Koine Greek Geek

Tonight is a Research Night....

2006-06-08T22:52:00.000-05:00

I hope to have a post up by tomorrow evening. Sorry for the continual delays. Graduate School and constant blogging don't go together very well (at least, not if one wishes to maintain a high GPA....)

My Intentions for My Greek Translation Posts

2006-05-31T17:46:00.000-05:00

Posts will (generally) follow the following format, unless technical issues make this difficult to duplicate:

Biblical Reference (ex. John 1:1) The verse in Greek, however long or short it may be....

Parsing of each word (read: noun, adjective, adverb, verb, preposition)

Notes on background of words, notes of importance about the verse (optional)

Literal translation

Final translation

Why two translations? A literal translation can be awkward reading, particularly for those who are more used to reading a more "polished" translation"

Grad School Craziness

2006-04-08T18:36:00.000-05:00

Once again, I've had to take a leave of absence from blogging; graduate school and work responsibilities have made me put many of my hobbies aside. Hopefully I will be able to update this more often in the near future, but very likely posting here will be sporadic until the end of the month.

Apologies in advance,

--Oyarsa

Off Topic Update

2006-03-11T15:37:00.000-06:00

I'm here; I've just been busy with classes and other obligations. Hopefully I'll be able to update this more often.

Greek Vocabulary Cards

2006-02-13T18:08:00.000-06:00

I was going to include the Basics of Biblical Greek Vocabulary Cards n my "Find Greek Books post" until I reasoned myself out of it

Vocabulary cards are not a "book".
When I checked Worldcat, they were only available in two libraries: Trinity Episcopal School in Ambridge, Pennsylvania(available on reserve at the library, so the odds are unlikely that they'd interlibrary loan it), and Concordia University in Saint Paul, Minnesota (also apparently only for use in house). Odds are, neither library is in convenient distance for 99% of the people who stumble across or regularly read this blog.
These vocabulary cards are an excellent timesaver and a good resource.

I own the set at home, though I didn't purchase it until after I took my first year of Koine Greek in college. I wish I had known about this set of Koine Greek cards then, it would have saved me many hours of writing out Greek vocabulary words, checking to make sure I had all the accents, checking to make sure I had all the accents placed correctly....

Anyway, some pluses I have noticed from owning this set of Greek Vocabulary cards:

Good features
- Keyed to William D. Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar
  Frequency numbers on every card
- Principal parts given for verbs
- Cards numbered for easy assignment
- First 320 cards based on order of Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar
- Cards 321–1,000 ordered according to frequency
Words are listed with the genitive case ending and the article.
Size and shape of cards more conducive to more comfortable and convenient holding. (Easier to handle than the VisEd set I also found.)

For those of you who own Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek or those who just want to brush up on vocabulary, buy this set; you won't regret it.

Updates

2006-02-13T18:05:00.000-06:00

I'm adding more websites and book resources to the appropriate posts. If anyone knows of a Greek website or book or other resource which I have NOT listed, please let me know.

As you can tell, I have linked to Zhubert.com's Verse of the Day. This should appear in the upper lefthand corner of my blog.

Greek Verses Under Construction

2006-02-07T21:30:00.000-06:00

Evidently Blogger doesn't have the "Symbol" font available, so I will have to go in and manually code each letter, accent, etc of the greek alphabet. Whee!

Oyarsa's Verse Translations Index

2006-01-06T11:29:00.000-06:00

My intention for this blog is to post one Bible verse at a time, with how I've translated it.

Remember: I have had 1 year (two semesters) of Koine Greek at the college level; I am teaching myself 2nd year Greek at my own pace. I have never attended seminary and I am not a member of the clergy. As such, I ask my readers to take my translations with a grain of salt. Any and all corrections and comments are not only welcomed but formally requested, whether you choose to make your comments by email or within this blog.

As I add verses to the blog, I will include a link within this post for easy access to any and all verses.

Tags: koine greek; bible verses; bible language; verse translation

Koine Greek Websites

2005-12-13T13:15:00.000-06:00

All these links should open in a new window in your browser.

Greek Language and Linguistics Gateway Does not solely focus on Koine Greek, but other Greek dialects as well.

Little Greek This page contains information on resources for learning Greek; it also includes a greek tutorial.

New Testament Greek.Org (Table of Contents) Yet another website available for you to learn New Testament Greek online.

Zhubert.com This website is designed to make the study of the Bible in the original languages more accessible to students of the Bible. The Septuagint or Greek Old Testament (LXX) is also available, as is the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh. Some Deuterocanonical books such as Some Deuterocanonical books such as Tobit have been included for reference.

Tags: koine greek; biblical greek; greek websites; koine greek websites

Lesson #1: The Greek Alphabet

2005-12-13T13:11:00.000-06:00

This is a table I snagged from iBiblio. The table gives the Greek letters, their names, equivalent English letters, and tips for pronouncing those letters which are pronounced differently from the equivalent English letters.

Tags: koine greek; biblical greek; greek alphabet

Find Greek Books in a Library

2005-11-04T10:41:00.000-06:00

A wonderful program called "WorldCat" has a tool whereby you can find out the location of any item in any library. If you know the ISBN (if it's a book) or the ISSN (if it's a magazine or journal title), you can find it easily by copying their base url and substituting the information in brackets with the actual information.

I took the liberty of locating multiple excellent Greek resources and listing them here. I will be adding more Greek books to this list, so check it often.

Analyctical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament

Essential for anyone who does not know every possible form of every possible Greek word by sight. Probably a better tool for advanced students, but beginners may find it useful as well.

Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar. 2nd Ed.

Standard Biblical Greek Grammar in some seminaries.

Basics of Biblical Greek Workbook. 2nd Ed.

Accompanying workbook.

Biblical Greek Exegesis

Highly practical approach to the study of intermediate and advanced Greek grammar; takes students right to the text!

Complete Vocabulary Guide to the Greek New Testament, The.

Gives words in listings for both frequency and cognate groups. While the frequency list is the obvious choice for order of memorization, the cognate section has been the real key to me for memory retention. It transforms the learning from sheer memorization to the fluent understanding of concepts.

Graded Reader of Biblical Greek, A.

Great tool for the transition from beginning Greek to more difficult Greek.

Greek for the Rest of Us: Mastering Biblical Study without Mastering Biblical Languages.

Excellent resource for the person who wants to learn Greek without the rigorous study demanded within a formal course.

Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: an exegetical syntax of the New Testament.

2nd Year Companion to Basics of Biblical Greek, but can be used if a different grammar was substituted.

Greek New Testament (Aland).

One of the more popular Greek New Testaments.

Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek.

Great for review and vocabulary refreshers.

Morphology of Biblical Greek.

Excellent reference work for morphological studies; a must for the advanced student.

Tags: koine greek; biblical greek; greek books

Koine Greek vs. Attic Greek: What's the Difference?

2005-11-04T08:27:00.001-06:00

What is Koine Greek? Koine Greek is the Greek dialect that was used to write the New Testament. The Apostle Paul and others wrote in Greek because people in the eastern half of the Roman Empire spoke Greek as a common language. So, they wrote in a language the people of that time and place could read (or hear) and understand.

In contrast, Attic Greek is a Greek dialect spoken in Attica, a region of Ancient Greece. Athens. Most courses teaching classical Greek will teach the attic dialect. Examples of Attic Greek authors include Euripides and Sophocles.

Koine Greek evolved from Attic Greek.

Tags: greek; koine greek; bible language; greek language

Welcome!

2005-11-04T08:10:00.000-06:00

This is the blog where I'll be posting my adventures in the exploration of Koine Greek. I took a year of Koine Greek in college, and I've been gradually moving through the 2nd year material on my own (though I do contact my greek mentors if I get stuck or unsure. (I would like to teach myself Attic Greek; we'll see how that goes...)

Tags: koine greek; biblical greek