Essentials of New Testament Greek

By Ray Summers

For almost seventy years, Essentials of New Testament Greek has been a classic textbook and key tool for students of New Testament Greek. This classic work by Ray Summers, with updates by Thomas Sawyer, will continue to be an effective resource for generations to come.

Major features include:

• A step-by-step approach which guides students through the learning process.

• Clear explanations of the Greek language and how it works.

• Extensive appendices with paradigms, indexes, and verb list.

• High-frequency Greek vocabulary which presents every word used 50 times or more in the New Testament.

• Numerous examples from the Greek New Testament to illustrate grammatical points.

• Translation exercises which use nearly 300 New Testament verses, including: most of 1 John, a significant percentage of Matthew, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians.

• An easy-to-read verb chart.
 

Essentials of New Testament Greek, Revised Edition is an exceptional textbook for college and seminary students, an effective resource for ministers, and an efficient guide for self-study of New Testament Greek.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BH Publishing Group
• Release date: Jun 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781535957588

Book preview

Essentials of New Testament Greek

Copyright © 1995, 2019 by Ray Summers, revised by Thomas Sawyer

Published by B&H Academic

Nashville, Tennessee

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-5359-5758-8

Previously published as 978-0-8054-1001-3

Dewey Decimal Classification: 225.48

Subject Heading: Greek Language \ Bible. New Testament

Printed in the United States of America

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VP

Preface

Essentials of New Testament Greek has enjoyed continuous acceptance since it first appeared in 1950. Today it remains the leading textbook for introductory Greek in the tradition of A. T. Robertson. This revised edition retains the basic approach of Robertson and Summers.

Vocabularies in this edition include every word used fifty times or more in the Greek New Testament. The approach is functional and practical, and the exercises are expanded to bring students to the New Testament as soon as possible. Approximately three hundred sentences from the Greek New Testament are included, with quotations from each of the twenty-seven books. Words which have not previously appeared in the vocabularies are translated. The page design techniques and the photographs are intended to make the study of Greek more eye pleasing. This edition also includes expanded explanations of grammar and adds a chapter on the Greek sentence.

Several topics are covered in the revised edition which were only treated briefly in the original book or not at all. Among these (with the lesson in which each appears in parenthesis) are: transliteration (1), the importance of word order (4), elision in prepositions (8), particles and proclitics (9), conjunctions (13), future participles (20), second aorist passive participle (22), accusative as the subject of the infinitive (22), pluperfect tense (23), conjugation of οἶδα (23), prominent numerals (27), and adverbs (28).

Scripture quotations are from The United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition ( = Nestle-Aland 27th edition). In the Greek, uppercase letters appear only in direct quotes and proper names except where paragraphs are included in lessons 26 through 31. Two symbols are used extensively: equal marks (=) and the arrow (→) meaning which becomes, showing that one form develops into another. Several resources have facilitated this revision. Frequency lists in Bruce Metzger’s Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek and Warren Trenchard’s The Student’s Complete Vocabulary Guide to the Greek New Testament were very helpful. Two computer programs, ScriptureFonts and The Bible Word Program, made this task much more pleasant.

Many people have entered into the rather lengthy process of this work. The editors at Broadman and Holman who have been most helpful and cooperative on this particular project are Trent Butler, Forrest Jackson, and John Landers. The following colleagues in the journey of the study of Greek or other languages, most of whom are teachers in colleges and seminaries, have assisted greatly: Linda McKinnish Bridges, Ed Cheek, Christopher Church, Steven Cox, David Dockery, Noel Kinnamon, James Scott, and Robert Shurden. I would like especially to thank Wesley Perschbacher, who read the manuscript many times and made valuable suggestions. Two secretaries have worked sacrificially helping to type the English manuscript contaminated with Greek: Jeannette Proffitt and Barbara Robinson. Many students over the last twenty-seven years have suggested how Greek should be taught and how a Greek grammar should be written. They have unknowingly assisted in this revision. Two especially in recent years have either helped inresearch or done extensive proof reading: Rob Cothran and Brian Graves. Finally, and most of all, I thank my wife and fellow teacher at this college, Gail, for her patience and helpful suggestions along the way, whose encouragement made it possible to complete this project.

Mars Hill College

W. Thomas Sawyer

Mars Hill, North Carolina

1995

Lesson 1

The Letters And Sounds Of Greek

1.1 The Greek Alphabet

New Testament Greek has twenty-four letters. The English alphabet roughly corresponds to the Greek. Notice that the first, third, and fifth groups of letters are similar to the corresponding English letters. This grouping is significant only as a learning aid.

1.2 Writing Greek Letters

You can write Greek letters correctly if you will use lined paper and draw a dotted line in the middle. Then practice writing the letters in the following way:

a. These letters are written on the lower line.

b. These letters are written on the lower line and extend below that line.

c. These letters are written on the lower line and extend above an imaginary middle line.

d. These letters are written on the lower line, but also extend below that line and above the imaginary middle line.

e. Capital letters are used in the Greek New Testament for titles and proper names, at the beginning of paragraphs, and, in some editions, at the beginning of direct discourse. Sentences generally begin with small letters. Capital letters extend from the upper line to the lower line as in the examples below.

f. Certain Greek letters while similar to English characters in appearance represent different letters. Do not confuse the letters below. They appear similar at first glance, but are distinct in appearance and writing.

Also, do not confuse these Greek letters:

1.3 The Vowels

There are seven Greek vowels: α, ε, η, ι, o, υ, and ω. Of these, ε and o are always short in pronunciation; η and ω are always long; and α, ι, and υ may be either long or short.

1.4 Diphthongs

In Greek, as in English, two sounds often unite in a syllable to form a single sound. Such a construction is called a diphthong. The seven common or proper diphthongs in Greek are as follows:

Another type of diphthong has an iota subscript. This occurs when an iota follows a long vowel, in which case the iota is written under the vowel. The three iota subscript diphthongs are ᾳ, ῃ, and ῳ, and they are transliterated ai, ei, and oi. An iota subscript does not affect the pronunciation.

All diphthongs are long, for accenting purposes, except when αι and οι are final in a word, in which case they are short, even though the pronunciation does not change. Thus the diphthong οι in ἄνθρωποι is short because it is final, but οι in ἀνθρώποις is long because another letter follows it.

1.5 The Consonants

There are seventeen consonants in New Testament Greek. They are grouped in three classes:

a. Liquids λ, μ, ν, and ρ

These are called liquids because of the smooth, easy flow of breath used in their pronunciation.

b. Mutes β, γ, δ, θ, κ, π, τ, φ, χ

These consonants are pronounced by momentarily closing portions of the oral passage, then suddenly releasing the sound. As the names suggest, labials are sounded with the lips, dentals with the teeth (and tongue), and palatals with the back of the throat. The following chart demonstrates the relationship of the mute consonants grouped according to class and order. Class refers to the way in which the lips, teeth, tongue, and throat are used to form the sound. Order refers to how smoothly or roughly you pronounce the letter.

c. Sibilants σ, ζ, ξ, and ψ

These consonants all have an s sound. Three of these (ζ, ξ, and ψ) are called compound consonants or digraphs because they resulted from the combination of a mute consonant with σ.

1.6 Exercises

a. Learn the names of the letters of the Greek alphabet so that you can say them from memory as fluently as you say the letters of the English alphabet.

b. Write all Greek letters carefully several times in capital and small letters using the three lines as suggested.

c. Pronounce each Greek letter and diphthong aloud until you have mastered the correct sounds.

d. Transliterate the following proper names from the New Testament: Ἰωάννης (Matt. 3:1); Πέτρος (Matt. 10:2); Φίλιππος (Matt. 10:3); Γαβριήλ (Luke 1:26); Παῦλος (Rom. 1:1); Τιμόθεος (2 Cor. 1:1); Τίτος⁸ (Gal. 2:3); Ἰάκωβος (James 1:1).

The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri; 1 Corinthians 6:6-13--7:3. Illustrator Photo/ David Rogers/ Hatcher Library of Rare Books / University of Michigan

¹ Transliteration is the process of assigning the nearest equivalent English letter to each Greek letter. This is discussed in Lesson 2.

² When γ is followed by a γ, κ, or χ, it is pronounced like an English n. Example: ἄγγελος (an’ ge los).

³ When initial, zeta is z; when internal, it is dz.

⁴ Sometimes ι appears under long vowels, in which case it is called iota subscript, as in ᾳ, ῃ, ῳ (see 1.4).

⁵ When sigma is at the end of a word, the form ς is used; elsewhere σ is used. There is no difference in the pronunciation of the two forms.

⁶ When υ is not used in a diphthong, it is usually transliterated as the English y (see 1.4).

⁷ υἱ (with a rough breathing mark) is transliterated hui. The rough breathing mark ( ̔ ) is pronounced like the English letter h (see 2.3).

⁸ The transliteration into English is Titos. However, our English New Testament spells it Titus, which is a Latinized spelling.

Lesson 2

Pronunciation And Accents

2.1 Vocabulary

Learning the Greek vocabulary in each lesson can be aided by sight and sound. Write these words several times in Greek. Then learn to pronounce them stressing the syllable with the accent mark (see 2.7). The words in the left column are verbs and those on the right are nouns. The vocabulary will include the definite article with nouns (in this lesson ὁ), in order to indicate the gender of the word (see 4.6). All nouns in this lesson are masculine. Transliterating the words into English may help some students with pronunciation. Examples: λύω (luʹ ō); λόγος (lo gos).

2.2 Pronunciation and Transliteration

It is uncertain exactly how Greek letters were pronounced in the New Testament era. The system of pronunciation given in lesson 1 is the Erasmian system, named for the great classical scholar, Erasmus. Even though this system does not correspond precisely to ancient or modern pronunciation, the value of pronouncing Greek this way is twofold: It is widely used by those who study ancient Greek; and it is the system which most clearly distinguishes the sounds of the letters, especially the vowels. Therefore, it can be a useful tool in learning Greek.

Transliterating exercises from Greek into English will help the beginning student learn the pronunciation of Greek. Learning transliteration is also important because some books will use transliterated Greek for the convenience of those who do not know the Greek alphabet. You should use transliteration only as a temporary method to aid in pronunciation.

2.3 Breathing Marks

Greek has two breathing marks. The smooth breathing resembles a single right quotation mark ( ̓ ), and the rough breathing a single left quotation mark ( ̔ ). Every Greek word beginning with a vowel or a diphthong must have one of these breathing marks. Initial ρ must also have a rough breathing mark. Example: ῥῆμα (rhēʹ ma).

The breathing mark is placed over the single vowel or over the second vowel of a diphthong, which begins a word, as in ἄνθρωπος and αὐτός.

A smooth breathing does not affect the pronunciation of a word, but a rough breathing is pronounced like the letter h. Thus we see that ἀκούω is pronounced a kouʹō, while ἁμαρτία is pronounced ha mar tiʹa. There is no rule to indicate which breathing mark is used, and this must be learned as a part of vocabulary study.

2.4 Punctuation Marks

Greek has four punctuation marks. The comma (,) and period (.) correspond to the English comma and period and are written on the line. The colon (·) corresponds in usage to the English colon or semicolon and is written above the line. The question mark (;) is written like the English semicolon.

2.5 Other Marks

Three other diacritical marks should be noted. The apostrophe (’) serves in Greek, as in English, to indicate that a letter has been omitted. This often occurs when a word ending in a short

Reviews for Essentials of New Testament Greek

[temsmail · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Basic "baby" Greek text book, takes the reader from zero knowledge to reading biblical Greek in 1 John, and prepares one for Intermediate Greek, translating a book of the NT, such as Phillippians.