartattainedastatusofitsown,sothatfurtherwordslike
sociology,withitsinitialpartfromLatin,couldbeintroduced.Moreover,thelastparthasa
somewhatdifferentfunctionintheworddoxology,'givingwordsofpraise'.Otherecclesiastical
termsareclergy,clerical,Eucharistandliturgy.Inthepoliticalspherethewordsdemocratand
democracyarebasedonthecomponentsforpeopleandpower,asalsoinaristocratand
aristocracyforthebestorsuperiorpeopleandpower,autocracyforselforabsolutepower,
theocracyforecclesiasticalpower.Examinationoftheetymologyor'truemeaning'ofsuch
wordswillassistingainingcontroloftheGreekvocabulary.

3.ThesentencestructureofGreek.
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Asisclearfromtheearlierquotations,thesentenceorderofGreekmaydifferconsiderably
fromthatofEnglish.InanearlierformofGreek,theverbwasplacedlastinthesentence,but
inLuke1:46itspositionisquitedifferent.ThedifferentpositionispossiblebecauseofGreek
inflections.GreekcanmoveelementsaroundforstylisticpurposesasinLuke1:46,giving
emphasistotheverb.
InexaminingaGreektext,oneshouldfirstidentifytheverb.Itsformsareidentifiablethrough
theirinflections,withtheadditionalhelpthatnounsareoftenmarkedbyprecedingarticles.In
Luke1:46,theendingindicatesthatthesubjectisinthenominativecase.Andthe
endingsindicatethatandaregenitives.Itisuseful,then,tomemorizethe
basicinflectionsofverbsaswellasthoseofnouns,pronouns,andadjectives.
Asillustratedbythesebriefpassages,thekeytoreadingGreekisprovidedbyknowledgeof
itsinflections.Whilethesearenumerous,memorizationofthebasicinflectionsofthearticle,
ofnounsandofverbsisgenerallyadequate.

4.TheformsofGreek.

4.1Nouns,adjectives,pronouns,thearticle.

Theepartsofspeechareinflectedforfourcases,besidesacaseofaddresscalledthe
vocative.Thecasesareasfollows:
Nominative,thecaseofthesubject
Genitive,thecasetoindicatepossessionpossessive,ingrammarsofEnglish
Dative,thecaseoftheindirectobject
Accusative,thecaseofthedirectobjectobjective,ingrammarsofEnglish
Caseformsmayalsobedeterminedbyprepositions.
InEnglish,onlythenominative,genitive/possessiveandaccusative/objectivehavebeen
maintained,andthatonlyinpronouns:Iisnominative,myisgenitive,meisaccusative.
Nounssimplyhaveanominativeandapossessive,asindog,dog's.Adjectivesarenot
inflected.
Greeknounsarealsoinflectedfor
number,thatis,singularandpluralClassicalGreekalsomaintainedadual.
threegenders:masculine,feminine,andneuter.
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alargenumberofdeclensions.
Paradigmsaregiveninthevariouslessons.Forillustrationhere,formsofthearticleare
showninallthreegenders,aswellasthefemininenounfor'country'ofthedeclensionand
themasculinenounfor'word'andtheneuterfor'gift'ofthedeclension:

Fem.

Masc.

Nt.

Fem.

Masc

Nt

Sg.Nom.

Sg.Gen.

Sg.Dat.

Sg.Acc.

Pl.Nom.

Pl.Gen.

Pl.Dat.

Pl.Acc

4.2Verbs.

Likenouns,verbshavemanyinflections(thoughnotallofthepossiblecombinationsbelow
arerealized):
Verbsareinflectedforvoice:active,middle,andpassive.Themiddleindicatesaction
directedatthesubjectthisisoftenexpressedinthelexicalmeaningitself.Verbswitha
basicallymiddlevoiceareknownasdeponentsforexample,means'become,
takeplace,beproduced,'etc.
Verbsareinflectedformood:indicative,subjunctive,andoptative,thoughasnoted
abovetheoptativehasbeenvirtuallylostinNewTestamentGreek.
Verbsareinflectedfortense:present,past(orimperfect),andfuture.Ofthese,there
arethreesets(again,notinallcombinations):thebasic(orsimple),theaorist,andthe
perfect.Thepastperfectisalsocalledpluperfect.
Inadditionthereareimperativeforms,infinitives,participles,agerund,andasupine.The
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imperativeformsarerareinwrittentexts.
Thepresentinfinitiveactivemaybeillustratedby'tosay,speak'theaoristis.The
presentinfinitivemiddleistheaoristis.Thepassiveinfinitiveis
theaoristis.Thepresentparticipleactiveis,,.Thepresent
participlemiddleandpassiveis,,.
ItshouldbeobviousthattheverbsystemofGreekiscomplex.Thebasicformsofirregular
verbsaregenerallylistedindictionaries.

4.3Theotherpartsofspeech.

Inadditiontothesepartsofspeech,Greekincludesadverbs,conjunctions,interjectionsand
prepositions.SincetheirfunctionsarecomparabletothoseoftheirEnglishcounterparts,they
willnotbediscussedhere.

5.Examplesoftexts.
WeassumethatusersofNewTestamentGreekOnlinemaywanttomemorizeselected
passages.Accordingly,eachlessonincludesonememoryverse.Ofallsuchpassages,the
Lord'sPrayermaybethemosthighlypreferred.Itssentencestructureissimple,sothateach
verseiseasilymemorized.WeprovideitherebothasasampleofNewTestamentGreekand
formemorization.TheGreekgivenhereisthatofMatthew6:913theGreekinLuke11:25is
somewhatdifferent,althoughtheKingJamesversionprovidesvirtuallythesameEnglish
translationforthetwo.Thefamiliarconclusion,"ForthineistheKingdom,andthepower,and
thegloryforeverandever"istakentobealateraddition,andisnotprovidedintheNestle
editionnorintheWestcottandHorteditionoftheGreektext.

Ofather

ofus

he

in

the

heavens

'OurFatherwhichartinheaven,'

hallowedbe

the

name

ofyou

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'Hallowedbethyname.'

come

the

kingdon

ofyou

'Thykingdomcome,'

bedone

the

will

ofyou

'Thywillbedone'

as

in

heaven

also

on

earth

'inearth,asitisinheaven.'

the

bread

ofus

the

daily

give

tous

today

'Giveusthisdayourdailybread.'

and

forgive

tous

the

sins

ofus

'Andforgiveusourdebts'
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as

also

we

forgive

the

sinners

ofus

'asweforgiveourdebtors.'

and

not

lead

us

into

temptation

'Andleadusnotintotemptation'

but

bring

us

awayfrom

the

evil

'butdeliverusfromevil.'

NewTestamentGreekLessons
Note:therearegreatdisparitiesincapabilityamongpersonalcomputersincontemporaryuse.
Unfortunately,supportforUnicodeand/ortherepertoireoffontsinstalledonyourpersonal
computercannotbedetectedbyawebserver!Accordingly,wehavepreparedmultiple
versionsofeachlessonthissetoflessonsisforsystems/browsersforsystems/browserswith
Unicodesupport,includingacomplete"polytonicGreek"font.(Youmayswitchtoother
versionsvialinksbelow.)Lessons:
1. fromthe3rdGospel(Luke),chapter2
2. fromthe1stGospel(Matthew),chapter2
3. fromthe4thGospel(John),chapter3
4. fromthe3rdGospel(Luke),chapter4
5. fromthe1stGospel(Matthew),chapter5
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6. fromthe2ndGospel(Mark),chapter4
7. fromthe2ndGospel(Mark),chapter9
8. fromthe4thGospel(John),chapter20
9. fromtheBookofActs(Luke),chapter2
10. fromtheFirstLettertoCorinth(Paul),chapter13

Options:

RelatedLanguageCoursesatUT
MostbutnotalllanguagecoursestaughtatTheUniversityofTexasconcernmodern
languageshowever,numerouscoursesinancientGreek,atboththeundergraduateand
graduatelevels,aretaughtintheDepartmentofClassics(linkopensinanewbrowser
window).OnlinelanguagecoursesforcollegecreditareofferedthroughtheUniversity
Extension(newwindow).

HellenicResourcesElsewhere
OurWebLinkspageincludespointerstoHellenicresourceselsewhere.

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