The BEST way to learn NT Greek

The best way to learn NT Greek is to read the GNT

I'm concerned about learning to read the Greek NT by reading the Greek NT - doesn't that mean that half way through verses I'll remember them and thus just trot our some remembered translation. Wouldn't it be better to read other things in Greek too?

There are significant differences between the Greek of the New Testament and the earlier dialects (e.g. Attic Greek or Classic Greek) and later forms of the language (e.g. Medieval and Modern Greek).

I would be very cautious about learning classical (or modern) and koine Greek together. As a psycholinguist and polyglot I have found significant problems learning/using two (modern) foreign languages at the same time. Learning the two variants of Greek is like trying to learn English and Pidgin at the same time, or German and Dutch - there are lots of similarities and it becomes difficult to keep the languages straight. For example when I am conversing in Dutch, I understand them but they tend to say "sorry I don't speak German". (Note that technically, koine is quite a different language/grammar, notwithstanding the common lexical base, being a creolization based on many dialects of Greek and other languages that developed in the armies of Philip and Alexander.)

But the idea of using koine literature, including the Septuagint (LXX) and possibly other contemporary and later Hellenistic writings is quite appropriate - the best way to learn a language is to read widely in it. But it is best to start with text that is familiar - I've learned many modern languages by reading the Bible in them, and this saves a lot of digging in the dictionary.

The classical language teaching paradigms developed in the late 60s early 70s in Cambridge and Reading are based around only reading actual literature, and avoiding the pernicious construction of artificial sentences by NOT translating into the dead language which nobody really knows well enough to write in or speak accurately. This "best practice" produced a revolution in learning "dead languages".

Ward Powers' "Learn to Read the Greek New Testament" - www.wardpowers.info/LTR.htm - was developed along these lines (Reading school) and when I struggled with Greek I found this much easier than working with the conventional grammar set by the theological college.

David

Learn to Read the Greek New Testament

The Bible was not written in a special dialect but in the every day language of the people, reflecting the culture of the day. The international language or lingua franca at the time of Jesus was called common Greek, or in Greek: Koine Greek. Just as English is the international language of today, and people from all over the world are taught it as a second language, so Koine Greek was the second language of most people of the world that Paul traveled.

Each author in the New Testament used Greek in a slightly different way - sometimes multiple styles as they addressed different audiences or had secretarial and editorial assistance from others, or edited and compiled stories from others (see the begining of Luke for example). Each author and audience have their own cultural background which is reflected in the way they write - consider the diverse backgrounds of Peter (a fisherman), Paul (a religious scholar), Matthew (a tax collector) and Luke (a doctor).

When Bible translators translate into English and other languages, they also have a specific cultural and theological background, as well as a specific purpose and audience in mind. Few translations retain the same characteristics as the original source, and most either deliberately or accidentally introduce interpretation and retarget to a specific kind of language and style that reflects their objectives.

This bring us to the purpose of this blog. Only by reading the Bible in the original language can you have access to what the author actually said - and by making use of commentaries and other resources that assume a knowledge of Greek, you can then also start to understand how it related to the original author and audience, and how it relates to your needs and those of your church and community.

This blog is maintained by Dr B Ward Powers with the help of his son Prof. David M Ward Powers. Ward is a well known theologian and Bible expositor, and author of many books including the acclaimed NT Greek textbook "Learn to Read the Greek New Testament" that is designed specifically to help people learn to read the Bible in Greek by reading the Bible in Greek! All examples and exercises are taken from the New Testament, and there are no artificial sentences contrived to illustrate points, and no exercises in translating English into a Greek that is no longer actively spoken or written. This blog will allow you to ask questions about Greek, the interpretation of the Bible, and current issues and debates. It will share with you answers that Ward is giving in his classes, or has written in response to email queries.

What it becomes is up to you!

David M W Powers
B Ward Powers