CLASSICAL AND BIBLICAL GREEK

Some thoughts on the connections between Classical and Biblical Greek

I am even more  firmly of the belief especially after a recent twitter discussion with a "biblical scholar" who thought my "opinions" on the possible historicity of Matthew were invalid that even if you only want to read the New Testament you should start about learning basic Classical Greek grammar

WHY ? 

ONE

The most common forms of Koine Greek used by NT writers were based on Attic and Ionic forms

TWO

Learning Classical forms first will make it easier to identify and understand Imperatives and Aorist Subjunctives and so called Irregular Verbs 

THREE

At some stage if you are doing biblical studies for whatever reason becoming a pastor or academic you're going to have to consult commentaries that discuss the difference between English and Greek
Even one semester of Greek will help with that

 
FOUR

Cultural and Historical Context
Yes there are many books that translate Greek resources including early Church Fathers into English but they may only be available in a university library or as a digitized copy of the original. Also there are certain terms that just don't translate exactly and seeing them in the original context will add your understanding.

FIVE 

Koine Greek is Classical Greek
Okay After 400 years of changes
Yes it has loan words from other languages and simpler verb forms reflecting popular speech but it was a living language when the Gospels and Epistles were written down

Reading English translations only is rather like looking at a tree and only looking up at the leaves.

  

SIX 

Duh miss out on Aristotle Plutarch Plato Greek Poetry Philosophy etc ?
You don't have to learn to read Homeric Greek or the ancient orators as ST Basil and others recommended but even a little Greek happens and context context context 

SEVEN 

Greek conditional verb forms ie Subjunctives work differently from English and don't always translate with the full impact of the original

Finally for the last 2 weeks and next month I have had and will continue to have my broken right ankle encased in a variety of straps supports aircast boot bandages thick socks etc etc but Im hobbling to work and do have a few ideas for posts

Let me know what you think about this issue !

Should learning Classical Greek come before specializing in Koine or Biblical Greek ? 

Ideally the best biblical scholars should be fluent in Latin Greek Hebrew and Aramaic but defintely Greek if you want to understand the New Testament. Yes some of the Gospels may or may not have been written in Aramaic first and then translated into Greek but a strong case can be made that most if not all of the Apostles were bilingual to varying degrees in Greek.

So Greek is important? 

Comment ?!