I want to touch on the issue of fluency a moment. First, check out this blog entry:
http://evepheso.wordpress.com/2009/05/28/daniel-streett-on-learning-greek/
As a disclaimer, I have no intention of calling into question the professors who teach Greek at our seminaries and universities today. I have no such qualifications; and so when I link to this article, I speak purely as a spectator, and not a professional. I'm sure there are people on the referenced blog who possess much better qualifications than I do concerning such matters.
As you've read through earlier articles on this blog, I've mentioned my desire to gain fluency in Biblical Greek, and I'm doing it a number of ways (and I'm starting to see some fruits :D ); so it's no wonder that the referenced entry caught my eye, because I couldn't imagine a Greek professor who couldn't speak the language they taught; yet I can see why this is the default case, as this form of Greek was spoken 2,000 years ago, and doesn't have a written and spoken application today. It's strange, because I gained some fluency in Spanish during high school; of course, I love foreign language, and I took four years. That, and my instructor taught in Spanish at times, and we watched Spanish movies. Do any Greek or Hebrew professors do that? Teach the class in the language? I know at my university, Spanish I is taught in English, but II and III are taught in Spanish.
What I'm keeping an eye out for is stories of people who have gained fluency in Biblical Greek. I'd be interested to hear what it means to them, what it does for them, and just how fluent they are. That is:
Can they speak it?
Can they write in it?
Can they read it?
Do they memorize passages?
Are they involved in Bible translation at all?
For example, I did hear from one friend named Jonathan whom I worked with for a few days, who is going to be a missionary in the East Asian area; there is a man at his home church who brings his Greek translation with him to church, and he likes to translate it in his mind as the passages are read.
If you know anyone who has fluency in Biblical Greek (or Hebrew for that matter), if they can read it--or even write and talk in it fluently--I want to hear from you. If you have any links, I would appreciate those too. Just attach a comment to this entry.
Sola Fie!
Jake
Monday, September 21, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Clearing Up the Articulars - Proper Understanding of the "Definite" Article, and Defense of the Deity of Christ
Hello friends,
I want to go back to the subject of articles and their use in the Greek. I'm going to briefly describe the subject and a proper conclusion to it, then I'll give you a more extensive article on the matter to reference.
Now, as I discovered for myself, the use of the definite article (eg. "the") works different than it does in English. I believe I referenced this in an earlier blog entry, though I need to make a few appendages.
Now, the example I used was how if you are not careful, and do not have sufficient knowledge of how Greek words, you can make a bad mistake, and by Galatians 1:9 you would become ἀνάθεμα. And I'd prefer this didn't happen to you, so let's be clear.
I used John 1:1 as an example of the mistake that can occur.
(1) Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
Here I underlined all the words referring to God and Christ, along with their respective definite articles. λογος is word, and θεος is God, though many make the mistake of assuming that the absence of the definite article means that it indicates an indefinite by default. That is, if I said ὁ λόγος, you take it to mean, "The word." But when you just see λόγος, the faulty beginning student (such as myself) would take it to mean "a word."
Now let's use that stretch of logic again. You have an instance of τον θεον in that verse, and you might take it to mean "the God," though when you jump over and see θεος, because there is no article (the ὁ), you would assume "a God." Then you go through and translate it, and you wind up with this apostate rendering:
"In a beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was a god."
So, were the Jehovah's Witnesses right then?
Well actually, no. There are two mistakes made in this assumption:
First, there is no indefinite article in Greek. They have no way of saying, for example, "a dog," "a cat," or "a god." If the Greek speakers wanted to be unspecific, one way is to use a form of the word τις (tis). Even this, it's vague yet specific at the same time, and its common English equivalent is something like "A certain man," "a certain person," "a particular city." There are a few other ways of implying what would be an indefinite article in English, but a lack of article does not mean indefinite article.
Second, there is no definite article in Greek. I just threw you for a loop, didn't I? :) Now this was the mistake that I made, and the reason why I wrote this, but once you understand this, you can understand how the article plays into understanding Greek. There is no definite or indefinite article; just an article. The article serves for purposes other than being definite, such as the following (not comprehensive listing):
--It may indicate the subject of the sentence.
--It may be placed to put stress on an item, or to draw attention.
In the absence of an article, one of the following might occur:
--It may indicate an appropriate use of an indefinite article, though not always. This should be done carefully.
--It may be qualitative, concerning a characteristic
--It may determin the predicate in some cases.
Let's look back at John 1:1 a minute.
...καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. (and the word was God).
-and--God--was---word
You'll notice that this time, I underlined only a small part of each word, and I placed the English renderings below. Now here's where some other knowledge is handy; word order does not indicate meaning. The correct translation is not, "And God was the Word." In this particular clause, both the word "God" and the word "Word" are nominative. Without getting too detailed, you typically change up the ending of the nouns and adjectives to indicate their role in a sentence (subject, relation, direction, object, etc.), and for these two nouns, the ος at the beginning indicates that they are nominative, stand-alone subjects. So which one is the subject? If you consider the rules given above, it's the one with the article. In particular instances, the subject may be indicated by its particular ordering in the sentence, but here it simply isn't clear unless by the article.
Some may still object, but then we could ask the question, "Why isn't it that we insert an indefinite article before the word "beginning?"
(1) Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
The underlined bit there, en archae, translates into "In the beginning," though that word "en" is not an article. In that first clause, en arche aen ho logos, if we assumed that the absence indicates indefinite, would end up translating, "In a beginning was the word." Not correct. Is there more than one beginning? This is my personal opinion, I will not say this is true, but perhaps John is de-emphasizing "the beginning" in order to magnify and draw attention to "the Word." Greek language involves variations of emphasis, and I can see where you would pay more attention to "ho logos" because between it and "archae," "ho logos" has the article.
Also note that just because there is an article, doesn't mean you must insert an article. Let's take John 1:1 again.
(1) Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
That phrase, should you decide that the article always requires the, would then read: "And the word was with the God" instead of just "and the word was with God." Think of the article as a pointing finger, creating emphasis. Think of this as if I was reading the passage out loud, and as I read the word "God," I point upwards, meaning God.
Now think about the mess you would have if you translated John 1:1 with the bad assumptions that I made here.
"In a beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God, and the Word was a God."
The arguments can get technical, and there are yet still objections, but if there is any doubt that Jesus Christ is indeed God, here's a few verses to provide a contextual argument in the book of John itself:
John 1:15 - John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me." (this is important when you consider that John the Baptist was older than Christ by about six months)
John 8:58 - "Before Abraham was, I am." (And as the crowds remarked, "You're not even 50!")
John 14:9 - "Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father '?" (A very large claim, when you consider that God's holiness means there is no one like Him; Jesus is stepping through that veil and saying, "I am just like Him," meaning He is God)
Just reading through John 1:1-18, or the whole book of John for that matter, which I wrote about earlier, you'll see that John was completely convinced that Jesus Christ was indeed God, and God's greatest revelation to mankind. So if you consider the context that John 1:1 is in, it is most definitely saying that Jesus is God.
No worries my friends. You are not preaching a different Gospel, and you are not αναθεμα (anathema) :) You may exit this blog reassured that your Lord and Savior, by grammatical and contexual arguments, is indeed who He says He is.
Sola Scriptura!
Jake
PS - If you want some more technical information on articles in Greek, go here.
I want to go back to the subject of articles and their use in the Greek. I'm going to briefly describe the subject and a proper conclusion to it, then I'll give you a more extensive article on the matter to reference.
Now, as I discovered for myself, the use of the definite article (eg. "the") works different than it does in English. I believe I referenced this in an earlier blog entry, though I need to make a few appendages.
Now, the example I used was how if you are not careful, and do not have sufficient knowledge of how Greek words, you can make a bad mistake, and by Galatians 1:9 you would become ἀνάθεμα. And I'd prefer this didn't happen to you, so let's be clear.
I used John 1:1 as an example of the mistake that can occur.
(1) Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
Here I underlined all the words referring to God and Christ, along with their respective definite articles. λογος is word, and θεος is God, though many make the mistake of assuming that the absence of the definite article means that it indicates an indefinite by default. That is, if I said ὁ λόγος, you take it to mean, "The word." But when you just see λόγος, the faulty beginning student (such as myself) would take it to mean "a word."
Now let's use that stretch of logic again. You have an instance of τον θεον in that verse, and you might take it to mean "the God," though when you jump over and see θεος, because there is no article (the ὁ), you would assume "a God." Then you go through and translate it, and you wind up with this apostate rendering:
"In a beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was a god."
So, were the Jehovah's Witnesses right then?
Well actually, no. There are two mistakes made in this assumption:
First, there is no indefinite article in Greek. They have no way of saying, for example, "a dog," "a cat," or "a god." If the Greek speakers wanted to be unspecific, one way is to use a form of the word τις (tis). Even this, it's vague yet specific at the same time, and its common English equivalent is something like "A certain man," "a certain person," "a particular city." There are a few other ways of implying what would be an indefinite article in English, but a lack of article does not mean indefinite article.
Second, there is no definite article in Greek. I just threw you for a loop, didn't I? :) Now this was the mistake that I made, and the reason why I wrote this, but once you understand this, you can understand how the article plays into understanding Greek. There is no definite or indefinite article; just an article. The article serves for purposes other than being definite, such as the following (not comprehensive listing):
--It may indicate the subject of the sentence.
--It may be placed to put stress on an item, or to draw attention.
In the absence of an article, one of the following might occur:
--It may indicate an appropriate use of an indefinite article, though not always. This should be done carefully.
--It may be qualitative, concerning a characteristic
--It may determin the predicate in some cases.
Let's look back at John 1:1 a minute.
...καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. (and the word was God).
-and--God--was---word
You'll notice that this time, I underlined only a small part of each word, and I placed the English renderings below. Now here's where some other knowledge is handy; word order does not indicate meaning. The correct translation is not, "And God was the Word." In this particular clause, both the word "God" and the word "Word" are nominative. Without getting too detailed, you typically change up the ending of the nouns and adjectives to indicate their role in a sentence (subject, relation, direction, object, etc.), and for these two nouns, the ος at the beginning indicates that they are nominative, stand-alone subjects. So which one is the subject? If you consider the rules given above, it's the one with the article. In particular instances, the subject may be indicated by its particular ordering in the sentence, but here it simply isn't clear unless by the article.
Some may still object, but then we could ask the question, "Why isn't it that we insert an indefinite article before the word "beginning?"
(1) Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
The underlined bit there, en archae, translates into "In the beginning," though that word "en" is not an article. In that first clause, en arche aen ho logos, if we assumed that the absence indicates indefinite, would end up translating, "In a beginning was the word." Not correct. Is there more than one beginning? This is my personal opinion, I will not say this is true, but perhaps John is de-emphasizing "the beginning" in order to magnify and draw attention to "the Word." Greek language involves variations of emphasis, and I can see where you would pay more attention to "ho logos" because between it and "archae," "ho logos" has the article.
Also note that just because there is an article, doesn't mean you must insert an article. Let's take John 1:1 again.
(1) Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
That phrase, should you decide that the article always requires the, would then read: "And the word was with the God" instead of just "and the word was with God." Think of the article as a pointing finger, creating emphasis. Think of this as if I was reading the passage out loud, and as I read the word "God," I point upwards, meaning God.
Now think about the mess you would have if you translated John 1:1 with the bad assumptions that I made here.
"In a beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God, and the Word was a God."
The arguments can get technical, and there are yet still objections, but if there is any doubt that Jesus Christ is indeed God, here's a few verses to provide a contextual argument in the book of John itself:
John 1:15 - John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me." (this is important when you consider that John the Baptist was older than Christ by about six months)
John 8:58 - "Before Abraham was, I am." (And as the crowds remarked, "You're not even 50!")
John 14:9 - "Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father '?" (A very large claim, when you consider that God's holiness means there is no one like Him; Jesus is stepping through that veil and saying, "I am just like Him," meaning He is God)
Just reading through John 1:1-18, or the whole book of John for that matter, which I wrote about earlier, you'll see that John was completely convinced that Jesus Christ was indeed God, and God's greatest revelation to mankind. So if you consider the context that John 1:1 is in, it is most definitely saying that Jesus is God.
No worries my friends. You are not preaching a different Gospel, and you are not αναθεμα (anathema) :) You may exit this blog reassured that your Lord and Savior, by grammatical and contexual arguments, is indeed who He says He is.
Sola Scriptura!
Jake
PS - If you want some more technical information on articles in Greek, go here.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Progress thus far
It is September 2, 2009, and here is my status update for progress, since beginning Greek in June (with very limited previous education).
Project begun approximately June 1, 2009.
Status update: September 2, 2009
Accomplishments:
Alphabet learned (before beginning o project) with pronunciation
Plus minor variations
Mild reading fluency (phonetically reading)
Adequate knowledge of accent workings
All indicative tenses memorized
All declensions memorized
Basic understanding of declensions and purposes in sentences
Understanding of third declension rules
Basic understanding of comparatives and superlatives
Memorization of 35 verses in Greek, all vocabulary understood
Premature writing ability
241 memorized words
Understanding of adjectives
Basic knowledge of pronouns
Understanding of sentence structure
Basic understanding of verbs
All indicatives memorized
Limited understanding of participles
Very limited speaking ability
Very limited listening ability
Project begun approximately June 1, 2009.
Status update: September 2, 2009
Accomplishments:
Alphabet learned (before beginning o project) with pronunciation
Plus minor variations
Mild reading fluency (phonetically reading)
Adequate knowledge of accent workings
All indicative tenses memorized
All declensions memorized
Basic understanding of declensions and purposes in sentences
Understanding of third declension rules
Basic understanding of comparatives and superlatives
Memorization of 35 verses in Greek, all vocabulary understood
Premature writing ability
241 memorized words
Understanding of adjectives
Basic knowledge of pronouns
Understanding of sentence structure
Basic understanding of verbs
All indicatives memorized
Limited understanding of participles
Very limited speaking ability
Very limited listening ability
Saturday, August 29, 2009
My sources - Where is he learning this?
I know I've referred to it in my header, but I am studying Greek on my own. I'm not a Bible college student (though I'd probably like to be), and so I do not have the benefit of an instructor or someone with about 30-40 years of head knowledge. So you may be wondering, "Where is he getting his information?"
First of all, let me mention a brief website called Textkit.com. What I found here are sources on Greek and Latin which are out-of-print. These are old textbooks, and here you can find grammar books, beginning books, even composition books! These are all academic sources, and best of all they're free :) If it wasn't for this website, www.textkit.com, I doubt my learning would have taken off the way it has.
PS - I am not affiliated with textkit.com, so this blog is not necessarily a reflection of their own educational or academic standards. The above paragraph is simply my own private review, but I do love what I have found!
With that, here are my specific sources, starting with my most frequently used one.
"A Brief Introduction to New Testament Greek" by Samuel L. Green (http://www.textkit.com/)
Truth be told, this book feels anything but brief. It's about 120 pages in PDF, but I'm crawling through it quite slowly. The information is there; it's basic, as it goes for a new language, but accurate.
Advantages:
iTunes U "Elementary Greek" Podcast (Concordia Seminary)
There is nothing greater than podcasts to me :) I can find series on any number of things on iTunes, and any great number of resources on iTunes U! Actually, it was finding this that I believe got me jump-started into Greek. After using the podcasts a bit (not as much as the book mentioned above), here are the thoughts.
Advantages:
(This is the one I'm the most proud of...)
"The New Testament in the Original Greek" by Maurice A. Robinson and William G. Pierpont
This is by far my favorite among the resources. I mentioned that my goal is to read and memorize the entire Bible in its original languages, so this has been instrumental so far. This is the book that I'm using. I'll give you some highlights:
First of all, let me mention a brief website called Textkit.com. What I found here are sources on Greek and Latin which are out-of-print. These are old textbooks, and here you can find grammar books, beginning books, even composition books! These are all academic sources, and best of all they're free :) If it wasn't for this website, www.textkit.com, I doubt my learning would have taken off the way it has.
PS - I am not affiliated with textkit.com, so this blog is not necessarily a reflection of their own educational or academic standards. The above paragraph is simply my own private review, but I do love what I have found!
With that, here are my specific sources, starting with my most frequently used one.
"A Brief Introduction to New Testament Greek" by Samuel L. Green (http://www.textkit.com/)
Truth be told, this book feels anything but brief. It's about 120 pages in PDF, but I'm crawling through it quite slowly. The information is there; it's basic, as it goes for a new language, but accurate.
Advantages:
- First of all, it's free :) This edition of the textbook was printed in about 1911, and so the copyright is gone from it.
- It is what it says it is: An introduction. Nothing unnecessarily complicated, and if you take your time, you'll be able to digest it.
- It's downloadable. It's in PDF format, and so you can put this on your computer.
- Comes with an answer key, downloaded separately. The book contains exercises, and you have a resource for double-checking your answers. There's not a large number of exercises, but involve some real digestion, and are key to understanding the lessons.
Disadvantages:
- It's old. However (this is only my opinion), I imagine that this is not too material, as so far our information on Greek grammar has suited us very well for creating high-quality copies of the New Testament till this day. Do keep in mind though that as we study this ancient language that we do learn more about it, so there are resources with better information, but this book will take you a long ways.
- Non-indulgent. For me, this is a good thing, because I like things that are concise and to the point, but there's no eye appeal. No graphics, no pictures, coloring, etc. All the information is there, you should know, and puts it in chart format when helpful. I think you might have problems if you have never picked up a language outside of English, such as Spanish (which I know), German or French. Depending on experience, this could be a bigger hindrance to some than others.
- Professional language. The book uses a lot of grammar terms (yes, I know how you loved that class), and it expects you know what it's talking about, so you'll have to do a little grammar research to get the point at times (nothing Google or dictionary.com couldn't solve though).
- May be time-consuming. At least because of my own schedule, I've been stuck within the first 30-something pages for 2-3 months, but I do that because I'm also a college student and (at least until last Friday) have been working. This is not 21st century reading. I do not currently use any modern resources though, so I do not know whether I am behind or ahead of the curve in how I crawl through this book. But I am learning :)
Other thoughts: If you will take your time, you'll find it to be a good introductory resource. But you must be focused, as the book doesn't do the work for you. If you want to use this, I recommend taking your own notes, graphing things and laying them out as you see necessary. It's a thin book, but I am already doing some limited reading (and writing) in Greek because of it.
iTunes U "Elementary Greek" Podcast (Concordia Seminary)
There is nothing greater than podcasts to me :) I can find series on any number of things on iTunes, and any great number of resources on iTunes U! Actually, it was finding this that I believe got me jump-started into Greek. After using the podcasts a bit (not as much as the book mentioned above), here are the thoughts.
Advantages:
- More "personal" than the textbook mentioned above. You have the advice, recommendations and teachings of an actual instructor, so you will better get the sense of what he believes needs to be done.
- The topics are easily located and found among episodes. There are a large number of episodes in this podcast, and so you won't have much trouble finding an episode on what you want to learn about.
- Comes in audio and video. You may not feel like watching, so you may just want to listen. Well, it comes with both opportunities, with a chance to download video episodes, or audio-only episodes.
- Includes pronunciation helps. Pronunciation for Koine Greek isn't too complicated, but knowing and having a consistent way of pronouncing something is helpful in learning any language.
Disadvantage:
- Goes along with a textbook you must purchase. Perhaps you could pick up without the textbook, but for the most effective results, you need the one he recommends. Of course, if the textbook should ever become outdated, you may have trouble locating it. You could probably find it on Amazon.com in that case.
"Pocket Lexicon of the Greek New Testament" by Alexander Souter (http://www.textkit.com/)
Simply, a Greek-English dictionary. It's the same story as the Brief Introduction to the New Testament by Green; it's old, no copyright.
Advantage:
- It's free :)
- It's a downloadable PDF
Disadvantages:
- It's old. This item was printed in 1917, and from what I understand, older theories of extracting meanings of words may not be suitable. Could I afford it, I would actually get a more complete and updates lexicon, but there are many other resources you can double-check against. Doesn't mean it's unsuitable though.
(This is the one I'm the most proud of...)
"The New Testament in the Original Greek" by Maurice A. Robinson and William G. Pierpont
This is by far my favorite among the resources. I mentioned that my goal is to read and memorize the entire Bible in its original languages, so this has been instrumental so far. This is the book that I'm using. I'll give you some highlights:
- Includes accents. Some works may exclude accents and diadactic marks for the sake of ease, but at least for me, I want them. They can be worked around, but for me they are a preference.
- Gives information on variations. This is a splendid thing for it, for anyone who knows about textual criticism knows that during the transmission of text, variations inevitably occur. This translation includes common variations in the footnotes.
- Gives information on textual criticism. This could be an advantage and disadvantage, depending on how you look at it. The textform is Byzantine, and some may find odds with that as opposed to Alexandrian, Wescott-Hort or the Textus Receptus, but it makes for interesting--yet technical--learning. There's probably about 60-70 pages worth of reading on this, but if you want their defense for their methods of criticism, it's there for you.
- Doesn't include non-Canonical works. For the sake of book size, this is good. No Shepherd of Hermas or Gospel of Barnabas. No doubt that some of the non-Canonical works may actually be very good (I have not read those ones yet), for practical purposes they are not included.
- Larger print. This would depend on how you look at it, but for me it makes simpler reading. I don't like looking at PDFs and seeing the text so small that I can't discern the accents.
- Books are listed in Byzantine priority. The books aren't in the order that our Bible have today. Here, they are the Gospels, Acts, James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude, Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Phillipians, Colossians, 1-2 Thessalonians, Hebrews, 1-2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Revelation. Little different, but dissected another way, Gospels/Acts/Letters of the Apostles/Letters of Paul the Apostle/The Apocalypse of John.
Academically, this probably isn't the ideal line-up. My textbook is just shy of 100 years old, as well as my lexicon, and certainly we have learned more in the past 50 years alone than ever in the 6000 +/- before, but I also know that Koine Greek isn't changing any. I consider it a blessing that I can simply go on the internet and learn about what it is I need to learn about, that I can get just about any book I want, and there's so many things I can obtain for free. Right now I'm at the very beginning stages, and haven't been doing this longer than 3 months yet, so what I have now, I believe, is suitable. I also trust that the authors of my sources took due professional and academic care into their work. As time goes on, I'll update my library accordingly. For now, this is the blessing of God.
Sola Scriptura!
Jake
Saturday, August 15, 2009
3rd John Memorized! Note on numbering, reflections
ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ Φ
('α)Ο πρεσβυτερος Γαιω το αγαπητο, ον εγο αγαπω εν αληθεια.
('β)Αγαπητε, περι παντων ευχομαι σε ευοδουσθαι και υγιαινειν, καθως ευοδουται σου η ψυχη. ('γ)Εχαρην γαρ λιαν, ερχομενων αδελφων και μαρτυρουντων σου τη αλυθεια, καθως συ εν αληθεια περιπατεις. ('δ)Μειζοτεραν τουτων ουκ εχο χαραν, ινα ακουω τα εμα τεκνα εν αληθεια περιπατουντα.
('ε)Αγαπητε, πιστον ποιεις ο εαν εργαση εις τους αδελφους και εις τους ξενους - ('ς)οι εμαρτυρησαν σου τη αγαπη ενωπιον εκκλεσιας. Ους καλως ποισεις προπεμψας αξιως του θεου. ('ζ)Υπερ γαρ του ονοματος εξηλθον μηδεν λαμβανοντες απο των εθνον. ('η)Ημεις ουν οφειλομεν απολαμβανειν τοις τοιουτους, ινα συνεργοι γινωμεθα τη αληθεια.
('θ)Αγραψα τη εκκλεσια, αλλ' ο φιλοπρωτευων αυτον Διοτροφης ουκ επιδεχεται ημας. ('ι)Δια τουτο, εαν ελθω, υπομνησω αυτου τα εργα α ποιει, λογοις πονηροις φλυαρων ημας, και αρκουμενος επι τουτοις, ουτε αυτος επιδεχεται τους αδελφους, και τους βουλομενος κωλυει, και εκ της εκκλησιας εκβαλλει. ('ια)Αγαπητε, μη μιμου το κακον, αλλα το αγαθον. Ο αγαθοποιων εκ θεου εστιν -ο κακοποιων ουχ εορακεν τον θεον. ('ιβ)Δημητριω μεμαρτυρηται υπο παντων, και υπ' αυτης της αληθειας. Και ημεις δε μαρτυρουμεν, και οιδατε οτι η μαρτυρια ημων αληθης εστιν.
('ιγ)Πολλα ειχον γραφειν, αλλ' ου θελω δια μελανος και καλαμου σοι γραφαι. ('ιδ)Ελπιζω δε ευθεως ιδειν σε, και στομα προς στομα λαλησομεν. Ειρηνη σε. Ασπαζονται σε οι φιλοι. Ασπαζου τους φιλους κατ'ονομα.
Ok, that was typing by memory, made a few appendages. Those are where the boldfaces are, and consequently where I made mistakes. Missed one small two-word phrase, had the declension wrong in the last verse, and had some spelling errors, though other than that, rather decent :) I didn't bother with accents and other diadactic marks because they are a pain on the keyboard, and I cant' really fight them them right now.
Most frequent errors?
1. Typing θ instead of υ. On my keyboard, for the Greek Polytonic setting, the U key is the θ, and the Y key is the υ.
2. Using the wrong form of ου/ουκ/ουχ. The first comes right before a consontant word, the second before a soft-breathing vowel, and the last before a rough-breathing vowel.
You're probably wondering about the way I wrote out the verse numbers? Well in Greek, letters are used for numbers. The apostrophe usually is meant to indicate that it's a number.
'α (1)
'β (2)
'γ (3)
'δ (4)
'ε (5)
'ς (6)
'ζ (7)
'η (8)
'θ (9)
'ι (10).
For 11 through 19, just add one of the first nine listed to the "ι" ('ια, 'ιβ, 'ιγ, etc.). That's about as high as I can make it for now.
Strange that I'm even doing this. I've wanted to do this for so long, it's kind of funny to think of it actually happening now.
If there's something I'd hope you would learn, learn to get a passion for the Bible. It doesn't matter what language you do it in--I do it in Greek for my own particular reasons--but do get to know the Word of God. Write it on your heart everyday. Don't just take short bits of passages, but get entire chapters and books, and study them in and out. Dig into commentaries, theological textbooks, whatever it takes to understand. There is not a more important book on the face of the Earth than this one, because it is the only book by which you will know about, and know personally, the Supreme Author.
God bless you brothers and sisters. I hope that these articles and posts provide inspiration for you as you read.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Jake
('α)Ο πρεσβυτερος Γαιω το αγαπητο, ον εγο αγαπω εν αληθεια.
('β)Αγαπητε, περι παντων ευχομαι σε ευοδουσθαι και υγιαινειν, καθως ευοδουται σου η ψυχη. ('γ)Εχαρην γαρ λιαν, ερχομενων αδελφων και μαρτυρουντων σου τη αλυθεια, καθως συ εν αληθεια περιπατεις. ('δ)Μειζοτεραν τουτων ουκ εχο χαραν, ινα ακουω τα εμα τεκνα εν αληθεια περιπατουντα.
('ε)Αγαπητε, πιστον ποιεις ο εαν εργαση εις τους αδελφους και εις τους ξενους - ('ς)οι εμαρτυρησαν σου τη αγαπη ενωπιον εκκλεσιας. Ους καλως ποισεις προπεμψας αξιως του θεου. ('ζ)Υπερ γαρ του ονοματος εξηλθον μηδεν λαμβανοντες απο των εθνον. ('η)Ημεις ουν οφειλομεν απολαμβανειν τοις τοιουτους, ινα συνεργοι γινωμεθα τη αληθεια.
('θ)Αγραψα τη εκκλεσια, αλλ' ο φιλοπρωτευων αυτον Διοτροφης ουκ επιδεχεται ημας. ('ι)Δια τουτο, εαν ελθω, υπομνησω αυτου τα εργα α ποιει, λογοις πονηροις φλυαρων ημας, και αρκουμενος επι τουτοις, ουτε αυτος επιδεχεται τους αδελφους, και τους βουλομενος κωλυει, και εκ της εκκλησιας εκβαλλει. ('ια)Αγαπητε, μη μιμου το κακον, αλλα το αγαθον. Ο αγαθοποιων εκ θεου εστιν -ο κακοποιων ουχ εορακεν τον θεον. ('ιβ)Δημητριω μεμαρτυρηται υπο παντων, και υπ' αυτης της αληθειας. Και ημεις δε μαρτυρουμεν, και οιδατε οτι η μαρτυρια ημων αληθης εστιν.
('ιγ)Πολλα ειχον γραφειν, αλλ' ου θελω δια μελανος και καλαμου σοι γραφαι. ('ιδ)Ελπιζω δε ευθεως ιδειν σε, και στομα προς στομα λαλησομεν. Ειρηνη σε. Ασπαζονται σε οι φιλοι. Ασπαζου τους φιλους κατ'ονομα.
Ok, that was typing by memory, made a few appendages. Those are where the boldfaces are, and consequently where I made mistakes. Missed one small two-word phrase, had the declension wrong in the last verse, and had some spelling errors, though other than that, rather decent :) I didn't bother with accents and other diadactic marks because they are a pain on the keyboard, and I cant' really fight them them right now.
Most frequent errors?
1. Typing θ instead of υ. On my keyboard, for the Greek Polytonic setting, the U key is the θ, and the Y key is the υ.
2. Using the wrong form of ου/ουκ/ουχ. The first comes right before a consontant word, the second before a soft-breathing vowel, and the last before a rough-breathing vowel.
You're probably wondering about the way I wrote out the verse numbers? Well in Greek, letters are used for numbers. The apostrophe usually is meant to indicate that it's a number.
'α (1)
'β (2)
'γ (3)
'δ (4)
'ε (5)
'ς (6)
'ζ (7)
'η (8)
'θ (9)
'ι (10).
For 11 through 19, just add one of the first nine listed to the "ι" ('ια, 'ιβ, 'ιγ, etc.). That's about as high as I can make it for now.
Strange that I'm even doing this. I've wanted to do this for so long, it's kind of funny to think of it actually happening now.
If there's something I'd hope you would learn, learn to get a passion for the Bible. It doesn't matter what language you do it in--I do it in Greek for my own particular reasons--but do get to know the Word of God. Write it on your heart everyday. Don't just take short bits of passages, but get entire chapters and books, and study them in and out. Dig into commentaries, theological textbooks, whatever it takes to understand. There is not a more important book on the face of the Earth than this one, because it is the only book by which you will know about, and know personally, the Supreme Author.
God bless you brothers and sisters. I hope that these articles and posts provide inspiration for you as you read.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Jake
Sunday, August 9, 2009
John 1:1-18 - Got it! About memorization too
Ἐν τη φρήν εστίν ὁ εργος τοῦ Ἰωάννου ἡ μαθητής.
And yes, I understand what it says :)
And I tell you, that is not easy stuff :-S.
I'm working on the rest of John 1, got verse 19 down, but I'm taking a detour to ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ Γ. That's 3rd John :). Four verses down there, but the way I'm going, I'm learning vocabulary and grammar as I go, so in a ways it's like learning your first language, and it's certainly interesting, but it takes a lot of focus, a lot of stamina, and a lot of time.
Speaking of which, why memorize the passages? Well, for one I want to have the Bible memorized, so there's one reason, and I decided that the original language would be best. Second, memorizing this early in my Greek study provides to be useful too, as I found that something is best remembered when it's in a particular context. Context gives meaning to something. Suppose I say, "Have you ever met Johnny?" you'd probably say, "Who's Johnny?" I would go onto say, "You know, the one who always sits in the back of the class in the far right corner in our Biblical Languages IV class?" You'd snap and say, "Oh yes, that Johnny! Yeah I've met him, he's a pretty cool guy, saw him at church yesterday morning." In the example, you know about Johnny, but you don't yet get what Johnny I'm talking about. However, when I provided details, you immediately knew which Johnny it was. Those details are called the context, from which you recognized immediately what Johnny I was talking about. It's the same with vocabulary, in my book; the verses they are found in provide the context.
For example, the word κράζω (krazo) means "to cry out." I remember this from verse 15, where is says that John the Baptist cried out about Jesus. There's another odd definition of it which means to croak, or cry like a raven, and so I know John as having been a bit different than others, it's a small trick that helps me remember it (although I am not asserting that this crow-related definition is what κράζω actually means in John 1:15; I have no such experience to say so, so don't worry, your translation's probably right there). But these facts help me remember it. Another, I'll always remember λόγος (logos) because of all I've learned in connection with it, but until then it seemed like little else than another word.
You want to know a secret to getting a language down good? Application. Extensive application. You might be learning Spanish, for example, so the best thing for you to do is start talking to people in Spanish, start writing in Spanish, reading, or perhaps translate Spanish into English and vice versa. Considering the church culture today, I imagine that much of what is taught in the four grueling semesters of Greek at seminaries is quick forgotten as church life gets complicated and busy, so for anyone wanting to master a language, remember...
TIME IS YOUR ENEMY!
That's not a suggestion, that's a command. that makes eleven, if ya count 'em ;) Even a few days of not studying or practicing, you feel like it falls out of your head, so reinforcement is your key.
Well, I'll put in a few more things on John 1:1-18 when I have time, including some verb dissection and perhaps a thing or two that could be learned from the Greek. Though John 1:1-18 is an all around piece of artwork in my book. A beautiful synapsis of the deity of Jesus Christ.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Jake
And yes, I understand what it says :)
And I tell you, that is not easy stuff :-S.
I'm working on the rest of John 1, got verse 19 down, but I'm taking a detour to ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ Γ. That's 3rd John :). Four verses down there, but the way I'm going, I'm learning vocabulary and grammar as I go, so in a ways it's like learning your first language, and it's certainly interesting, but it takes a lot of focus, a lot of stamina, and a lot of time.
Speaking of which, why memorize the passages? Well, for one I want to have the Bible memorized, so there's one reason, and I decided that the original language would be best. Second, memorizing this early in my Greek study provides to be useful too, as I found that something is best remembered when it's in a particular context. Context gives meaning to something. Suppose I say, "Have you ever met Johnny?" you'd probably say, "Who's Johnny?" I would go onto say, "You know, the one who always sits in the back of the class in the far right corner in our Biblical Languages IV class?" You'd snap and say, "Oh yes, that Johnny! Yeah I've met him, he's a pretty cool guy, saw him at church yesterday morning." In the example, you know about Johnny, but you don't yet get what Johnny I'm talking about. However, when I provided details, you immediately knew which Johnny it was. Those details are called the context, from which you recognized immediately what Johnny I was talking about. It's the same with vocabulary, in my book; the verses they are found in provide the context.
For example, the word κράζω (krazo) means "to cry out." I remember this from verse 15, where is says that John the Baptist cried out about Jesus. There's another odd definition of it which means to croak, or cry like a raven, and so I know John as having been a bit different than others, it's a small trick that helps me remember it (although I am not asserting that this crow-related definition is what κράζω actually means in John 1:15; I have no such experience to say so, so don't worry, your translation's probably right there). But these facts help me remember it. Another, I'll always remember λόγος (logos) because of all I've learned in connection with it, but until then it seemed like little else than another word.
You want to know a secret to getting a language down good? Application. Extensive application. You might be learning Spanish, for example, so the best thing for you to do is start talking to people in Spanish, start writing in Spanish, reading, or perhaps translate Spanish into English and vice versa. Considering the church culture today, I imagine that much of what is taught in the four grueling semesters of Greek at seminaries is quick forgotten as church life gets complicated and busy, so for anyone wanting to master a language, remember...
TIME IS YOUR ENEMY!
That's not a suggestion, that's a command. that makes eleven, if ya count 'em ;) Even a few days of not studying or practicing, you feel like it falls out of your head, so reinforcement is your key.
Well, I'll put in a few more things on John 1:1-18 when I have time, including some verb dissection and perhaps a thing or two that could be learned from the Greek. Though John 1:1-18 is an all around piece of artwork in my book. A beautiful synapsis of the deity of Jesus Christ.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Jake
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
In the beginning was the logos
NOTE: This information in this entry is slightly inaccurate. Check blog entry "Clearing up the Articulars."
Have you ever seen the movie "Luther?" Not the old one, but the newer? There is a line in that movie that stuck with me, as Martin Luther is busy translating the Bible from Greek and Latin into German. He comes to the word "will," which in German has the connotation of power, authority, as in bending one to your will, but in the Greek, it means things along the lines of fire, passion and desire. After he ponders it a moment he says, "It's not the word that's important, but what it says about God."
I thought of that as I pondered this word λόγος (logos), which is found in John 1:1-2. I know I've already done bits and pieces on this chapter, but it gets better. I think it's amazing what this word says about God.
(1) Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. (2) οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν.
John 1:1 - In the beginning was the word (logos), and the word (logos) was with God, and the word (logos) was God. He (the logos) was with God in the beginning.
This is my own personal analysis in this paragraph, but you'll notice that in John it says ὁ λόγος, using an article, "The word." It's characteristic of divine expression in this case. This is not any common word, but is the word. This is similar to the Greek phrase αἱ γραφαί, which translated to us as "Scripture" or "The Scriptures." In Greek, it literally means "the writings," but a writing could be any piece of work, so the definite article makes it specific. What writings? The writings. To the believers in Yahweh, those could mean only one set of writings; thus following, the word can only refer to one word, and it the word originated from God, and to a culture that treasures God above all things, there is nothing so specific, unique and set apart as that which originates from God (which, truthfully, is how we should all learn to think); yet we haven't touched yet,"Just what is this logos?"
I read something very interesting today about that word "logos." In Greek, there are two words for "word." One is rhema (ῥῆμα), the other is logos (λόγος). A question occured to me, "Why is it that one of these is used and not the other? Why not rhema?" My mother had bought a copy of the MacArthur Study Bible, and I began reading the commentary, and there it was! I have my Strong's Concordance with me, and there's nothing really unique about the word "rhema." Here's what it says:
"An utterance (collective, individual, specific); by implication, a matter or topic." Nothing very special about it.
However, logos is a different story.
According to John MacArthur, the word, and John's meaning behind it, drew both from Old Testament meaning and Greek philosophy. In Greek philosophy, logos meant another kind of word, which was usually impersonal, and signified principles such as divine reason, the mind or perhaps wisdom. This of course is a closer to John's intentions in talking about Jesus Christ than is the word "rhema." John doesn't rely on Greek philosophy itself to get the meaning across, but its cultural implications are needed to make it work. Instead, John uses it in the sense that it was used in the Old Testament; as God's divine and powerful expression, such as in Genesis 1:3. Read over John 1 and notice the glory that John attributes to this logos, and you can see immediately it is something unique, something unlike anything else. The beauty of the word though is that both the Greeks and the Jews would understand what was meant by it, and it's that Christ is something more than just mere words.
When I think about it, I believe John is conveying something through this word that actually gets into the mind of God, for John Chapter 1 is a powerful overview of Jesus Christ and all that He came to accomplish. All the things that Christ is, are the things that are even now in the heart of God. Think on these things:
He is not just the spoken words of God; He is the powerful expression of God.
He is the embodiment of what is in the mind of God.
This logos was there when the world was created, and before.
This logos was His companion when He created the world, a funnel (if you will) through which everything was run.
This logos was the mind and thoughts that God used when creating the world.
This logos was the revelation of God that the world had been waiting for since Genesis 3:15.
And He has come and been revealed to us, and is the one by which God even now speaks to us (Hebrews 1:1-2).
You know why the world hates Christ and disputes Him so much? The thing that the world hates about Christ is just what was mentioned above; He is the ultimate expression of the mind of God, all of Himself wrapped up in skin and bones, all brought down to something which we could potentially understand. Everything about Him was in the mind of God; He did not live a moment outside the will of God, for Him and the Father are One. The unity is very hard to comprehend, but when you see Christ, you see the Father! In no former moment in history did the light so shine in the darkness as to shatter it the way that Christ has. All is now in the light, and a sinful world cannot take it.
ὁ λόγος ἐστίν. He is the Word.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Jake
Have you ever seen the movie "Luther?" Not the old one, but the newer? There is a line in that movie that stuck with me, as Martin Luther is busy translating the Bible from Greek and Latin into German. He comes to the word "will," which in German has the connotation of power, authority, as in bending one to your will, but in the Greek, it means things along the lines of fire, passion and desire. After he ponders it a moment he says, "It's not the word that's important, but what it says about God."
I thought of that as I pondered this word λόγος (logos), which is found in John 1:1-2. I know I've already done bits and pieces on this chapter, but it gets better. I think it's amazing what this word says about God.
(1) Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. (2) οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν.
John 1:1 - In the beginning was the word (logos), and the word (logos) was with God, and the word (logos) was God. He (the logos) was with God in the beginning.
This is my own personal analysis in this paragraph, but you'll notice that in John it says ὁ λόγος, using an article, "The word." It's characteristic of divine expression in this case. This is not any common word, but is the word. This is similar to the Greek phrase αἱ γραφαί, which translated to us as "Scripture" or "The Scriptures." In Greek, it literally means "the writings," but a writing could be any piece of work, so the definite article makes it specific. What writings? The writings. To the believers in Yahweh, those could mean only one set of writings; thus following, the word can only refer to one word, and it the word originated from God, and to a culture that treasures God above all things, there is nothing so specific, unique and set apart as that which originates from God (which, truthfully, is how we should all learn to think); yet we haven't touched yet,"Just what is this logos?"
I read something very interesting today about that word "logos." In Greek, there are two words for "word." One is rhema (ῥῆμα), the other is logos (λόγος). A question occured to me, "Why is it that one of these is used and not the other? Why not rhema?" My mother had bought a copy of the MacArthur Study Bible, and I began reading the commentary, and there it was! I have my Strong's Concordance with me, and there's nothing really unique about the word "rhema." Here's what it says:
"An utterance (collective, individual, specific); by implication, a matter or topic." Nothing very special about it.
However, logos is a different story.
According to John MacArthur, the word, and John's meaning behind it, drew both from Old Testament meaning and Greek philosophy. In Greek philosophy, logos meant another kind of word, which was usually impersonal, and signified principles such as divine reason, the mind or perhaps wisdom. This of course is a closer to John's intentions in talking about Jesus Christ than is the word "rhema." John doesn't rely on Greek philosophy itself to get the meaning across, but its cultural implications are needed to make it work. Instead, John uses it in the sense that it was used in the Old Testament; as God's divine and powerful expression, such as in Genesis 1:3. Read over John 1 and notice the glory that John attributes to this logos, and you can see immediately it is something unique, something unlike anything else. The beauty of the word though is that both the Greeks and the Jews would understand what was meant by it, and it's that Christ is something more than just mere words.
When I think about it, I believe John is conveying something through this word that actually gets into the mind of God, for John Chapter 1 is a powerful overview of Jesus Christ and all that He came to accomplish. All the things that Christ is, are the things that are even now in the heart of God. Think on these things:
He is not just the spoken words of God; He is the powerful expression of God.
He is the embodiment of what is in the mind of God.
This logos was there when the world was created, and before.
This logos was His companion when He created the world, a funnel (if you will) through which everything was run.
This logos was the mind and thoughts that God used when creating the world.
This logos was the revelation of God that the world had been waiting for since Genesis 3:15.
And He has come and been revealed to us, and is the one by which God even now speaks to us (Hebrews 1:1-2).
You know why the world hates Christ and disputes Him so much? The thing that the world hates about Christ is just what was mentioned above; He is the ultimate expression of the mind of God, all of Himself wrapped up in skin and bones, all brought down to something which we could potentially understand. Everything about Him was in the mind of God; He did not live a moment outside the will of God, for Him and the Father are One. The unity is very hard to comprehend, but when you see Christ, you see the Father! In no former moment in history did the light so shine in the darkness as to shatter it the way that Christ has. All is now in the light, and a sinful world cannot take it.
ὁ λόγος ἐστίν. He is the Word.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Jake
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