The Greek Language

From 13th Century BC "Linear B" Greek, through the "Classical Greek" of Homer, 8th century, and Plato, 4th century,  to the Greek of the Bible, called "Koine Greek" or the common man's Greek, the language is a marvelous form of language, capable of exact expression and subtle nuances.  Christ came when the fullness of time was here (Gal 4:4), and the universal language used to capture and record and preach his arrival and the New Testament he came to offer, was Koine Greek.  Every Christian can benefit from the study of this language.  

Learning Greek

The main purpose of this study of Greek is to help you understand better and to communicate more clearly the Word of God.  This should be kept in mind at all times.  It should motivate you, encourage you when you are frustrated, and give you perspective when you thing you are going to crack.  Remember the goal: A clearer, more exact, and more persuasive presentation of God's saving message.
   In a day when the King James Bible is under continual attack by modern scholars armed with every type of criticism, higher, or lower, the learning of even a few Greek concepts will enhance your love for the King James Bible, your love for Old English, and your despise of the Greek critical text and its modernists English translations. One can rebuild a car engine with a wrench, a hammer and a crowbar, but to do the job right  there are special tools, hones,  and torque wrenches.  Any serious student of the Word of God will find the study of Greek an excellent addition to his tool box for understanding the New Testament Scriptures.

The Format of these Greek lessons will follow William D. Mounce's book "Basics of Biblical Greek" (Zondervan Publishing house @1993) It is recommended that the serious Greek student purchase the book and it's corresponding workbook, much of which is mimicked in these lessons. In these lessons the Chapter divisions referenced are from Mounce's book and the vocabulary lists are verbatim from his excellent work.

Chapter 1 and 2 are introductory emphasizing the why and how of learning Greek. The latter is supplemented by the following quotes on:

Why should I learn Greek?

"The most perfect vehicle of human speech thus far devised by man is the Greek, English comes next, but Greek outranks it." A.T. Robertson "The minister and His Greek N.T." Pp 28 cont - "The cultural and spiritual worth of the Greek N.T. Is beyond all computation. In the Renaissance the world woke up with the Greek Testament in its hands. It still stands before the open pages of this greatest of all books in wonder and rapture as the pages continue to reveal God in the face of Jesus Christ."

Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531): wrote in his work "Proper Godly Education of Youth" wrote "Languages are Gifts of the Holy Ghost Once a young man is instructed in the soul virtue which is formed by faith, it follows that he will regulate himself and richly adorn himself from within: for only he whose whole life is ordered finds it easy to give help and counsel to others.

"But a man cannot rightly order his own soul unless he exercises himself day and night in the Word of God. He can do that most readily if he is well versed in such languages as Hebrew and Greek, for a right understanding of the Old Testament is difficult without the one, and a right understanding of the New is equally difficult without the other.

"But we are instructing those who have already learned the rudiments, and everywhere Latin has the priority. In these circumstances I do not think that Latin should be altogether neglected. For an understanding of Holy Scripture it is of less value than Hebrew and Greek, but for other purposes it is just as useful. And it often happens that we have to do the business of Christ amongst those who speak Latin. No Christian should use these languages simply for his own profit or pleasure: for languages are gifts of the Holy Ghost.

After Latin we should apply ourselves to Greek. We should do this for the sake of the New Testament, as I have said already. And if I may say so, to the best of my knowledge the Greeks have always handled the doctrine of Christ better than the Latins. For that reason we should always direct our young men to this source. But in respect of Greek as well as Latin we should take care to garrison our souls with innocence and faith, for in these tongues there are many things which we learn only to our hurt: wantonness, ambition, violence, cunning, vain philosophy and the like. But the soul ... Can steer sagely past all these if it is only forewarned, that is, if at the first sound of the voices it pays heed to the warning" Hear this in order to shun and not to receive.

I put Hebrew last because Latin is in general use and Greek follows conveniently. Otherwise I would willingly have given Hebrew precedence, for in many places even amongst the Greeks, those who are ignorant of Hebrew forms of speech have great difficulty in attempting to draw out the true sense of Scripture. But it is not my purpose to speak exhaustibly of these languages.

If a man would penetrate to the heavenly wisdom, with which no earthly wisdom ought rightly to be considered, let alone compared, it is with such arms that he must be equipped. And even then he must still approach with a humble and thirsting spirit." I;roch Zwingli, "On the Education of Youth" in Zwingli and Bullinger, The Library of Christian Classics: Ichthus Edition,

I can only add to Zwingli an emphasis on English or Spanish and de-emphasis of the Latin. On English because of the persistent attack of the modernists on the authenticity and superiority of the King James Bible, the extensive reference and English study tools available for the Holy Bible, and the great care to preserve verbal plenary inspiration in the Authorized Version of the Bible. On Spanish because of the lack of a Spanish Bible that has taken the great strides to preserve verbal plenary inspiration from the Greek Received Text and the Hebrew Masoretic Text into the Spanish Language. Because modernist's critical errors have invaded every Spanish Bible, and every modern English Bible the studies of the original languages and the original texts is vital. The hypercritical Nestle Aland Greek text which mirrors the inflammatory critical Greek work of Bishop Westcot and Professor Hort needs to be exposed for what it is by Bible Believers who know the real Words of God in their given language.