Learn Biblical Greek

Why learn New Testament Greek

Gaining knowledge and confidence in the study of biblical Greek will elevate your understanding of the text and equip you to read in high definition, enabling you to read the Bible in a more faithful and accurate way. This is because engaging with God’s Word in the original language causes you to slow down and see with greater perception than you ever have before.

“It is not the primary purpose of language study to provide the means for reaching astounding exegetical conclusions. . . .The true goal of learning New Testament Greek is to build a much broader base of knowledge and understanding than the student would otherwise have.”

— Moisés Silva

About Biblical Greek

The New Testament was written in a language known as Koine Greek, from the Greek word κοινή (koinē), meaning “common” or “dialect of all.”

Koine spread rapidly due to Alexander the Great’s conquests, particularly as a language of business. Koine Greek covered a far larger portion of the world than English does today. It remained the common language even when Rome rose to power because the Romans did not suppress the Greek language. The language’s usage was so prevalent that even the Roman Senate and imperial governors translated their decrees into Koine. In the city of Rome, Greek was used as frequently as Latin. Thus, when Paul wrote his letter to the Roman Christians, he wrote it in Greek.

The Greek alphabet

The Greek alphabet consists of twenty-four letters, many of them identical with the corresponding letters of the Latin alphabet, which we now see in the English alphabet. Both the Greek and Latin alphabets—along with the Hebrew alphabet—were derived from the Phoenician alphabet.

The following table of the Greek alphabet shows you the regular and capital letters, as well as the transliteration letter used, and finally a pronunciation example. Transliteration is the English letters used to write Greek words to replicate the sound.

Using Greek in Bible study

In one of his final speeches to his disciples, Jesus answers Thomas’ request for traveling directions with a profound lesson: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Let’s consider what it means for Jesus to be “life.”

John 14:6

הִλέγει αὐτῷ °[ὁ] Ἰησοῦς· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή· οὐδεὶς ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸν πατέρα εἰ μὴ διʼ ἐμοῦ.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

STEP 1

Make the switch to Greek and establish a preliminary definition

The simplest way to find the Greek word behind an English translation is to use a reverse interlinear such as the ESV English-Greek Reverse Interlinear. The Greek word behind “life” in John 14:6 is zōē (ζωή). Now that we know this, we can look up the word in a lexicon (an original-language dictionary).

STEP 2

Briefly track the word through Greek literature

WhWhen we look up zōē in the Lexham Theological Wordbook, we learn that in Greek literature zōē generally means “life” as opposed to “death.” Lexicons note that the meaning of zōē in the New Testament refers only to a person’s existence—especially in relation to death—which indicates a narrowing of meaning from earlier usage.

STEP 3

Survey the New Testament usage and note examples from the same author

The idea of zōē as the opposite of death is heightened in the New Testament by its association with the sense of transcendence, especially in phrases such as “eternal life” (John 3:16). It’s not just a statement about life and death, but about eternal life opposed to death itself. Within the Gospel of John, about half of the occurrences of zōē appear in the phrase “eternal life” (e.g., John 3:16; 6:47). John talks about eternal life more than any other New Testament writer; half the occurrences of this phrase occur in his writings.

STEP 4

Revisit the passage to determine the meaning in context

Considering the number of occurrences of the word zōē in relation to “eternal life” in the Gospel of John, it’s quite likely that in John 14:6 Jesus was referring to “eternal life.” But before we draw that conclusion, we need to see whether it holds true in the narrow context of Jesus’ exact words: “I am the life.”

The closest context for zōē in John 14:6 is Jesus’ use of “the life” to talk about himself (as he does with other “I am” statements), a phrase that also occurs at the beginning of the Gospel of John: “the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). We do not know the precise sense that John intended with “the life,” but he seems content to leave it unspecified. Whether “the life” means eternal life in the future or everyday life in the present, John would probably say that zōē is both—and more.