Greek for Bible Readers

023

Greek has no indefinite article (English “a” or “an”). Thus a[nqrwpo~ means “man” or “a man.” When Greek wants to indicate that a noun is definite, it places the definite article in front of it. Thus oJ a[nqrwpo~ means “the man.” In general, the presence of the article emphasizes particular identity, while the absence of the article emphasizes quality or characteristics. In Luke 18:13, for example, the tax collector, by using the article, identifies himself as “the sinner,” a point largely missed in English translations. On the other hand, Paul’s claim in Galatians 1:1 to be “an apostle” emphasizes the dignity and authority of his apostleship without excluding others from that office. Where no article appears in Greek, the indefinite article “a” or “an” may be used in English when the context suggests this translation.

A conjunction is a word whose function is to join together words, phrases, clauses and sentences (“and,” “or,” “but,” etc.). Conjunctions are classified either as coordinate or as subordinate. Coordinate conjunctions connect parallel words or clauses. They may show such relationships as connection (and), contrast (but), and consequence (therefore). Subordinate conjunctions introduce clauses that depend on some other clause. Subordinate clauses may be conditional (if), concessive (although), temporal (when), causal (because), final (in order that) or consecutive (that).

This lesson contains three common New Testament coordinating conjunctions: Kaiv (and), occurring 8,947 times; dev (now, but), occurring 2,771 times; and avllav (but), occurring 635 times. Kaiv serves as the basic conjunction and implies continuity with the preceding context. Dev marks the introduction of a new and significant development in the story or argument. ÆAllav marks a contrast between sentences and bears more semantic weight than both dev and Kaiv.

Note that dev is postpositive in Greek; in other words, it cannot stand first in its clause or sentence. It is, however, almost always translated first in English. Note also that the final vowel of ajllav is elided before a word beginning with a vowel or diphthong, as in blevpei~, ajllÆ ajkouvw, “You see, but I hear” (an apostrophe marks the elision, just as in English contractions). Finally, it should be pointed out that Greek does not have a conjunction meaning “both.” Instead, Kaiv is used, as in eijmi; kai; uiJo;~ kai; dou¤lo~, “I am both a son and a servant.” Kaiv may also be used adverbially, in which case it is translated “also” or “even” (for example, Matthew 10:30: “But even [Kaiv] the hairs of your head are all numbered”).

As we have seen, word order in Greek is far more flexible than in English. New Testament writers typically placed the subject after the verb, as in blevpei a[nqrwpo~ ajpovstolon, “A man sees an apostle.” This tendency to place the verb at the beginning of its clause is probably due to Semitic influence, because the normal word order in biblical Hebrew is verb, subject, object. Elements of the sentence that are moved forward often receive special emphasis: ajpovstolon blevpei a[nqrwpo~ would imply “It is an apostle that a man sees.” Similarly, the normal position for genitives is after their noun: 061eijmi; dou¤lo~ qeou¤, “I am a servant of God.” Here emphasis would be achieved by positioning the genitive ahead of its noun: eijmi; qeou¤ dou¤lo~, “I am God’s servant.”

When you have learned the vocabulary in the box, you will be ready to translate the following sentences (the answers will appear in our next column): (1) gravfei dou¤lo~ novmon. (2) ginwvskete qavnaton. (3) luvousin ajdelfoi; douvlou~. (4) fevrousin uiJoi; dw¤ra. (5) gravfei~ lovgou~ ajpostovloi~. (6) blevpei uiJo;~ iJera; kai; oi[kou~. (7) ouj levgei ajdelfo;~ lovgon ajnqrwvpwó. (8) fevrei dou¤lo~ dw¤ron ajpostovlw¤. (9) ginwvskomen oJdo;n iJerw¤. (10) oujk ajkouvomen lovgou~ qanavtou. (11) levgei~ douvloi~, ajlla; levgw ajdelfoi~.

Neuter Nouns, Second Declension
dw¤ron, tov	gift ( do, donate)
e[rgon, tov	work (erg [a unit of work], cf. energy)
eujaggevlion, tov	gospel (evangelical)
iJerovn, tov	temple (hierarchy)
tevknon, tov	child
Feminine Nouns, Second Declension
e[rhmo~, hJ	wilderness, desert (hermit)
oJdov~, hJ	road, way (odometer)
Additional –w Verbs
ginwvskw	I know ( gno, Gnostic)
lambavnw	I take, I receive ( lab), labyrinth)
levgw	I say, I speak (legend)
fevrw	I bring, I bear (Christopher [‘bearer of Christ’])
Conjunctions
ajllav	but
dev	now, but
kaiv	and, also, even
kai;…kaiv	both…and