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Modern Greek vs. NT Greek - Christian Forums
I'm very interested, like a member stated in another thread, to learn Greek.
Mostly because it's the language most assosiated with the New Testament.
My question is how different is modern greek from NT greek?
If one learned either, could they understand the other?
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If you knew modern Greek, it would definitely be easier to learn NT Greek (called "koine Greek"), since you would have a basis for it.
I do not know how big a difference it is, but being that it is 2000 years old, my guess is that it is probably at least like Modern English v.
Old English. Old English is learnable for an English speaker, if you put the effort into it....I imagine native Greek speakers would have the easiest time learning Koine.
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Originally Posted by ps139 If you knew modern Greek, it would definitely be easier to learn NT Greek (called "koine Greek"), since you would have a basis for it.
I do not know how big a difference it is, but being that it is 2000 years old, my guess is that it is probably at least like Modern English v.
Old English. Old English is learnable for an English speaker, if you put the effort into it....I imagine native Greek speakers would have the easiest time learning Koine.
Hi cableguy!
i have to agree with the previous post.
greek is my native language and of course i can read the new testament.
But still, i am having some trouble and have to look at the modern greek translation.
it's not that bad though.
cheers
Anna
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I don't know all the differences, but one of the more obvious one is that certain words are spelt differently (e.g.
'μας' and 'ημας'), some words become obsolete, and there are more noun cases in Koine Greek as compared to modern Greek.
But generally, a decent portion of Koine Greek can still be understood.
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Cableguy,
i would suggest you learnt ancient greek.
i am studying ancient greek myself lately, and i think it helps me more in understanding the New Testament greek.
all the best!
Ann
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Originally Posted by Annoula cableguy,
i would suggest you learnt ancient greek.
i am studying ancient greek myself lately, and i think it helps me more in understanding the New Testament greek.
all the best!
Ann Both modern Greek and ancient Greek (Attic/classical) Greek are similar to Koine Greek (NT Greek), ancient much more so than modern.
However, if your main interest is in reading the NT, you definitely should study NT Greek.
There are many subtlties of Koine Greek that do not exist in modern Greek, and the vocabulary is quite different in many cases.
For instance the word for house in Koine is oikos, but in modern Greek, it is spiti.
There are many other differences.
The tenses are different in sigificance and form.
There are differences in the ways that the cases are used, and there are differences in the prepositions, just to name a few.
If you want to understand the NT in its original language, you should learn Koine (NT) Greek.
There are two very good books out there to help you if you cannot find a class or course.
One is David Alan Black's book, Learn to Read New Testament Greek, Expanded Edition and William Mounce's book, Basics of Biblical Greek.
Mounce also has a website, where you can take online courses, and there is also a workbook that goes with his book.
I believe there are also recordings of class sessions available as well.
I highly recommend both of these.
Good luck. Reading the NT in the original language is exciting and really helps your understanding of God's word.
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Boy i didn't know there were classes specifically for NT Greek
i am taken by surprise
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There are classes for everything you can think of.
In fact, I remember reading about a class in Ancient Babylonian.
Of course, I think it was only offered at one university.
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Thanks folks. I'm going to look for those books mortmune.
Reading the NT in greek seems like an exiciting way to do things.
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