Greek for Everyone

Introductory Greek for Bible Study and Application

A. Chadwick Thornhill

• Publisher: Baker Books
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781493406531
• Topic: Langues et linguistique
• Subtopic: Linguistique historique et comparative

Who Says You Have to Attend Seminary to Learn Greek? Reading the New Testament in its original language is one of the most effective ways to gain a greater understanding of the message of the Bible. Even though Greek is important to preparation for preaching and teaching, many who are called to ministry will not be able to dedicate years of study to master the language. But a lack of mastery of Greek should not exclude us from gleaning important insight and inspiration from reading Scripture in its original language.Now pastors, Bible study instructors, Sunday school teachers, and serious lay students of the Bible can learn the basics of biblical Greek at their own pace. Greek for Everyone explains how the Greek language works and introduces the Greek alphabet, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar, equipping readers to understand the original meaning of the New Testament. By focusing on the takeaways that most impact interpretation, this accessible book provides a working knowledge of biblical Greek for the study of Scripture.

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Language Learning, Koine Greek, and the Greek Alphabet

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Learning a new language is like learning to dance. There are rules that govern one’s participation in the activity. In dancing, the elements of rhythm, space, and motion come together to create something beautiful. Should one not follow the rules appropriately, moving too fast or slow, moving the wrong way or the wrong foot, the results become disastrous. You could go from tango to disco in one fell swoop!

Language, like dance, has its own rules. Instead of coordinating our movements to the music, we bring together different elements to create meaning, things such as lexical (think “dictionary”) data, grammar, and syntax. But in order to understand what is being said, we must understand the parts to understand the whole, just like trying to learn a new dance. Like a zoom lens, our approach in this book will take that journey by first, after our preliminaries, thinking about the whole of how language works before examining the parts that make up a sentence, and then zooming back out to see how the whole looks different with these parts understood.

How to Learn a New Language

In my first-semester Greek classes, my students often look for shortcuts as they navigate the maze of learning a new language (and a “dead” language at that!). Eventually they catch on and realize that shortcuts do not exist in the world of language learning. Repetition and memorization are the initial building blocks of the adventure, and apart from those practices, little progress can be made. There are some important strategies, however, that can help along the way. As I coach you through this journey, I would like to pass on to you these same time-tested principles.

Study in increments. Students quickly discover that cramming for a language exam does not work well. Just as a good meal deserves to be savored, learning a language requires a slow-paced, methodical approach. I often ask my students, “How do you eat an elephant?” to which the only proper response is “One bite at a time!” Greek will feel like an elephant on your plate at times, so approaching this feast in small, manageable bites is a necessity.

Master vocabulary. One of the most important building blocks in learning a language is mastering the vocabulary. Here, again, where memorization is so important, shortcuts will prove ineffective, and a manageable approach is essential. Through this book we will work to learn some of the most common vocabulary in the New Testament in order to make our study of the text more efficient. Keeping up with the vocabulary is a must!

Learn in a group. Learning in general takes place more effectively when a group of learners collaborate. When you are ready to quit, they will be there for encouragement. When a new concept or term isn’t sticking, they may have some memorization techniques to help you. If possible, working through this book with other like-minded individuals will be to your advantage.

Don’t take shortcuts! I’ve mentioned several times now that there are no shortcuts in language learning. This doesn’t mean that they haven’t been tried, but rather it means that they have been found wanting. Time and repetition are vital for language to stick. You may be able to cram for a vocabulary quiz, but a few weeks, months, and years from now, that information will not be retained. Time and repetition (both in this book and afterward) will ensure the effort you put into learning will continue to pay dividends down the road.

Make sure you understand the material before moving on to the next chapter. Going back to our meal analogy, even if it were possible to eat the elephant in one sitting, the aftermath would not be pretty. No matter how savory a meal might be, if you overindulge, there will be consequences. In the same vein, your brain can take only so much new information at one time before it shuts off. As we move through the material, make sure that you understand each chapter and its concepts before moving on to the next. Allow the concepts to simmer and soak into your brain. Language learning, to be effective, must be a marathon, not a sprint.

Use multiple senses. The more senses you employ in language learning, the more quickly your brain will absorb the information. This means that reading (visual), writing (physical), and saying (audial) the letters, words, phrases, ...