Greek for Life

Strategies for Learning, Retaining, and Reviving New Testament Greek

Benjamin L. Merkle, Robert L. Plummer

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780801093203
• eBook ISBN: 9781493410248
• Topic: Teología y religión
• Subtopic: Lenguas antiguas

Learning Greek is one thing. Retaining it and using it in preaching, teaching, and ministry is another.

In this volume, two master teachers with nearly forty years of combined teaching experience inspire readers to learn, retain, and use Greek for ministry, setting them on a lifelong journey of reading and loving the Greek New Testament.

Designed to accompany a beginning or intermediate Greek grammar, this book

● offers practical guidance, inspiration, and motivation;
● presents methods not usually covered in other textbooks;
● surveys helpful resources for recovering Greek after a long period of disuse; and
● includes devotional thoughts from the Greek New Testament.

The book will benefit anyone who is taking (or has taken) a year of New Testament Greek.

1
Keep the End in Sight

Since the Bible is written in part in Hebrew and in part in Greek, . . . we drink from the stream of both—we must learn these languages, unless we want to be “silent persons” as theologians. Once we understand the significance and the weight of the words, the true meaning of Scripture will light up for us as the midday sun. Only if we have clearly understood the language will we clearly understand the content. . . . If we put our minds to the [Greek and Hebrew] sources, we will begin to understand Christ rightly.

—Melanchthon (1497–1560)1

What Is the Goal?

Several years ago when I (Ben) lived in Southeast Asia, I decided to climb Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia, the highest peak in the region at 13,435 feet (4,095 meters). I had seen amazing pictures and heard personal testimonies of those who made it to the summit. But then one of my friends told me just how difficult the climb is. It is a two-day, 13.4 mile (21.6 km) round-trip climb with a 7,313 foot (2,229 meter) vertical ascent. The first day includes hiking about 5–7 hours up the mountain to the resting point called Laban Rata (10,730 feet or 3,270 meters). Here hikers who made advanced reservations find a bed to rest and sleep, but not for the entire night. The guides wake up the hikers at 2:30 a.m. so that they will be able to reach the summit before sunrise (about 5:30 a.m.). This last three-hour hike proves to be the most difficult because of exhaustion and, especially, altitude sickness. In relaying this story, my friend told me that he made it about 100 meters from the summit but just could not climb any farther.

My personal experience quickly confirmed that it was a difficult journey. It seemed that every step I took was uphill. Throughout the day it would occasionally rain, each time a tropical downpour. I was often tired and hungry. I made it to the resting place just before nightfall, had dinner, and tried to get some sleep. As expected, I was awakened by my guide at 2:30 a.m. to finish the hike. Many people who start the hike simply do not persevere to the peak, but I was determined. I kept thinking of being on top of the mountain with the amazing beauty of God’s creation all around me. Knowing where I was going and what I would experience when I got there fueled my desires and motivated me to persevere. Now, this does not mean that I found no pleasure in the journey up the mountain. The flora and fauna along the path were often spectacular, as were the occasional glimpses of streams or stunning vistas. Most of the time, however, my view of the mountain was limited to the surrounding trees. But nothing compared to the view from the mountaintop, and it was the knowledge of what lay ahead that inspired me to continue up the path.

The study of Greek is not an end in itself. The end goal of studying Greek is to know the God who has revealed himself through his Word. God chose to use the Greek language to convey his will for his people through his apostles and prophets. The goal of learning Greek (or Hebrew) is not to parade one’s knowledge before others, seeking to impress a congregation or friend. Rather, the goal of learning Greek is first and foremost born out of a desire to behold unhindered the grandest sight: God himself. Therefore the journey of learning Biblical Greek has as its goal the most important thing in all of life: the knowledge of God as revealed in the New Testament. Although we don’t need to read the Bible in the original languages to learn about God, as we will discuss below, some things are lost in translation. In addition, for those who are planning to preach or teach God’s Word on a regular basis, reading the Bible in its original languages is of utmost importance.

Is the acquisition of the Biblical Greek language difficult? The acquisition of any language involves hard work and constant attention. If we don’t keep the end in sight, we will certainly lose motivation and consider abandoning the path. Yet this does not mean we must wait a semester or year to see the benefits of knowing Greek. There is joy in the journey! But we also must remember that a solid knowledge of Greek will produce a lifetime of benefits both to us and to those we can influence.

The remainder of this chapter consists of three sections. First, I will offer four reasons why the study of Greek is needed. Second, I will answer three objections of some who claim that studying Greek is not necessary. Finally, I will conclude this chapter by encouraging readers to take the responsibility and privilege of studying Greek seriously. Throughout the chapter I will also bring in the testimony of others who likewise see the importance of knowing the language that God chose to use to convey his Word to the world.

Why Study Greek?

Greek Is the Language of the New Testament

In the Old Testament, God chose to reveal his Word (and thus his will) to his people in the Hebrew and Aramaic languages. But the New Testament was written in Koine (or common) Greek. And although we have dozens of good English translations of the Bible, all translations are interpretations. This is because no two languages have exactly matching vocabulary, grammar, and idioms. Thus something is inevitably lost when one language is translated into another.

“Reading the Bible in translation is like kissing your new bride through a veil.”

—Hayyim Nahman Bialik, Jewish poet (1873–1934)

Translations are good and helpful, but they are only God’s Word insofar as they accurately reflect the Hebrew and Greek original.

Translations contain the word of God, and are the word of God, perfectly or imperfectly, according as they express the words, sense, and meaning of [the] originals.2

The real New Testament is the Greek New Testament. The English is simply a translation of the New Testament, not the actual New Testament. . . . There is much [in New Testament Greek] that cannot be translated. It is not possible to reproduce the delicate turns of thought, the nuances of language, in translation. The freshness of the strawberry cannot be preserved in any extract.3

In a very real way, then, the biblical languages are the means by which the gospel message is preserved. The great reformer Martin Luther (1483–1546) testified to this reality:

We will not long preserve the gospel without the languages. The languages are the sheath in which this sword of the Spirit [Eph. 6:17] is contained; they are the casket in which this jewel is enshrined; they are the vessel in which this wine is held; they are the larder in which this food is stored; and . . . they are the baskets in which are kept these loaves and fishes and fragments. If through our neglect we let the languages go (which God forbid!), we shall . . . lose the gospel.4

Luther later added, “It is inevitable that unless the languages remain, the gospel must finally perish.”5 For Luther, it was while reading the Greek New Testament that his eyes were opened to the reality of God’s righteousness being revealed in the gospel. To put aside the Greek language is to put aside our surest guide to the truth.

“As we value the gospel, let us zealously hold to the languages.”

—Martin Luther (1483–1546)a

Greek Increases Our Ability to Rightly Interpret the Bible

Although knowledge of Greek increases our ability to rightly interpret the Bible, the knowledge of Greek (or Hebrew) does not guarantee that we will come to a correct interpretation. Knowing Greek does not solve all interpretive questions. It does, however, help us to eliminate certain interpretations and allow us to see the strengths and weaknesses of various possible positions. Jason DeRouchie rightly declares, “Knowing the original languages helps one observe more accurately and thoroughly, understand more clearly, evaluate more fairly, and interpret more confidently the inspired details of the biblical text.”6 The goal of the exegete is to be able to carefully evaluate the text by using all the tools at one’s disposal. Scott Hafemann convincingly states that studying the Bible in the original languages

provides a window through which we can see for ourselves just what decisions have been made by others and why. Instead of being a second-hander, who can only take someone else’s word for it, a knowledge of the text allows us to evaluate, rather than simply regurgitate. . . . [Consequently] we will be able to explain to ourselves and to others why people disagree, what the real issues are, and what are the strengths of our own considered conclusions. It will allow us to have reasons for what we believe and preach, without having to resort to the papacy of scholarship or the papacy of personal experience.7

“Secondhand food will not sustain and deepen our people’s faith and holiness.”

—John Piperb

Those without knowledge of the original languages are necessarily limited and must rely on others for the interpretation of various texts. Thus they become secondhanders. J. Gresham Machen (1881–1937) states that the student without knowledge of the original language of the New Testament “cannot deal with all the problems at first han...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• 1. Keep the End in Sight
• 2. Go to the Ant, You Sluggard
• 3. Review, Review, Review
• 4. Use Your Memory Effectively
• 5. Use Greek Daily
• 6. Use Resources Wisely
• 7. Don’t Waste Your Breaks
• 8. How to Get It Back
• Sources of Featured Quotations
• Name Index
• Scripture Index
• Subject Index
• Back Cover