learn new testament greek

LEARN NEW TESTAMENT

GREEK3rd Edition, with Accents

John H. Dobson

An audio CD-ROM accompanies this book.

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John H. Dobson, Learn New Testament Greek, 3rd editionBaker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 1988, 1993, 2005. Used by permission.

© 1988, 1993, 2005 by John H. Dobson

This 3rd revised edition (updated) and audio CD-ROM copyright © 2005 by Piquant Editions LtdPO Box 83, Carlisle, CA3 9GR, United Kingdomwww.piquanteditions.com

Previously published in 1988, 1992 by the Bible Society (UK) This edition co-published in North America in 1989, 1993, 2005 by Baker Academic,a division of Baker Publishing GroupP.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287www.bakeracademic.com

Paperback edition published 2014ISBN 978-0-8010-1726-1

Printed in the United States of America

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or trans-mitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Dobson, John H.

Learn New Testament Greek. – 3rd rev. ed.1. Bible. N.T. – Language, style 2. Greek language, Biblical – Grammar I.Title487.4ISBN 10: 1-903689-28-7 ISBN 978-1-903689-28-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data for the hardcover edition is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. ISBN 10: 0-8010-3106-0 ISBN 978-0-8010-3106-9

Quotations from the Greek New Testament are from the United Bible Societies’ 4th revised edition, published by the United Bible Societies, copyright © The United Bible Societies, 1966, 1968, 1975, 1983, 1993.

The Greek fonts used to publish this work are available fromwww.linguistsoftware.com +1-425-775-1130.

Cover design by ProjectluzBook design by 2aT (www.2aT.com)

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 7 6 5 4 3 2 1


CONTENTSPreface ixIntroduction xi

1. abg–LearningtheLetters 1

2. ejn ajrch/'–Inthebeginning 4

3. ejstivn–is h\n–was 8

Introduction to Lessons 4–6 124. levgw–Iamsaying,Isay 13

5. levgomen–wearesaying,wesay 17

6. lovgo~–aword oJ lovgo~–theword 22

7. aujtov~–he ou|to~–this 27

8. levgwn–saying oJ levgwn–thepersonsaying 34

9. kardiva–aheart hJ kardiva–theheart 41

10. hJmei`~–we uJmei`~–you o{~–who 49

11. o}~ a]n levgh/–whoeversays eja;n levgh/–ifhesays i{na levgh/–sothathemaysay levgwmen–letussay 56

12. e[rgon–awork to; e[rgon–thework oJ, hJ, tov–the 63

13. poievw (poiw`)–Ido,Imake 71

14. e[legen–hewassaying,heusedtosay | 78

15. ejpoivei–hewasdoing,heusedtodo | 85

16. A to W–AlphatoOmega 91

17. prov~, eij~, ejn, ejk, ajpov e[rcetai–hecomes,hegoes 97

18. levgein–tosay,tobesaying 101

19. levgwn, levgousa, levgon–saying 104

Introduction to Lessons 20–25 11120. poivhsa~–havingdone 113

21. ejpoivhsa–Idid,Imade e[graya–Iwrote,Ididwrite | 120

vJohn H. Dobson, Learn New Testament Greek, 3rd edition

Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 1988, 1993, 2005. Used by permission.

Learn New Testament Greekvi

22. balwvn–havingthrownejlqwvn–havinggone 125

23. e[balon–Ithrew h\ra–Ipickedup | 132

24. ejsqivw–Iameating e[fagon–Iate | levgein — to be saying eijpei`n—tosay • 138

25. katabaivnonto~ aujtou`–whilehewascomingdown katabavnto~ aujtou`–whenhehadcomedown 143

26. ajkouvsw–Iwillhear balw`–Iwillthrow 148

27. Questions:tiv~;–who? tiv;–what?why? 153

28. a[nqrwpo~ ajgaqov~–agoodman oiJ a{gioi–thesaints 158

29. givnomai–Ibecome,Ihappen gin genovmeno~–havingbecomegen 165

30. poihvsai–todo • ejkbalei`n–tothrowout • 171

31. baptivzomai–Iambeingbaptized ejbaptizovmhn–Iwasbeingbaptized | 176

32. ejbaptivsqhn–Iwasbaptized | baptisqeiv~–havingbeenbaptized 186

33. pepivsteuka–Ihavetrusted,Itrust |→ gevgraptai–ithasbeenwritten,itiswritten |→ oi\da–Iknow |→ 191

34. tivqhmi–Iamputting divdwmi–Iamgiving tiqeiv~–putting divdou~–giving qeiv~–havingput douv~–havinggiven 202

Introduction to Lessons 35–52 20835. kalov~–good kalw`~–well

ei|~, duvo, trei`~–one,two,three 209

36. i{na–sothat,that i{na poihvsh/–sothathemaydo • i{na dw`men–sothatwemaygive • 217

37. oJ Kuvrio~–theLord to;n lovgon, th;n kardivan:theaccusativecase 224

38. w{ste–withtheresultthat 234

39. tou` lovgou, th`~ kardiva~:thegenitivecase 240

40. tou`to poivhson–dothis! 249

41. mh; klevyh/~—donotsteal • mh; klai`e–donotweep,stopcrying 255

42. tw'/ lovgw/, th/` kardiva/:thedativecase 260


Contents vii

43. eij ejmerivsqh–ifithasbeendivided eja;n merisqh/`–ifitshouldbedivided 269

Introduction to Lesson 44 27444. divkaio~–righteous dikaiosuvnh–righteousness

ajdikiva–injustice,wrong 275

45. nivptw–Iwash(someoneorsomethingelse) nivptomai–Iwash(partofmyself) 284

46. Translating–Romans1:1–7 288

47. ei\pe~ o{ti ejsqivei–yousaidthathewaseating 293

48. TheInfluenceofHebrewandAramaic 297

49. gevnoito–letithappen,mayithappen dedwvkei–hehadgiven |→| 307

50. i{na hJ cara; uJmw`n h/\ peplhrwmevnh ACKP… 314

51. CultureandTranslation 321

52. [Agwmen ejnteu`qen–Letusgoonfromhere 326

KeytoProgressTests 333ReferenceGrammar&Accents 335Appendix:SomeThoughtsontheTeachingofBiblicalLanguages 351ScriptureIndex 359IndexofGrammar&Constructions 365IndexofGreekWords 369


Learn New Testament Greekviii

Symbols continuingaction repeated action

completed action • single action, or action withoutspecificreferencetocontinuance| time line

| continuedorrepeatedactionin past time

| completed action or single action in past time

|→ actioninpasttime,witharesultthatcontinuesinpresenttime;e.g.Ihavewritten.

|→| pastaction,thathadaresultinpasttime;e.g.Ihadwritten.

AbbreviationsGNB GoodNewsBibleLXX Septuagint(GreekTranslationofHebrewScriptures)NEB NewEnglishBibleNIV NewInternationalVersionNJB NewJerusalemBibleNRSV NewRevisedStandardVersionNLT NewLivingTranslationREB RevisedEnglishBibleJBP JBPhillips


PREFACEThe enormous world-wide sales of the second edition of Learn New Testament Greekhaveshownthatitisabookthatstudentsandtutorsaredelightedtouse.TranslationsintoPortuguese,Korean,Czech,FrenchandIndonesian, andplanned translations intoChinese andUrdu illustrate itsuniversalappeal.Sowhyisathirdeditionneeded?Since I worked on the second edition, I have had 12 years more

experience of teaching, and my book Learn Biblical Hebrew has been published.InthisthirdeditionIhaveincludedteachingmaterialthatIfindbringsinsightanddelighttothosewholearn.MygrowingknowledgeofHebrewhasenabledmetoappreciatetheliteraryskilloftheNTwritersinanewway.IhavealsodiscoveredthatoftenawordorpassageintheNewTestament that is perplexing becomes clear when it is translated back into Hebrew.InthisthirdeditionIhavetriedtosharesomeofthenewthingsIam learning.IhavealsofoundthatintheUKandtheUSApeoplearepleasedtohave

helpincomparingandassessingBibletranslations.SoIhaveincludedsomeBibletranslationassessmentexercises.Theseexerciseswillatthesametimeassisttutorsusingthebookfordistancelearning.TheywillbeabletotestprogressnotonlybysettingNTtextsfortranslationbutalsobyaskingforcommentsonthevarietyoftranslationsofaparticularpassageofferedinthe exercises.The greatest delight of my own students comes from reading and

understandingbiblical passages. I have increased the amountof readingmaterial–especiallytheamountfromtheGospelofStJohn.

The tape which was available with the first and second editions covered only lessons2–14.NowwithanaudioCD-ROMwecan includematerialfromlessons1–21.Manytutorshaveaskedthatthetextshouldbeclearertoreadandbe

accented. This editionhas an accented text and is easier to read. In theappendixthereisashortsectionwithguidelinesandsuggestionsforthosewhoteach.Iamalwaysgladtoanswerquestionsaboutteachingmethodsandtolistentosuggestionsforimprovingthebook.Pleaseletmeknowifyoufindanyerrors.

ixJohn H. Dobson, Learn New Testament Greek, 3rd edition


LEARN NEW TESTAMENT GREEKx

To those of you who want to understand better the Hebraic background to the New Testament I commend the companion volume Learn Biblical Hebrew – see page 385 for more information.

Enjoy your learning and teaching, John H Dobson

LNTG.indb 10 29/3/07 11:13:56 AM

Publisher’s note: Previous printings of Learn New Testament Greek included a CD-ROM containing audio files to enhance the learning experience. This paperback edition no longer includes a CD-ROM. The audio files are now avail-able online at http://bakeracademic.com/LearnGreek/esources. References to the CD remain in the book. Readers are advised to substitute “website” whenever they see “audio CD-ROM” in the book.

Also by John Dobson:

Learn Biblical Hebrew

A satsified learner comments:

“Happy is the class whose teacher is bold enough to take this humane and scientifically sound approach to learning biblical Hebrew.”

2nd revised (updated) editionPiquant ISBN 978-1-903689-25-7Baker ISBN 978-0-8010-3102-1229x152mm p/b, 400ppAudio CD-ROM included

www.piquanteditions.com www.bakeracademic.com

Order from:

IVP, UK freephone 0800 622968 /email [email protected]

Baker Academic, USA toll free (800) 877-2665 / email [email protected]

LNTG.indb 385 29/3/07 11:15:22 AMDobson_LNTGreekCopyright.indd 6 4/28/14 4:04 PM


INTRODUCTIONThe New Testament is a remarkable collection of writings. No book has had amoreprofoundinfluenceontheworld’s history.IfyouwishtostudytheNewTestament,ithelpsgreatlyifyouareable

toreadit intheoriginal language.Withthiscourseit ispossibletoLearn New Testament Greekquickly,evenifyouhaveneverattemptedtolearnalanguagebefore.InthefirsthouryouwillbegintoreadandreflectonsomeNewTestamenttext.Afterseventeenshort lessonsyouwillbegintoreadlongerpassages.Bytheendofthecourseyouwillhavebeenhelpedtoreadaboutfiftypassages fromtheNewTestament.YouwillalsohaveagraspofthestructureoftheGreeklanguageanditsgrammar,anabilitytousecommentariesthatrefertotheGreektext,andagrowingskillasatranslator.BecausealotofGreekwillbefixedinyourlong-termmemoryyouwillbeabletoreadmuchoftheNewTestamentwithoutconstantreferencetoadictionary.TheprinciplesandmethodsusedinLearn New Testament Greekensure

that youwillmake rapidprogresswith your studies.New information isintroduced in small bits, whichmakes it easy to take in. It is frequentlyrepeated,whichmakes it easy to remember. You learnwords and formsbeforegrammaticaldescriptions,which is thenatural sequence–achildlearns ‘mouse’ and ‘mice’ before it learns that ‘mouse’ isanounandthat‘mice’isplural.Butbecauseyoucanworkthroughthecoursequickly,youcanalsolearnthemaingrammaticalformsandtermsquickly,andyouwilllearn how to parse Greek words.InLearn New Testament Greekyouwillnotbeaskedtomemorizelong

listsofwordsorgrammaticalforms.Youwillratherlearntheprinciplesandpointerswhichenableyoutorecognizethemeaningandfunctionofwordswhicharenewtoyou.Thiswillequipyoutotackleevenunfamiliarpassagesof the New Testament with confidence.

Learning New Testament GreekYoucanusetheselessonsforstudyonyourownorwithateacher.Mostofthe Greek sentences and passages are printed with an English translation ontheright-handsideofthepage.Thismeansthatyoucanstartwithout

xiJohn H. Dobson, Learn New Testament Greek, 3rd edition


Learn New Testament Greekxii

any fearofmakingseriousmistakes.Wenowknowthat lookingat shortsentencesandphrasesinanewlanguagewithatranslationbesidethemisanexcellentwaytostartlearningalanguage.Youarenotcheatingwhenyoulookatthetranslation,youarehelpingyourselflearn.And,whenyoureadtheGreekwiththetranslationcovered,youcanuncover itstagebystagetocheckwhetheryouhaveunderstoodit.If youhave aCD-player youwill find the Learn New Testament Greek

audioCDausefulaid.YoucanhearGreeksentencesandpassagesfromthefirst21lessonsreadaloud.Followthetextasyoulisten:yourearsandeyeswillworktogethertofixideasinyourmind.UsetheaudioCDtogetageneralideaofthelessonsyouaregoingto

study.Useittoreviewlessonsyouhavedone.

Instructions and suggestions

1. Whenyoubeginanewlesson,firstreadthroughitquickly, lookingattheEnglishandtheGreek.Thenworkthroughitcarefully,readingandtranslating the passages given.

2. The‘Translate’sectionhasalinedownthemiddle.Covertheright-handcolumn,usingaplainpieceofcardorpaper.

3. WhenyouhavereadalineoragroupoflinesinGreek,moveyourpieceofcardalittlewaydownthepageandcheckthatyouhaveunderstoodwhattheGreekmeans.Ifyoumadeamistake,markthatlineandlearnfrom it.

Ifyoudonotknowandcannotguessthemeaningofaword,donotspendalongtimelookingatit.Usethecheck-columntofindoutwhatit means. Underline it or highlight it.

4. Ifyoufindthatsomethinginalessonisnotquiteclear:(a)SeeiftheEnglishtranslationcanhelpyoutounderstandit(b)Continuetotheendofthelesson(c)Dothenexttwoorthreelessons,becausewhatyoustarttolearnin

any lesson is confirmed in the lessons that follow(d)Reviewearlierlessonsincasethereissomethingyouhavemissed(e)Donotfeelthatyouneedtolearnthingsthefirsttimeyouseethem.Whenyou learnedyourown languageyoudidnot learnthewordfor ‘Mummy’thefirsttimeyouheardit.InGreekwhenyoufirstsee


Introduction xiii

ejgevneto– ‘it came into being’,becontentwiththat.Youwilllearnrelatedformslateronandtheywillbeeasierbecauseyouhaveseenejgevneto.

5. Workatyourownspeed,butgoasfastasyoucan.Attheendofeachshortsection,pauseforamomentofrelaxation:takeafewdeepbreaths,stretchyourbody,standup,thenstartthenextsectionrefreshed.

Ifyoudotwolessonsaday,sixdaysaweek,youwillcompletethecourseinonemonth.Ifyoudoonlyonelessonaweek,youwillstillfinishinayear.Beforeyoustarteachnewsessionofstudy,readthroughthelistofcontentsuptothatpoint.Itisawaytoreviewrapidlythemajorformsyouhavelearned.

6. Fromlesson17onwardsyouwillneedacopyoftheGreekNewTestament(seelesson52.3formoredetails).

7. IfyouarelearningGreekbecauseyouwishtoreadtheNewTestament,youneednotworryabouthowyoupronounceit.TheGreeklanguagehaschangedastimehaspassed,andthereisnosinglewaythatcanbecalled the ‘right’waytopronounceGreekwords.Lessons1and2giveguidelines,buttheyarenotrules.ListencarefullytotheaudioCD.IfyourteacherhasadifferentwayofpronouncingGreek,listencarefullytoyourteacher.

8. Wordsarebestlearnedbybeingseeninmeaningfulcontexts.Wordsareflexiblesymbols.Theirmeaningsvaryaccordingtothecontextinwhichtheyareused.Soreadandre-readthetextofthelesson,butaboveallre-readtheNewTestamentversesandpassages.

9. Grammaticalterms:whenyougothroughthecourseforthefirsttime,do not spend time and effort trying to learn them. To do so might hinder youreffortstolearnGreek.Leavethemformorecarefulstudywhenyouhave read more of the New Testament. They will make more sense when youreviewthemlateron.

10.Intheselessonseverythingthatneedstobelearnediswrittenonthepages.Soassoonasyouhaveunderstooda lesson,youcanuse it tohelpotherstolearn;sinceallyouhavetodoistoleadthemthroughthepagesandtohelpthemtosmile.Smilesstimulatestudy!

11.Enjoyyourstudiesandtakepleasureinyourprogress.


Lesson 1

abg – Learning the Letters

1.1 The Greek alphabet

ThefirststepinlearningNewTestamentGreekistorecognizethelettersoftheGreekalphabet.SeveralaresimilartoEnglishletters,althoughthiscansometimesbemisleading(r looks like ‘p’butsoundslike‘r’).Inthefirstcolumnbelow,youwillfindtheGreekletterswiththeirclosest

Englishequivalents.ThesecondcolumnhasgroupsofGreeklettersandtellsyouhowtheyarepronounced.Whenyouhavestudiedthesecarefully,trytoreadthegroupsoflettersinthethirdcolumn.Coverthefourthcolumnwhileyouread,thenuseittocheckthatyouhaverecognizedtheletterscorrectly.

Greek letters Read the groups of letters

Greek groups of letters

English equivalents

a – a

b – b ab – ab ba abba ba abba g – g gab – gab bag bag d – d bad – bad dab gad dad dab gad dad e – e bed – bed beg ded abed beg ded abed z – dz or ds, as in ‘cords’

bez – bedz bez bed gaz daz zed bad

bedz bed gadz dadz dzed bad

h – ē (‘ai’, as in ‘air’, or ‘ay’, as in ‘say’)

gh – gē bh dh hd hz bē dē ēd ēdz hded aded ē

q – th deq – deth baq gaq beq bath gath bethi – i bid – bid big biz did

hdidbig bids did did

k – k kiq – kith kid kiz khk kid kidz kk l – l lid – lid lad leg bell

beqellad leg bell bethel

m – m mh – m maq mhk kamel math mk camel

1John H. Dobson, Learn New Testament Greek, 3rd edition


Learn New Testament Greek2

n – n man – man men nhm qin kin

men nm thin kin

x – x ax – ax ex mix nix nik lax laz bix biz

ex mix nix nik lax ladz bix bidz

o – o ox – ox nod nag moq on

nod nag moth on

p – p pop – pop pip pox poz phd

pip pox podz pd

r – r ran – ran rip rig ph mark

rip rig p mark

s , ~ – s (~ is used only at the end of words)

sip – sip sap skill gospel rib~ nag~ sag~

sap skill gospel ribs nags sags

t – t set – set sat sit~ thk tot

sat sits tk tot

u – ‘u’ as in French ‘lune’, or ‘oo’ as in ‘book’; ‘w’ when it starts a word

buk – book luk kuk tuk ruk uiq uin

look kook took rook with win

f – ph, f fut – foot fit fat fist fox

fit fat fist fox

c – kh caki – khaki cristo~ cristofer

khristos khristopher

y – ps liy – lips tiy tay tap riy

tips taps tap rips

w – ō ‘o’, as in ‘phone’

fwn – phn fwtw swp sop phōtō sōp sop

J – h (Written over an initial vowel)

aJt – hat iJt aJm oJt wJp iJy

hit ham hot hp hips

j (Written over initial vowel

ajt – at ajm ijt ojn hjt ijll iJll oJy

am it on t ill hill hops

when there is no ‘h’ sound)


Lesson 1 3

1.2 Greek you already know

AsyoubegintoreadGreek,youwillfindthatyoucanalreadyunderstandsome words, because there are English words like them. Notice, forexample:

ajpovstolo~–apostle profhvth~–prophetqrovno~–throne Cristov~–Christ

OtherwordsyouwillquicklyrecognizebecauseEnglishwordsarederivedfrom them:

qeov~–God theology lovgo~–word theology,logic a[nqrwpo~–man anthropology ajrchv–beginning archaeology gravfw–Iwrite graph,paragraph ejn–in entry fw`~–light phosphorus.

Youmayalsoknow:

Kuvrie ejlevhsonLordhavemercyWhenyoulearnKuvrio~ –Lord,master,owner;youwillbeawarethatinspeakingtosomeone,yousayKuvrie.Youmayknow‘Jesu,joyofman’s desiring’;sowhenyoulearn jIhsou`~

–Jesus,thiswillhelpyoutobeawarethatsomeonespeakingto jIhsou`~ will say jIhsou`.IfyouknowthetuneofKumbaya(‘Comebyhere’)youmayliketouse

e[rcou ‘Come!’ and w|de ‘here’ to sing:

[Ercou w|de Kuvrie (3times)w\ jIhsou` Kuvrie.

1.3 Writing the letters

The arrows show you the easiest place to begin when writing a Greekletter.

Notes:1. Donotputadotoveri .2. Becarefultomakenpointed:n,anduround:u .


4

Lesson 2

ejn ajrch/` – In the beginning

2.1 The Greek alphabet – small letters

Lookagainatthealphabet:

a – a h – n – n t – t

b – b q – th x – x u – oo, w

g – g i – i o – o f – ph

d – d k – k p – p c – kh

e – e l – l r – r y – ps

z – dz m – m s, ~ – s w – 2.2

Whentwovowelscometogether,theygivethefollowingsounds:

ai–i,ai (asinmile,aisle)ei–ei (asinveil)oi–oi (asinboil)au–au,ou (asinout)eu–eu,yew (asinfeud)ou–oo (asinroot)ui–ui,wi (asinwe)ih–y (asinYale)

SoaiJispronouncedlike‘high’,eujispronouncedlike‘you’,and jIhsou`~ispronounced‘Y-soos’. Note thatwhen two vowelsmake a single sound at the beginning of aword,thebreathingmark j or J is written over the second vowel.

2.3

When goccursbeforek, c, or another g,itispronouncedas‘n’ rather than ‘g’.

gg – ng gk – nk gc – nkh

Soa[ggelo~ispronouncedratherlike‘angle-os’.


5

2.4

Readthefollowinglinescarefully.StartbyreadingtheGreekwordswhileyoukeepaneyeontheEnglishequivalent.Thencovertheright-handcolumnandreadtheGreekwordsagain.Uncovertheright-handcolumntocheckthatyouarecorrect.Seethatyouknowthesoundthelettersmake.Youwilllearnthemeaningofthewordsin2.5.

Cover this column

ejn ajrch/` h\n oJ lovgo~ en arkh n ho logos kai; oJ lovgo~ h\n pro;~ to;n qeovn kai ho logos n pros ton theon kai; qeo;~ h\n oJ lovgo~. kai theos n ho logos. ou|to~ h\n ejn ajrch/` pro;~ to;n qeovn.

Note that i can bewritten underneatha, h and w: a/ h/ w/. It is notpronounced,orispronouncedverylightly.Youseeitinthislessonintheword ajrch/`.

2.5 Words

ajrchv – beginning h\n – he was, it was kaiv – and

lovgo~ – word ejn – in oJ – the

qeov~ – God prov~ – towards, with tovn – the

ou|to~ – this, he

2.6 Read and then translate

Coveruptheright-handcolumnandtranslatethepassage,uncoveringtheright-handcolumntocheckeachline.Donotreadthenotesbelowuntilyouhavetranslatedthewholepassage.

ejn ajrch/` In (the) beginning1 h\n oJ lovgo~, was the word, kai; oJ lovgo~ h\n and the word was pro;~ to;n qeovn with (the) God2 kai; qeo;~ h\n oJ lovgo~. and the word was God.3 ou|to~ h\n ejn ajrch/` He was in the beginningpro;~ to;n qeovn. with God.

Lesson 2John H. Dobson, Learn New Testament Greek, 3rd edition



Notes:1. ejn ajrch/`–inbeginning.‘Inbeginning’ is not good English. We translate

as ‘Inthebeginning’. 2. pro;~ to;n qeovn–withtheGod.InEnglishwedonotusuallyuse ‘the’ whenreferringtoGod,sowetranslateas‘with God’.

3. kai; qeo;~ h\n oJ lovgo~–andthewordwasGod.Noticethattheorderofwords is different in English.

2.7 Translation

YouhavereadandtranslatedJohn1.1.YouhavenoticedthatideasinGreekandinEnglishmaybeexpressedindifferentwords.Totranslateisnottoputthewordsofonelanguageintoanother:itistoexpressthemeaningofthewordsinanotherlanguage.

2.8 The beautiful Hebraic poetic patterning of John 1:1–2

Hebrewpoetsmadeuseofcarefullycraftedwordpatternsandrepetitionofkeywords.Sometimestheycombinedtwopatternstogether.InJohn1:1–2wefindterracepatterningandchiasmus.Interracepatternsthelastwordofonelineisusedasthefirstmainwordofthenextline.ManycommentatorshavenoticedthisinJohn1:1Notelovgo~... lovgo~ and qeovn... qeo;~ :

jEn ajrch/` h\n oJ lovgo~kai; oJ lovgo~ h\n pro;~ to;n qeovn

kai; qeo;~ h\n oJ lovgo~

Butthedominantpatternin1:1–2ischiasmus.Inachiasmusthereisastepbystepforwardmovementtoacentralfocusandthenabalancingstepbystepbackwardstotheclosure.ThisproducespatternslikeABCC’B’AandABCDC’B’A’. A jEn ajrch/` B h\n C oJ lovgo~ kai; oJ lovgo~ D h\n E pro;~ to;n qeovn kai; qeo;~ D’ h\n C’ oJ lovgo~ ou|to~ B’ h\n A’ ejn ajrch/` pro;~ to;n qeovn A’ closure:A,pluspartofthe centralfocus


Lesson 2 7

Note that in an extended chiasmus the most emphatic point is at thecentre.ThisisafeaturetobefoundinsomeoftheparablesofJesus.Herein John1:1–2themajoremphasisisonthewordqeov~.Theclosureechoesthebeginningbutisextendedbyincludingpartof

the central focus. This kind of extension in a closure is also a feature ofHebrewpoetry.Note also the threefold use of the key words lovgo~ and qeov~.

John1:3–10isalsoachiasmus,andweshallseeakeywordrepeatedthreetimesinverse3,andakeywordthreetimesinverse10.Verse10repeatspartofverse3,helpingtomarktheclosure.


8

Lesson 3

ejstivn – is h\n – was

3.1ejstivn means ‘he is’,‘she is’,or‘it is’. h\n means ‘he was’,‘she was’,or‘it was’.

When we translate ejstivn and h\nwecanonlytellwhethertouse‘he’,‘she’,or ‘it’,byreadingthepassageasawhole.Compare

(a) jIhsou`~ h\n pro;~ to;n qeovn. ajlhqh;~ h\n. JesuswaswithGod.Hewastrue.

(b)Mariva h\n pro;~ to;n qeovn. ajlhqh;~ h\n. MarywaswithGod.Shewastrue.

(c)oJ lovgo~ ajlhqh;~ h\n kai; ajlhqhv~ ejstin Thewordwastrueanditistrue.

Note that the word order is often not the same in English as it is in Greek. For ajlhqh;~ h\nin(a)wedonotsay‘Truehewas’,but‘Hewastrue’.Compareqeo;~ h\n oJ lovgo~ in2.6.InthissentenceoJ(the)indicatesthatthesubjectis lovgo~,sowetranslateit,‘The word was God’.

3.2 Translate

1. jIhsou`~ ejstivn. Jesus is. 2. jIhsou`~ h\n. Jesus was. 3. oJ lovgo~ h\n. The word was. 4. oJ lovgo~ ejstivn. The word is. 5. qeov~ ejstin oJ lovgo~. The word is God. 6. ajlhqhv~ ejstin oJ lovgo~

kai; ajlhqh;~ h\n.The word is true and it was true.

7. ejn ajrch/` h\n oJ lovgo~, kai ejn ajrch/` ajlhqh;~ h\n.

In the beginning the word was, and in the beginning it was true.


Lesson 3 9

3.3 Words

oJ lovgo~ – the word ou|to~ oJ lovgo~ – this word oiJ lovgoi – the words ejstivn – he is, she is, it is oJ Ma`rko~ – Mark eijsivn – they are oJ jIhsou`~ – Jesus h\n – he was, she was, it was tou` – of the h\san – they weretou` jIhsou` – of Jesus gravfei – he writes, she writes ou|to~ – this, he gravfei to;n lovgon – he writes the wordou|toi– these gravfei tou;~ lovgou~ – he writes the wordsajlhqhv~ – true, genuine, real, honestou|toi oiJ lovgoi ajlhqei`~ h\san – these words were true

3.4 Translate

1. oJ lovgo~ ajlhqhv~ ejstin. The word is true.

2. oiJ lovgoi ajlhqeiv~ eijsin. The words are true.

3. ou|to~ oJ lovgo~ ajlhqhv~ ejstin. This word is true.

4. ou|toi oiJ lovgoi ajlhqei`~ eijsin. These words are true.

5. ajlhqh;~ h\n oJ lovgo~. The word was true.

6. ajlhqh;~ h\n oJ lovgo~ tou` jIhsou`. The word of Jesus was true.

7. gravfei to;n lovgon. He writes the word.

8. gravfei tou;~ lovgou~. He writes the words.

9. oJ Ma`rko~ gravfei tou;~ lovgou~. gravfei tou;~ lovgou~ tou` jIhsou`. ou|toi oiJ lovgoi tou` jIhsou` ajlhqei`~ eijsin.

Mark writes the words. He writes the words of Jesus. These words of Jesus are true.

10. oJ jIhsou`~ h\n pro;~ to;n qeovn. ou|to~ h\n ejn ajrch/` pro;~ to;n qeovn.

Jesus was with God. He was in the beginning with God.

11. ou|toi eijsin oiJ lovgoi tou` jIhsou` kai; oiJ lovgoi tou` Mavrkou.

These are the words of Jesus and the words of Mark.

3.5

YouhavebeguntolearnthefollowingGreekwords.NoticetheEnglishwordsthatarelikethem.ManyEnglishwordsarederivedfromGreekwords.



Greek word Compare hJ ajrchv – the beginning archetype – original model archaeology – study of things from

earlier times oJ qeov~ – God, the God theism – belief in God theology – study of God oJ lovgo~ – the word logic, theology, archaeology jIhsou`~ – Jesus Jesus Ma`rko~ – Mark Mark ejn – in enter, in ejstivn – he is, she is, it is is eijsivn – they are is gravfei – he writes, she writes graph, paragraph, graffiti prov~ – to, with prosthetic

3.6

(a)UsingthepatternsoiJ lovgoi tou` jIhsou`–thewordsofJesushJ ajgavph tou` qeou`–theloveofGod andthewordsfrom3.5say in Greek:ThewordsofJesus–thewordsofGod–thewordofGod–thewordofMark–thewordsofMark–theloveofGod–theloveofJesus–thebeginningoftheword.

(b)Usingthepatternsajgaqov~ ejstin oJ qeov~–Godisgoodajlhqh;~ h\n oJ lovgo~–thewordwastruesay in Greek:Godisgood–thewordisgood–Markisgood–thewordistrue–thewordwastrue–Markwashonest–thewordwasgood.

(c)Learnbyheartfrom1Jn1:5oJ qeo;~ fw`~ ejstin(Godislight)andfrom1Jn4:16oJ qeo;~ ajgavph ejstivn(Godislove).


Lesson 3 11

3.7 Progress test 1

Testtheprogressyouhavemadebyreadingthesequestionsandwritingdownwhichanswersyouthinkarecorrect.Forexample,inquestion1ifyouthink that jIhsou`~ ejstin means ‘Jesusis’,writedown:1(c).

Whichtranslationiscorrect?

1. jIhsou`~ ejstin.(a) The word is.(b) Jesus was.(c) Jesus is.

2. oJ lovgo~ h\n.(a) The word was.(b) The word is.(c) God was.

3. ou|tov~ ejstin oJ lovgo~(a) God is the word.(b) This is the word.(c) These are the words.

4. ou|toi oiJ lovgoi ajlhqei`~ eijsin (a) These words are true.(b) This word is true.(c) He writes true words.

5. gravfei tou;~ lovgou~ tou` jIhsou` oJ Ma`rko~.(a) Jesus is writing these words.(b) He is writing the words of Jesus and of Mark.(c) Mark is writing the words of Jesus.

NowcheckyouranswersbylookinginKeytoProgressTestsonpage333.


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